Preparing for a day of walking and birding with my wife and son, I hardly
expected the day's highlight to come while we were sitting on our back deck:
a black-throated green warbler among 3 or 4 titmice, all eating unripe
berries off a bush some five feet away. This was a new yard bird for our
Annapolis-area home and new lifer for all 3 of us.
        I don't have access to a Yellow Book or other database, but I gather from
recent postings that these are still within their migratory date ranges?

        We also checked out School House Pond in Upper Marlboro, MD. Along with the
expected Gt Blue Herons and Gt. Egrets, we encountered many types of
Woodpeckers (Red-Headed, Downy, Common Flicker and Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker)
as well as a large flock of Robins and a few Catbirds on the bushy path
leading away from the pond at the far side. Also seen: small flock (3-4) of
Yellow-Rumped Warblers.

        We finished up at Merkle Visitor Center and Wildlife Drive - not a lot of
passerines. An Eastern Pheobe feeding from a roadside perch. The highlight
was 2 Eastern Meadowlarks popping in and out of the high grass just in front
of the (Canada Goose-filled) pond near the Visitor Center. And a Kestrel on
the way home.

        Finally, while I was looking at some shorebirds from an observation tower
along the Wildlife Drive, my wife and son saw something that can only be
described as bizarre: a Blue-Jay-sized bird with a parrot-like beak and a
large red bump or growth at the base of its bill, and black and white on the
wings. It flew past, allowing only a brief look. We couldn't find anything
close in Sibley's, and even checked some out-of-U.S. birding guides. Hmmmm..
My guess is either an escapee or some odd hybrid..

        Good Birding!

Warren P. Strobel

Cape St. Claire, MD

2004 Year List - 183
U.S. Life List - 242
World Life List - 335