Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 08:55:12 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "Lovelace, Glen (DelDOT)" Subject: Brown-Headed Nuthatches MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Hello All, While atlasing in the Rhodesdale NE block (Dorchester Co.) on Saturday, I heard, but never saw, Brown-Headed Nuthatches along Wesley Rd. Wesley Rd is just south of MD 392 and north of Eldorado. It consists of a variety of woodland habitats from recent cutoffs to mature deciduous and mature pine forest. Not surprisingly, this yields a nice diversity of birds (Summer Tanager, Prairie Warb, YB Chat, Ovenbird, B&W Warb, KY Warb, Acadian Fly, etc.). The best spot was about halfway between MD 313 and Puckum Rd at a curve to the right (heading west) with a house on the right (with pines in front) and an opening in the woods on the left with deciduous trees along the road and pines in the back. The was a small flock here including the KY Warb, a female B&W Warb, Pine Warbler, multiple Ovenbirds, Chickadees and Titmice and other common birds that were very agitated about something (me?). Acted more like a fall flock responding to a screech owl tape. The Brown-Headed Nuts approached in the pines, but never made it into view. Anyway, this is the farthest north I have seen them in the middle of Delmarva. Previous farthest north was at Pete Gum WA on the DE side of the line near Galestown, MD. Other observations were 2 Cliff Swallows continuing at the Brookview Bridge; 3000+ Laughing Gulls at the Indiantown Rd hog farm to the exclusion of almost everything else; a Red Tail being harassed and then chased by a combined group of a Mocker, a Grackle, a Tree Swallow and an Orchard Oriole; and warning / scare away shots fired when I stopped to look at harvested cucumber fields on the west end of Cokesbury Rd near Eldorado. Good Birding, Glen Lovelace III Seaford, DE ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================