Hi Folks,

Elaine and I spent most of the weekend atlasing in Talbot Co., and had a
very productive outing.  It was tough getting away from our house mid-day
Friday, though, because as we were loading the car an American Redstart
began singing in our yard, followed by a Black-throated Blue Warbler, and
then a Pine Warbler dropped in (a new atlas tick for the Relay CE block),
and by the time we hit the road, we had heard or seen seven species of
warbler, plus our yard's first of year Red-eyed Vireo.  Other warblers
seen/heard were Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Black-and-white, and
Chestnut-sided.  While our yard has tended to be attractive to a variety of
thrushes over the years, surprisingly we had never recorded a Wood Thrush
here.  Well, that was taken care of early Friday morning when we had one
singing along the driveway.

Once on the road (Friday, 5/5), we made our first stop at Pickering Creek
Audubon Sanctuary in Talbot Co.  We were hoping for the Reeve (not seen in
over a week), but instead found three BLACK-NECKED STILTs, definitely a new
county bird, since I've never been out to Poplar Island where one would be
more likely to find them.  Other shorebirds seen included Semipal. Plovers,
both yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, and Dunlin.  While walking around the pond
near the parking area on the sanctuary we heard or saw both orioles and a
Yellow-breasted Chat.  There was still one male Green-winged Teal in the
ponds visible from the main road.

The most productive areas in our atlas blocks, which lie west of St.
Michaels, were May Port Rd. (just south of Bozman); Wades Point Inn, off of
Hwy 33; and the best place of the trip: Ferry Cove Rd. off of Lowe's Wharf
Rd., immediately west of Sherwood.  The most notable sightings at those
venues were:

May Port Rd. (with date of sighting given; many thanks to Claudia Orr who
lives on this road, and has put us onto many local birds and has become a
great source of atlas data):

Cattle Egret--6 on Hwy 579 just south of May Port Rd., 5/6
YB Cuckoo--2 or more--5/7
Pileated Woodpecker--5/7, not a common bird west of St. Michaels
Brown-headed Nuthatch--1 at feeder, 5/6
Black-throated Blue Warbler--1 singing, 5/7
Common Yellowthroat--male seen, 5/7
Scarlet Tanager--brilliant male--5/7
Rose-breasted Grosbeak--heard, 5/6

Wades Point Rd., and pond at Wades Point Inn:

Wood Duck
Green-winged Teal--drake still present
Solitary Sandpiper--1
YB Cuckoo--3--very noisy!
Brown Thrasher--1
Yellow Warbler--several singing near pond
Grasshopper Sparrow--1 on entry road
Orchard Oriole--at least 4 around pond

Ferry Cove Rd., off of Lowe's Wharf Rd., near Sherwood:

Wood Duck--hen with 12 ducklings (first time this species has been recorded
for atlas in Claiborne SW block)
Gadwall--1 drake
Blue-winged Teal--hen
Great Egret--1
Snowy Egret--2
Semipal Plover--2
Lesser Yellowlegs--2
Greater Yellowlegs--1
Least Sandpiper--38
Pectoral Sandpiper--2
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER--3
Grasshopper Sparrow--7 along road
Blue Grosbeak--1
Baltimore Oriole--2 males

Also, at the end of Lowe's Wharf Rd., we had:

Semipal. Plover--16
WILLET--3
Greater Yellowlegs--2

Some of the atlas highlights included seeing a Killdeer on three eggs,
getting news from Claudia Orr that she had seen two Black Vulture eggs,
finding an E. Meadowlark pair along Cabin Cove Rd. (Claiborne SW), and
finding Pileated Woodpecker along Punch Point Rd. (south of Sherwood), which
must be the furthest west this bird is found in Talbot Co.  Also, there were
many confirms of the easier species, along with other atlas pickups.

Once we got back home and were unloading the car, Elaine looked up in a tree
in our yard and spotted our first-of-season Baltimore Oriole in the yard.
The yard year list now stands at 78.

Next weekend--it's May Count, and time to burn a few calories.

Stan Arnold
Glen Burnie