Hi Folks,

I just had a phone conversation with Brian Sykes, and he reported seeing a
BROWN PELICAN circling over the east end of the large Halethorpe Farms Pond
(SE Baltimore Co.) on Monday, 10 July.  He said he thought it was going to
land at the flats at the end of the pond, but then a bunch of four-wheelers
made a racket nearby, and the bird flew off.  This is a Halethorpe Pond
first in his dozen-year association with the place.  He also reports that a
GLOSSY IBIS pair has spent the summer at the pond, first arriving in late
May.   Additionally, an AMERICAN COOT has also spent the summer there, but
this bird has an injured wing, and can't go very far.  Another interesting
sighting was a female HOODED MERGANSER visiting the area on 9 July, but only
seen the one day.  These mergansers spend the winter at this pond and are a
possible nester in this atlas block (Relay NE), having been confirmed only a
few miles away in the Relay CW block.

The Relay NE atlas block, with over 100 valid species for the atlas (plus
another 15 or more observed-only species) has had one gaping hole in its
species lineup:  Field Sparrow.  This has frustrated me endlessly, because
within 200 yards of the block boundary over in Relay CE, Field Sparrows have
been confirmed.  Elaine and I have spent hours driving around the developing
business parks north of BWI Airport, checking out all the grassy fields and
meadows looking for this bird, and also visiting the great sparrow habitat
at Southwest Area Park.  Today our search ended in a field that straddles
the Relay CE/ Relay NE boundary line, across from the large Grumman complex
off of Nursery Rd. north of BWI Airport.  Here, along the north edge of the
field (clearly within Relay NE), we had two or more FIELD SPARROWs singing
their little hearts out, which of course warmed the cockles of our little
hearts.  I would say that this was about our #1 most wanted bird in any of
our atlas blocks.

We visited the above field this morning, however, not to look for sparrows,
but to look for WILLOW FLYCATCHER.  Back on 24 June while driving along this
field, I slammed on the brakes when we heard the lovely sound "Fitz-bew!"
Elaine, who is passionate about her southern roots, and about Civil War
history corrects me, however, and says the bird is saying "Fitz-hugh!" (a
reference to Fitzhugh Lee, nephew of Robert E. Lee, and a general in the
Confederate States Army, later a general in the United States Army, governor
of Virginia, and a champion of reconcilliation between the North and the
South).  Well anyway, regardless of what the bird is saying, it was singing
its song, and was positioned along the south edge of the field, clearly in
the Relay CE atlas block, and thus a new atlas tick for this block!  We were
hoping for the T-code today, but the bird was nowhere to be found;
nevertheless, we went home feeling smug about our Field Sparrow.

There's still so much atlasing yet to be done.  Tomorrow we are hoping to
walk some neighborhoods and ask people if they have birds in their chimneys.
We've netted a couple of Chimney Swift confirms this way.

Hope everyone is getting out to do some atlasing.  Getting confirmations
will never be easier.

Stan Arnold
Glen Burnie