Yesterday I received a second-hand report from the Mason-Dixon Farm manure ponds in NE Frederick County which included Red-necked Phalarope.  I visited the ponds this morning (5/20/04) and saw the following at the east pond off Harney Road:

Canada Goose - 10 adults + downy young
Baldpate - 1 male
Mallard - 8
Great Blue Heron - 2
Green Heron - 1
Semipalmated Plover - 8
Solitary Sandpiper - 2
Spotted Sandpiper - 5
Semipalmated Sandpiper - 3
Least Sandpiper - 24
Dunlin - 1
Short-billed Dowitcher - 3
Red-necked Phalarope - 1 male, sometimes swimming, sometimes on one of the mud bars in the middle of the pond.

   Singing in nearby fields were Field, Vesper, Savannah, Grasshopper, and Song Sparrows.

   At the west pond off Bullfrog Road I saw one Mallard and heard a Killdeer.  There is no shoreline on this pond.

   Returning to Carroll County I decided to check one of the fields where Dickcissels have been found in recent years.  I heard three Dickcissels singing in the field on Bullfrog Road about 0.3 mile east of Baumgardner Road.  The birds were not in view.  This site is about three miles west of Taneytown and there is only one place to pull completely off the road.  I would like to get a confirmed breeding for these birds.  Since this block is not being atlased yet, if you visit the site look for a confirm, please.
  The only other birds of note this morning were a pair of Buffleheads on the Westminster Reservoir.

Bob Ringler
Eldersburg MD