Hi all,
 I have been birding a bit of every morning all last week at Layhill  Park,
with few migrant warblers passing all week. A few nice looks at  Blackburnian
Warblers and a quick view of a PHILADELPHIA VIREO on Friday Sept. 3  were the
highlights there

Saturday's MOS walk at Meadowside Nature Center was mostly very quiet, with
6-7 warbler species seen, nothing very well or very long as they were on the
move. We did have some nice views of a few Veery's and a Wood Thrush, as well
as  a color-banded female Indigo Bunting feeding a youngster (blue band on
left  leg). I don't know who is banding them or why, though one of our
participants  mentioned seeing people catching birds there for West Nile Virus research
recently.

I birded Blue Mash Nature Trail with some other Montgomery Bird Club  members
on Sunday Sept. 5, in a sort of impromtu bird walk to show them the  trails.
We had fleeting glimpses (or at least 2 of us did) of a single  Grasshopper
Sparrow, great and long looks at as many as 1/2 a dozen BLUE  GROSBEAKS, males,
females and youngsters, a good long study of a  perched LEAST FLYCATCHER as
well as E. Wood-Pewee, E. Phoebe, and a  good long study at an otherwise
unidentifiable empi (Traills?). Also seen  were a flyover Lesser Yellowlegs, a single
Solitary Sandpiper, Green and Great  Blue Heron, lots of C. Yellowthroats,
House and Carolina Wrens, a pair of hawks  (my best guess would be Red-tailed
and Coopers), the bigger chasing the smaller  but not seen well enough to make a
positive ID. Lots of Indigo Buntings,  Goldfinches, and a few Brown
Thrashers, but more Blue Grosbeaks than  catbirds!

A very fine morning with great weather and even better company.

Rick Sussman
Ashton,MD