Hi,

This is a response to the "new yard bird" thread even though neither of
these are really new yard birds.  The first I've seen before; the second
was not in my yard.  Last week, March 30, a Rusty Blackbird spent a
morning in the front yard.  I saw them here a few times about ten years
ago but since they are in such a steep decline, any occurrence is
probably worth reporting these days.  

This is a run-of-the-mill suburban neighborhood with no interesting
avian features thus the real surprise was this evening.  At sunset,
about two blocks down the road we found a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron.
It was walking around a well-manicured front-yard lawn doing a very bad
imitation of a robin.  While we gawked, the homeowner came out and said,
"Isn't it beautiful?".  And she was right; it was an adult sporting
elegant head plumes.  While it pranced about the yard, it appeared
healthy though unusually tame.  Every once in a while it would pick up
something to eat from the lawn.  The homeowner said she first saw it
early this morning and at one point it was chased out of a tree by one
of the resident squirrels.

The nearest water -- a concrete-lined creek bed -- is about three-
quarters of a mile away.  The nearest real wetlands is more than a mile
in the opposite direction.  I thought Yellow-crowned Night-Herons away
from the bay usually fed on crayfish.  How likely are they to feed on a
dry, upland lawn?  My guess is not very.  It's likely this bird was
migrating north last night.  At sunrise, not knowing where to find good
habitat, it did the best it could and put down in this yard.  After
resting and feeding, it's probably already continuing its northbound
journey.

Perhaps birds really do have wings and any species can show up anywhere.

David Mozurkewich
Lynette Fullerton
April 6, 2006
Seabrook, PG, MD