Hi all,
I went back over to the Blue Mash nature trail early Sunday AM, ostensibly
to try and document Blue Grosbeak for the atlas (though not in my block).
While I did find BLGR again (a pair in a different location from Saturday and
another male near the Saturday spot), the highlights turned out to be the 5
birds I did not see on Saturday, 4 of which were new to my Blue Mash list, 1 of
which was a county bird. Almost immediately I saw a female Black-throated
Blue Warbler feeding in the trees along the entrance road to the landfill (new
park bird). Meandering along I saw several other birders entering the park
after me, and shortly Tom Marko caught up with me and he and I birded along for
a while until we met up with Jay and Diane Jones and a new birding friend
Phillipe. We joined forces and turned up some other nice finds, including a very
well marked YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER, an immature American Redstart (both
new to my park list) , a single Osprey hunting over the
pond, and a FORSTERS TERN (county bird!) fishing over the pond and flying
all around.
Also seen were a very orange Yellow-breasted Chat, lots and lots of
yellowthroats, martins and Barn Swallows, Killdeer, Great Blue and Green Heron,
Indigo Buntings and Goldfinches galore, both vultures, etc. Another birder
reported seeing a female Hooded Warbler near the woods.
This was the most birders I have ever run into at this park, so I know word
is getting around about it, at least locally.
Rick Sussman
Ashton,MD
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