On Saturday, two Horned Larks were displaying over the sod farm
next to the airport. I saw three Larks that afternoon so I am guessing
these two males were vying for the affections of the third bird.

In Perryville Community Park, I saw one of those "blue-headed" cardinals.
It was a male with a few feathers on top, giving it a bit of a mohawk look,
but the rest of its head was completely bare. I have decided that cardinals,
like poodles, look really bad without a fluffy head. I also saw a 
male Baltimore
Oriole and an immature male Orchard Oriole. I've seen several Orioles
this summer--I get the impression they are on the increase around here.

Our hummingbird feeder continues to support two or three females,
one of which has claimed the feeder as hers. She sits on a branch
of the Disanthus shrub where we hang the feeder, with her little head
swiveling back and forth as she scans for the competition. We seem
to be going through 1/2 cup of nectar a day.

The Summer Tanager has been singing for the past few days, and the 
Wood Thrushes
are pretty vocal again, so I guess a second round of nesting must be going on.
I have not heard the Ovenbird in weeks. I also have not heard many 
vireos in the woods
this year.

Mystery bird: On my drive home from work yesterday, I stopped in a 
wooded area not
far from a creek, and heard a "CHIP-where-where-WEE" call that at 
first I thought
was a portion of a White-eyed Vireo song, but the song never varied. 
The elusive bird
kept moving back and forth in dense trees about 10' off the ground, 
and although
I finally got just a glimpse of the bird, it was really good at 
hiding. My impression based
on about one second's view was that it was smaller than a robin and 
had a light brown or
buffy or maybe yellowish breast, but that's about it. Any ideas?

--Pat

Pat Valdata, Elkton, MD | 
"The natural function of the wing is to soar upwards
and carry that which is heavy up to the place where dwells the race of gods.
More than any other thing that pertains to the body
it partakes of the nature of the divine." --Plato