Dear all, On the advice of a friend, I went out Monday morning to Lake Roland (North of Baltimore City) looking for an American Bittern. My friend told me she saw one three times during the last few days. I saw it, after looking for over thirty minutes. The bird is so well camoflaged that it was hard for me to pick out. I needed my scope to find it. (Even after finding it, I tried to locate it with binoculars and I had a hard time.) But, through the scope, I got a wonderful look. The bird stands at the far edge of a little pond near what Lake Roland regulars call "the dike." After crossing the trail leading over the light rail, and following the main trail back, at one point the trail divides, and one can either proceed straight into the woods, or turn right and turn up an incline. This is "the dike." At the top of the incline, one gets a nice view over the marshy areas of the lake. Following this second trail, at one point the trail turns to the left. Just at that point, a fallen tree crosses a path leading down and to the right, taking one to a flat area, with stones and a large concrete block. The bird has been seen by standing to the left side of the concrete block, and then scanning a pond on the far side of the marshy area (looking in the direction of the light rail). Also a happy surprise, a Virginia Rail was singing "kidik kidik" the whole time I was there, looking for the bittern. Additional birds included wood ducks, green winged teal, palm warblers, barn and rough-winged swallows, and lots and lots of gnatcatchers. --- Don Burggraf ---