Hello all, Sue Heath and I birded the Battlefield today , 15 APR 99, from 6:45 to about 9:45. We began in the area around the NPS Stables, working south toward the wet field along US 29. Temps started out about 50, and might have warmed to the high 50's when we were done. The wind was light, and west. The sky was gray, and most of the birds were late getting up. Loons started moving early, with the first group of nine before 7:00. Cormorants were up early too with a couple dozen moving around the same time. Our first pass through the area around the stable yielded little, a few sparrows and a couple thrashers. It was when we returned to the same area around 7:45 that we picked up the Vesper. This was a different area from where I had had them two days prior. The other area that we birded was the Unfinished Rail Road, along Featherbed Road. This is also part of MNBP. We got to this area a little after 8:00, and other than a couple kinglets and pine warblers, we didnt add much new. Also, unrelated, Whip-poor-will returned to my yard last night. The List: Common Loon (22) DC Cormorant (48) Canada Goose (6) Turkey Vulture (2) Red-shouldered Hawk (1) Wild Turkey (1) Killdeer (1) Common Snipe (8) Rock Dove (1) Mourning Dove (6) Chimney Swift (3) Belted Kingfisher (1) Red-bellied Woodpecker (2) Downy Woodpeker (1) Northern Flicker (5) Pileated Woodpecker (1) Eastern Phoebe (1) Tree Swallow (10) Barn Swallow (8) Blue Jay (8) American Crow (10) Carolina Chickadee (6) Tufted Titmouse (4) White-breasted Nuthatch (1) Carolina Wren (1) Ruby-crowned Kinglet (3) Blue-grey Gnatcatcher (6) Eastern Bluebird (12) American Robin (4) Northern Mockingbird (2) Brown Thrasher (7) Starling (80) Yellow-rumped Warbler (7) Pine Warbler (3) Palm Warbler (2) Northern Cardinal (8) Eastern Towhee (6) Chipping Sparrow (9) Field Sparrow (40) Vesper Sparrow (1) Savannah Sparrow (4) Song Sparrow (4) Swamp Sparrow (1) White-throated Sparrow (5) Dark-eyed Junco (15) Red-winged Blackbird (10) Eastern Meadowlark (5) Common Grackle (20) BH Cowbird (4) House Finch (6) American Goldfinch (20) Todd Day BlkVulture@aol.com Jeffersonton, VA