OK, I'm relieved to learn that this was not an easy ID!  Of
the 7 replies I received, 6 different species were offered:

   Acadian Flycatcher
   American Robin
   Blackburnian Warbler
   Hooded Warbler (twice)
   Louisiana Waterthrush (twice)
   American Goldfinch

This seems to be fairly inconclusive!  As anticlimatic as it
might be, I like the robin suggestion (owing to the
squawking notes at the end of the recordings), though I'm
surprised I was never able to see the bird.  Perhaps a
juvenile sticking close to its nest?  Today that area was
swarming with robins (and starlings), but these recordings
were made weeks ago.

Of the other suggestions, I've seen Acadian Flycatcher,
Louisiana Waterthrush, and American Goldfinch on at least
one occasion in the vicinity since June.  I've not seen (or
convincingly heard) the other suggested warblers there, but
I could easily have missed them.

Thanks for your help!  Let me know if you have any other
suggestions.

Cheers,

D

On Tue, 17 Aug 2004, Derek C. Richardson wrote:

> Hello!  I have some bird song that's been driving me crazy.
> These clips were recorded in late June and late July along
> the Paint Branch Stream Valley Park trail in College Park
> (PG County).  They came from the same general vicinity both
> times, near a deciduous tree on the edge of the clearing
> created by the 2001 tornado (Cherry Hill Rd side).  I was
> never able to find the bird.  A fellow birder happened by
> one time and was also unable to make the ID.  Any help would
> be appreciated.  I imagine it's mind-numbingly obvious, but
> I'm stumped.  The recordings are available as two .wav files
> at:
>
>    http://www.astro.umd.edu/~dcr/xfer/birdsong/
>
> Let me know what you think!  I might describe the song as
> "sweet sweet sweet dit dit" (reminiscent of Yellow Warbler
> recordings I have, only stronger and slower).  You can
> e-mail me off-list if you like; I'll post the final
> solution.
>
> -Derek
>
> P.S. Typical birds found in the vicinity that might be
> candidates include Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat,
> Yellow-breasted Chat, Eastern Towhee, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo
> Bunting, and American Goldfinch.
>
> --
> Derek C. Richardson, Ph.D. (CANTAB) ________
> Astronomy, U Maryland, College Park MD 20742
> Tel: Office 301-405-8786 Fax 301-314-9067 __
> Home page: http://www.astro.umd.edu/~dcr/ __
>

--
Derek C. Richardson, Ph.D. (CANTAB) ________
Astronomy, U Maryland, College Park MD 20742
Tel: Office 301-405-8786 Fax 301-314-9067 __
Home page: http://www.astro.umd.edu/~dcr/ __