Hi all,
 Another birding trip to Blue Mash in Montgomery County to document  
sightings for the atlas and just to see  what's around this rather slow  time of year. 
It was a slow day, the nadir of the birding year here, although I  can't 
exactly say why. Many of the regularly seen species were not seen or heard  (Brown 
Thrasher, chickadee and titmouse, Downy WP, YB Chat, Wood Duck. No  
Red-winged Blackbird is almost unheard of!).
4 participants plus myself saw only 43 species. Weather should not have  been 
a factor, though it was not as predicted. It was partly sunny and  muggy, and 
got well into the high 80's.
 
Highlights, if you can call them that, were the 4 shorebird species,  1 each 
of Killdeer, Solitary and Spotted Sandpiper and Least Sandpiper. A  young 
Cooper's Hawk zipped across the trail right in front of us and later was  seen 
soaring overhead with a group of Purple Martins chattering in pursuit above  us. 
Everything seemed to be skulking. 
 
Rick Sussman
Ashton,MD