Fran, Yellow-crowned Night-Herons are junk birds around parts of Baltimore. Well, that's an exaggeration, but if you check our Balto Bird Club "Chip Notes" newsletter for Oct 97, Pete Webb in Lochearn (just north of Liberty Rd inside the Balto Beltway) literally had them nesting in his yard last summer, and I have one as a one-time fly-by yard bird in Randallstown. It just happens that they have bred along Gwynns Falls and Scotts Level Creek for years. You might find them in Milford Mill Park off Milford Mill Rd. about a mile north of Liberty Rd. We saw them on a nest there 2 years ago on our field trip. Years back, I was amazed to find three in a densely wooded area along Scott's Level a few blocks from my house. One of the things that got me interested in birding was the sighting of a bizarre-looking bird while fishing on Liberty Lake about 20 years ago. I went to the library and got a bird book, and concluded it was a "Yellow-crowned Night-Heron." After catching a few catfish and dealing with getting them off the hook and skinning them, I lost interest in fishing and gradually moved towards birding. They were seen for years at the base of the dam of Lake Roland ("Robt E Lee Park) off Falls Rd just north of the city/county line. I believe they are still being seen there in season. Hopefully some of the regulars at Lake Roland reading this can confirm or deny this. If so, that would be the easy way to see them. -- Steve Sanford Randallstown MD tanager@mail.bcpl.lib.md.us