I did a little scouting for the upcoming SMAS birdathon. I stopped at the end of Lloyd Bowen Rd. and heard Brown-headed Nuthatches singing from the trees near the house on the south side of the road as well as from the large loblolly stand on the north side. It was very windy and I never saw any of them.
 
Next stop was Cage Rd. where I was hoping for Grasshopper Sparrows. Didn't hear or see any there but their faint song could easily have been drowned out by the wind. Did have some Eastern Meadowlarks singing. No N. Bobwhites :(
 
I drove down to the end of Soller's Wharf Rd. and checked the fields near the accident memorial. There was a pair of Bobolinks with the male singing on a fence post above a female. There was more song emanating from the field near the houses but they must have been down in the weeds. There were a number of Field and Savannah Sparrows there on the fence posts and wires. Also another Eastern Meadowlark.
 
Final stop was along Turner Rd. where there were no shorebirds in field that I had hoped would still be wet. More Savannah Sparrows, though.
 
This morning, 4/29,  in our yard is a singing Scarlet Tanager and a Blue-headed Vireo (only the second for our yard).
 
It's funny how things changed so much in a week. I left on 4/19 on a research cruise on the Chesapeake and out into the Atlantic and returned on 4/26. Everything is so green! And most of the birds seemed to have returned. Though we were in 2 states to the south while we were on the ocean, we had some neat birds including a Seaside Sparrow and a Common Yellowthroat who rode with us for 2 days until we got back to the bridge tunnel. Also had a number of Black-capped Petrels, one Audubon's Shearwater and a feisty adult Parasitic Jaeger dogging a group of Herring Gulls that were tailing the boat. Not much else out there as we weren't atop any interesting submarine features.
 
Good to be back on terra firma!
 
Tyler Bell

California, MD