Hello All,
        Here is another installment of belated bird news from Oak Grove.

4/17 - Shorebirds numbers continued to improve with 70+ yellowlegs of both
flavors and the arrival of the first Solitary Sand.  Other new arrivals
included Yellow Rumps (a spring migrant even though so many winter nearby),
Yellowthroat, Ovenbird, Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher and 2 DC Cormorants.
Cormorant is one bird that I always have to luck into by catching a flyover.
I have to keep watching the sky anytime between April and October until I
look up at the right time to see them going by.  The last 2 juncos lingering
at the feeder left after this day and about 20 White-throats were hanging
around in several spots.  Other interesting birds were 2 Greater Black-Backs
(flyovers and, I believe, a local late date), 2 RC Kinglet, a lingering
Swamp Sparrow and an immature Bald Eagle.  Year total to 88.
4/18 - the same eagle again and a Cooper's Hawk over the house.  The evening
puddle check found far fewer yellowlegs, 1 Least Sand on Wild Turkey Rd, 4
Bonaparte's Gulls on Oak Grove Rd (1/4 mile east of MD 577) and 7 Wood Duck
in field adjoining the back of the farm.
4/19 - evening puddle check - approx 45 yellowlegs in various spots, 3
Wilson's Snipe on the north side of Oak Grove Rd, 6 Bonaparte's Gulls at the
same spot and a Great Egret (#89) at the pond.
4/20 - 35 Greater and 45 Lesser Yellowlegs in various puddles, 4 Wilson's
Snipe on the north side of Oak Grove Rd, 1 Bonaparte's Gull at the same spot
and the first Orchard Oriole (#90)

4/21 - 4/24 - in the hospital for the arrival of Tori.  Probably missed all
kinds of wonderful puddle birds (like the Glossy Ibis and dowitcher that
have snubbed me for years), but who cares.  Took 4/25 and 4/26 to rest,
sleep and recover from the bronchitis that came on me while we in the
hospital.

4/27 - Shelly graciously allowed me to take an hour or so each morning so
that I could pursue getting 100 species by the end of April.  I walked the
loop around the front half of the farm and found 5 spring arrivals (#91-95)-
Catbird, Wood Thrush, Red-eyed Vireo, Black& White Warbler and Grasshopper
Sparrow.  Our small portion of woods was cut along with the neighbor's in
1982.  It held Ovenbird, Wood Thrush, Catbird and the B&W.  Same woods that
hosted the nesting Cooper's Hawks last year.
4/28 - was cold (low 40's) and a good NW wind when I checked puddles in the
morning.  Not much to find as all but the persistent puddles on the south
side of Oak Grove Rd are drying up.  Instead, I found 3 Wild Turkey (#96) at
the back of the farm.  They had appeared in early April last year and I had
been worried that they had moved out of the area.  Also a beautiful male
Scarlet Tanager (#97) that was sitting out in full sunlight.  3 Solitary
Sands and a male Baltimore Oriole (#98) at the wet pasture on Kinder Rd.
4/29 - Walked the back half of the farm and the railroad beyond the farm in
the morning.  New arrivals were a Worm-Eating Warbler (#99), Great Crested
Flycatcher (#100), Yellow-Billed Cuckoo (#101) and Yellow-breasted Chat
(#102).  The Scarlet Tanager was still around.  Also a Meadowlark on Oak
Grove Rd.  I was very happy to accomplish 100 species before the end of
April for the first time.
4/30 - 37 Least Sands in the far puddle on south side of Oak Grove Rd.  To
view this puddle, stop at the state line (the puddle is in DE) to see part
of it.  Then continue to the stop sign, turn right and pull off just past
the houses.  Each spot gives a partial view - the first spot is best to see
the east and south edges, the latter the north and west edges.  Birds
visible from one spot may or may not be seen from the other.

May updates to follow.

Good Birding,
Glen Lovelace III
Seaford, DE