>
>Hi All,
>         While running errands in Westminster this morning I couldn't help
> but do some birding. I spent about 1/2 hour behind the Magna Way ponds,
> on Old Bachman Valley Rd., in the turn-around, right before the road
> closed sign. The lady who lives in the house right there had been out,
> and on her way in was checking me out. When she pulled into her driveway,
> she didn't get out of her car right away. Almost as soon as she stopped,
> a ROBIN  landed on top of her car and surveyed the yard! She has a
> bluebird box on a post, with another box above it, in the shape of a
> lighthouse. There were TREE SWALLOWS occupying the lower box, which was
> no more than 2 feet above the ground! Here's what else I saw:
>
>Green Heron-1
>Canada Goose-26 (from this spot and up on the more open pond, 1 pair w/2
>young)
>Mourning Dove-4
>Red-bellied Woodpecker-1
>Am. Crow-several
>Barn Swallow-3
>Tree Swallow-2
>Robin-lots, singing their heads off
>Gray Catbird-1 (first for the year for me)
>N. Mockingbird-1 (singing very loud)
>Brown Thrasher-2
>Starling--way too many!
>Yellow-rumped Warbler-2
>Palm Warbler (yellow)-1
>Song Sparrow-several, seen and heard
>Swamp Sparrow-1
>Red-winged Blackbird-many
>Grackle-many
>Brown-headed Cowbird-several
>
>         I then went around to the front of the ponds and saw a YELLOWLEGS
> ( not sure which one--I'm not great with shorebirds ), and 3 flyby
> EASTERN MEADOWLARKS! When leaving, I also spotted another birder,
> couldn't tell who it was, but he had the telltale spotting scope in the
> back of the car. I then went into Westminster and stopped at the Mall
> containment pond. It was LOADED with YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS. Also seen:
>
>Mallards-3
>Ruby-crowned Kinglet-1
>Cardinal-1
>Red-winged Blackbird-many
>Grackle-1
>
>         Next, closer to home I visited my old reliable Boog Rd. There I saw:
>
>TV-1
>Cooper's Hawk-1
>Red-tailed Hawk-1 (resident)
>Mourning Dove
>Northern Flicker-1
>Tree Swallows
>E. Bluebird
>Robins
>N. Mockingbird
>Common Yellowthroat ( first for me this year )
>Song Sparrow
>Swamp Sparrow
>Red-winged Blackbird
>Am. Goldfinch
>
>
>Happy Spring!
>
>
>Sharon Schwemmer
>Hampstead,MD
>

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