Worcesterians -- I did my (second) annual effort to best Worcester County's arrival date record for Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (March 28), on Wednesday, March 24. Personal conflicts prevented an attempt closer to the March 27th target date. Although I dipped on the gnatcatcher (overcast skies and threatening rain probably didn't help), I had a nice day nonetheless. Results as follows, all in southern part of the county. POCOMOKE STATE FOREST AREA (including Millville Road, Old Furnace Road, Forest Road, Whitesburg Road/Pusey Branch, Fleming Mill Road/Dividing Creek, Sand Road, Snow Hill Pond, Nassawango Road and Pond) 0635-1200 Pied-billed Grebe-1 Great Blue Heron-61*see below Turkey Vulture-9 Canada Goose-20 Wood Duck-4 Mallard-4 Northern Pintail-2 Green-winged Teal-4 Red-should. Hawk-2 Red-tailed Hawk-1 GOLDEN EAGLE-1*see below American Kestrel-1 Wild Turkey-2 Killdeer-4 Mourning Dove-1 Red-bellied Woodp.-6 Downy Woodpecker-12 Hairy Woodpecker-4 Northern Flicker-2 Pileated Woodp.-1 Eastern Phoebe-2 Blue Jay-1 American Crow-35 Fish Crow-14 Carolina Chickadee-46 Tufted Titmouse-21 White-br. Nuthatch-3 Br.-head. Nuthatch-6 Brown Creeper-1 Carolina Wren-6 Winter Wren-2 Golden-cr. Kinglet-24 Ruby-cr. Kinglet-3 Eastern Bluebird-11 Hermit Thrush-5 American Robin-5 European Starling-25 Yellow-rump. War.-31 Pine Warbler-46 Eastern Towhee-3 Chipping Sparrow-45 (all in one flock) Song Sparrow-1 Swamp Sparrow-2 White-thr. Sparrow-70 Dark-eyed Junco-60 Northern Cardinal-14 Red-wing. Blackbird-4 Common Grackle-30 Br.-head. Cowbird-14 American Goldfinch-5 *I stopped at the Whitesburg Road/Pusey Branch intersection, to see if the Great Blue Heron colony I found last year was still active. I had been there about 5 minutes without seeing a heron, when suddenly about 60 flew out from the distant pines swaking. I thought maybe I had scared them, but then a couple of minutes later I spotted an eagle coming towards me low over the forest. I glassed the eagle and was amazed to see that it was a beautiful immature Golden Eagle! A real Worcester County rarity. The eagle circled over the road for several minutes, and I could drool over the neat white tail based, white primary bases (much more conspicuous below), the overall uniform dark chocolate brown coloration, and even a tawny wash across the nape. The bird flew back to the rookery (the herons still flying around) and then appeared to land in one of the nest trees. I was screen and could not see exactly what happened, but can only surmise the bird might be predating on a heron nest (assuming they had eggs already). The eagle remained in the trees about 15 minutes. I got my camera and when it left it made another pass over the road and I got a roll of photos. It then disappeared to the South. This was only the second (or perhaps third, but that's another story) Golden Eagle I have seen in Worcester County (missed in both '92 and '94) and my data base only shows 9 prior county records. BAYSIDE LANDINGS (Public, Figg's, Scott's, and Taylor's, including areas and ponds in between) (1230-1350, 1515-1525) Common Loon-1 Horned Grebe-24 Dbl.-cr. Cormorant-2 Great Blue Heron-2 Great Egret-3 Canada Goose-60 Am. Black Duck-4 Mallard-11 Northern Pintail-3 Green-winged Teal-95 Lesser Scaup-15 scaup (sp.)-60 Bufflehead-150 Red-br. Merganser-8 Osprey-3 Northern Harrier-3 American Kestrel-1 Laughing Gull-2 Herring Gull-22 Forster's Tern-23 Fish Crow-2 American Robin-1 Song Sparrow-6 East. Meadowlark-20 Boat-tailed Grackle-15 House Finch-1 VAUGHN WMA PONDS (1410-1515) Great Blue Heron-1 Great Egret-2 Snowy Egret-1 Turkey Vulture-10 Canada Goose-60 Tundra Swan-1 Gadwall-2 Mallard-10 Northern Shoveler-20 Green-winged Teal-30 Osprey-1 Northern Harrier-1 Red-tailed Hawk-2 American Kestrel-1 American Coot-6 Killdeer-2 Greater Yellowlegs-1 Least Sandpiper-20 Herring Gull-5 Rock Dove-2 Downy Woodpecker-1 American Crow-3 Fish Crow-2 Tree Swallow-1 Br.-head. Nuthatch-2 American Robin-4 European Starling-50 Yellow-rump. War.-10 Field Sparrow-2 Savannah Sparrow-20 Red-wing. Blackbird-100 East. Meadowlark-1 Common Grackle-200 Evans Road Sparrow Spot (1605-1625) No unusal sparrows. House Wren-1* *probably a winter holdover as opposed to any early migrant. LIBERTYTOWN SEWAGE PONDS (1635-1640) Tundra Swan-1 Mallard-2 Ring-necked Duck-10 Regards, Mark Hoffman Mhoff36100@aol.com