This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0004_01BEDC23.6B311F20 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable 31 July 1999 Spent a little more than 4 hours at McKee-Beshers, mainly in the = floodplain forest at the east end and adjacent towpath. Also checked = the wires along River Road and the impoundments. Recorded 40 species. = Singing has really diminished even compared to what I heard Thursday. = Ten species were singing, including a Wood Thrush at 1120. Only one = Great Egret was present . Another good count of Rough-winged Swallows- = 223 on the wires along River Road and 11 over the river. Due to the low = water levels vast mats of water stargrass are present upstream from Ten = Foot Island. Today there were 9 Mallards and 9 Wood Ducks among the = mats. Later this could be good habitat for shorebirds and terns. Other = highlights were: a Willow Flycatcher low along the north-south causeway, = a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird gleaning insects and/or spiders from = the underside of leaves and shooting off probably to feed her nestlings, = and good looks at a Worm-eating Warbler foraging among dead leaves about = 25' off the ground. Stewart and Robbins(1958) list 31 July as the = earliest fall arrival date for worm-eaters and show the normal start of = fall migration as August 10-20 . The Yellow Book shows decreased = abundance starting in late July so the question is whether this was an = early migrant or a post-breeding wanderer. My best guess is that this = was a bird from the nearby upland nesting areas preparing to migrate. Paul Woodward=20 Faifax,VA ------=_NextPart_000_0004_01BEDC23.6B311F20 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN">