Hi Folks,

Elaine and I spent three of the last five days birding/atlasing in Garrett
Co., and found many of the same birds that Joel Martin found during his
recent visit, but found them in different locations, so I will take the
liberty to be a bit verbose and describe what was seen and where and under
what circumstances.  The biggest news is that the HENSLOW'S SPARROWs along
Pea Ridge Rd. are back (sigh of relief--we didn't find a single one during
our visit over Memorial Day weekend).  Elaine and I counted 9 of them
singing on both sides of the road (we didn't see any of them) while we drove
the short section of the road between Avilton-Lonaconing Rd. and Lancaster
Hill Rd. on Thursday, 23 June in the mid afternoon.  Other highlights for
the trip included RUFFED GROUSE, WHIP-POOR-WILL, WILLOW FLYCATCHER, LEAST
FLYCATCHER, COMMON RAVEN, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET,
HERMIT THRUSH, warblers to include GOLDEN-WINGED, BLACKBURNIAN, KENTUCKY,
and CANADA; DARK-EYED JUNCO, and BOBOLINK.

    Wed., 22 June.  A quick drive through our Barton NE atlas block gave us
our first confirmed KILLDEER--Mom and four hatchlings running around the
middle of Avilton-Lonaconing Road at the top of the hill where the Bedrock
Quarry is located, just across the road from the entrance to Little Brown
Lake.  We were very concerned about the youngsters getting run over;
certainly this was a concern of their mother, too.

    At the 4-H Camp off of Hwy 495, we had Canada Geese with almost grown
young, two (or three) fledged young Hairy Woodpeckers, and singing
Yellow-billed Cuckoo, N. Parula, and Hermit Thrush.  Later that evening, a
stop at Swallow Falls State Park produced vocalizing RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH,
and several very vocal BLACKBURNIAN WARBLERS, one of which finally perched
atop one of the evergreen trees where I was able to get the scope on it for
a superb view of this life bird for Elaine.

    Thur., 23 June.  An early morning climb up to the fire tower on Roth
Rock Rd. produced a RUFFED GROUSE hen with six little hatchlings following
her away from the trail and singing DARK-EYED JUNCOs near the top of the
trail.  A stop at Mt Nebo WMA was fairly quiet, with the usual BLUE-HEADED
VIREOs and COMMON RAVENs making themselves heard, but not offering anything
in the way of views.  While heading back eastward across the county to the
Barton atlas block, a LEAST FLYCATCHER was heard along Glendale Rd., making
its constant "che-beck" calls.

    In the early afternoon, back in the Barton NE atlas block, Elaine and I
hiked one of the two Forest Service trails (with the yellow gates, but
difficult to see from the road) that go west from the Avilton-Lonaconing
Rd., about 1/2 mile south of where the road crosses the Little Savage River
(nothing more than a culvert under the road).  We hiked the south-most of
the two trails, the one I call the "Pine Trail" because it has the largest
stand of pines within the atlas block.  Here we had singing GOLDEN-CROWNED
KINGLET, BLACKBURNIAN WARBLERs, a very agitated BLUE-HEADED VIREO, and a
BARRED OWL that responded to my calls.  Also, a noisy Blue Jay was a good
find--they tend to be quite uncommon in this heavily forested block.  From
here we attempted to hike the Savage Mountain Trail, along the ridgeline of
this mountain, but the trail is still almost impassable from downed limbs
following two major ice storms a year or two ago.  The only find here was
our only MAGNOLIA WARBLER of the trip.

    In the late afternoon, we made our way down Pea Ridge Rd., where we had
heard the HENSLOW'S SPARROWs mentioned earlier.  Further south on this road,
near the house by the double silos, was a singing LEAST FLYCATCHER--my first
in the Avilton SE atlas block.  In the same general area, a WILD TURKEY
crossed the road, and the usual SAVANNAH SPARROWs, GRASSHOPPER SPARROWs,
MEADOWLARKs, and BOBOLINKs could be seen and heard along the last mile of
Pea Ridge Rd. (all of them already confirmed, except meadowlark).  We
stopped to chat with Harold Fikes, whose barn almost sticks out into the
road, and he said that last year the NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD that was seen
frequently atop his barn actually had a nest with four eggs in his yard.
This was a great confirmation for the block, as this bird can be very tough
to find anywhere in the county.  We also stopped to chat with Henry Stafford
in the last inhabited house on Pea Ridge Rd., who has lots of feeders and
nestboxes, where we saw the usual hummingbirds, bluebirds, goldfinches, and
Tree Swallows.  Henry had found a fledgling E. MEADOWLARK on the edge of the
road that morning, another new confirm for the atlas block.

    During an evening stop at a Forest Service trailhead along Swamp Rd.,
just west of A-L Rd., I made several Barred Owl calls, and to my delight, I
was answered by a pair of very annoyed COOPER'S HAWKs, that flew back and
forth in the trees, just out of sight, and chattered at me incessantly.
This was a new species for the block during this atlas, and I gave them an
"A" (agitated) code, though I suppose a "P" code would have worked as well.

    Elaine and I did a brief hike down the Forest Service Trail next to the
tiny George's Creek Brethren Church waiting for darkness to fall, and as we
returned to the car at 9 p.m., (it was still pretty light out) the
WHIP-POOR-WILLs had already begun their singing across the road from the
church.  This is where Charlie Kucera and I found them last year.  We looked
for Screech Owls in several locations, finally finding one along the
Avilton-Lonaconing Rd. at Wilhelm Rd. (in the Avilton SE block), where
Charlie and I had found a pair two years ago.

    Friday, 24 June.  Our most productive atlasing experience of the trip
was early this morning, when Elaine and I hiked down the Forest Service
trail from the little Brethren Church mentioned above.  In the past three
years of atlasing, I have only heard a single Kentucky Warbler and only one
or two Blackburnians on this trail.  However, today we heard multiple
KENTUCKY WARBLERs and BLACKBURNIAN WARBLERs, singing within earshot of each
other, warranting a "T" code for both species, and a very welcome upgrade
for both.  Other warblers heard while descending the trail included
OVENBIRD, CHESTNUT-SIDED, REDSTART, HOODED, and COMMON YELLOWTHROAT.  At the
base of the steepest section of this trail is a 4-wheeler path that goes off
to the left, down a steep incline to an abandoned homestead with house,
pond, and some collapsed out-buildings.  This place is a little mecca for
birds.  Once in the open, we were greeted by the constant Fitz-bew of a
WILLOW FLYCATCHER that later gave us some excellent looks.  This was a first
for this atlas block, as was a singing WHITE-EYED VIREO.  We were able to
see a single GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER, though it did not sing, and we heard no
others.  This species was confirmed here two years ago.  FIELD SPARROWs,
already confirmed, were singing all over the place.  When we hiked back up
to the car parked at the yellow gate, HOUSE WRENs were chattering without
pause.  This has been a tough bird to find in this block, so we were
thrilled when we got a good look at a fledgling, still with a very bright
mouth-lining, and a short stubby little tail.

    Sunday, 26 June.  After two nights in Indianapolis, we returned to our
atlasing in the Barton NE block of Garrett Co. with an early evening hike to
the top of Four-Mile Ridge, accessed from one of the yellow Forest Service
gates on the west side of Avilton-Lonaconing Rd.  By far our best find of
the outing came just as we crossed the dilapidated bridge across the Little
Savage River.  Here we heard some very forceful chip notes that caused us to
pause in our tracks.  I did not know to what species these utterances
belonged until a little song revealed the bird as a CANADA WARBLER.  In
short order, a fledged youngster flitted into and then out of my field of
view, as an alarmed parent scolded the youngster out of harms way, and then
proceeded to fly circles around us, chipping the entire time.  It was
difficult for Elaine and me to get a good look at the bird as it constantly
changed position, but we were in time able to get a fairly satisfying look
at the bright yellow underside, black necklace, and bold eye-ring.  We then
hiked up the trail, where HERMIT THRUSH could be heard singing in the
distance, and where a CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER scolded us from a perch over
the trail, but didn't seem to be defending a nest.  Then as we came back
down, a male BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER came bursting out of a thicket, and
noisily flew circles around us, certainly leading us away from his nest.
When we returned to the Canada Warbler location, we were given the third
degree.  This time we had both parents in the alarm-mode, with one of them
making two kamikazee runs at me.  I thought I was going to get hit both
times.  We left them to their business, feeling quite smug at this wonderful
atlas confirmation.

By the way, earlier this evening, as we were leaving Carey Run MOS
Sanctuary, there was a YELLOW WARBLER carrying food for young in the bushes
next to the bridge near the entry road.  This might be a needed confirm, but
don't know which or whose block this is.

ATLAS RESULTS:  We added three new species to the Barton NE atlas block
(Cooper's Hawk, Willow Flycatcher, and White-eyed Vireo), and six new
confirmations (Killdeer, N. Mockingbird, E. Meadowlark, House Wren, Canada
Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler).  Several other species were upgraded
from Possible to Probable.

REQUEST:  If anyone visits the forest service trail near the Brethren Church
on Avilton-Lonconing Rd., and gets to the abandoned homestead down the
trail, I would appreciate any reports on the Willow Flycatcher and
White-eyed Vireo, so as to upgrade the status from possible to probable.
Thanks much.

June is the time to be in Garrett County.  What a great place to have an
atlas block.

Stan Arnold
Glen Burnie