Hello All,
	We had 4" of rain on Friday that made puddles, puddles everywhere.  Most of the area fields have been cultivated and many have sprouted corn, but I was hoping for some shorebirds on the bare ground after it was well saturated.  I had had some success under similar conditions late in May a couple years ago (a big rain after all of the traditional spring puddles had dried) with finding Semi and Least Sand and Semi Plover.  This year, I found 0 shorebirds despite an extensive search Saturday morning and a shorter one in the afternoon.  However, I did see a Cooper's Hawk on Kinder Rd, which is about the right time for the local nesting bird to appear (this would make the 3rd year in a row).  And as I was returning from the afternoon search, I was in the right place at the right time to see two pairs of ducks fly over the house - 2 Mallard and 2 Black Duck.  The Blacks are new for the year (#119 I think)
	Sunday morning, I was hoping to find a couple more warblers.  I had one group at the back corner of my farm (Caroline, MD).  It included a Blackpoll, a Chestnut-Sided and a Bay-breasted.  The latter two were new for the year and the Bay-breasted being my first spring record.  Also present were both tanager (a splotchy male Summer arrived last week), Gnatcatcher, Chat, and Prairie.  Also on the farm was a Worm-Eating that stayed long enough to become an atlas tick, a Killdeer giving a distraction display, and a male Wood Duck in the pond.  64 species for the day, 121 for the year.
	Afterward, I took a spin around the portions of the Seaford West SW (home block) that I usually ignore in an attempt to fill in a couple species that are not present at home.  At the cutoff woods on Wheatley Rd (near 392 between Reliance and Finchville - Dorchester Co), I finally got Towhee.  This cutoff has been very slow growing back enough to be productive.  Then on to Davis Mill Rd, at the first woods there was a calling Bobwhite and cooperative YB Cuckoo.  Moving north, there is a small stream and associated woods as you approach the end of Adams Rd.  At the south end of the woods, I had a possible Warbling Vireo.  I got fleeting looks at a drab bird; not good enough to be positive, but nothing to make it a negative either.  I lack confidence in this song because it is a bird I see only when I travel.  I will checking back here in a few days.  The next stop had Cedar Waxwings, Orchard and Baltimore Orioles, and a Blackpoll.  Turning the corner onto Adams Rd, there was a Swainson's Thrush at the stream crossing.  I was quite pleased with this little outing.  On to more intensive atlasing next weekend.

Good Birding,
Glen Lovelace III
Seaford, DE