Migration was still slow in my usual haunts this morning, but any day with a
Cape May Warbler can't be all bad. Some unexpected birds and some great views
made up for the numbers. I started at sunrise at Rockburn Branch Park in
Elkridge, where some of the first birds were a flyover juvenile RED-HEADED
WOODPECKER, a BARRED OWL being mobbed by crows, and 2 calling SCREECH-OWLS. But no
migrant flocks. It took me nearly an hour to find the first warbler, but it was a
colorful adult CAPE MAY in the conifers by the haunted house. Eventually I
found one small migrant flock along the pipeline right-of-way, but nothing
unusual.
I spent the last two hours of the morning at the two big Halethorpe ponds in
Baltimore County, where things were even slower, but I did add a BLUE-WINGED
WARBLER and another CAPE MAY in the woods along the river. The combined list
for the morning totalled 61, including 6 woodpeckers (no sapsucker) and only 6
warblers.
Some highlights from Rockburn:
Cooper's Hawk - 1
RS Hawk - 4
Broad-winged Hawk - 3
E Screech-Owl - 2
Barred Owl - 1
RT Hummingbird - 1
Red-headed Woodpecker - 1 imm.
Pileated Woodpecker - 1
E Wood-Pewee - 3
Acadian FC - 1
Phoebe - 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1
Gnatcatcher - 1
E Bluebird - 3
Swainson's Thrush - 1
Brown Thrasher - 8, very conspicuous this time of year
NASHVILLE WARBLER - 1
MAGNOLIA WARBLER - 5
CAPE MAY WARBLER - 1
BTG WARBLER - 1
COMMON YELLOWTHROAT - 5
RB Grosbeak - 1
Halethorpe Ponds added:
DC Cormorant - 1
GB Heron - 1
Great Egret - 2
Green Heron - 1
Osprey - 1
Laughing Gull - 2 in high flock of 15 Ring-bills
Caspian Tern - 1
Chimney Swift - about 20 flying due East in direct flight
BLUE-WINGED WARBLER - 1
CAPE MAY WARBLER - 1
COMMON YELLOWTHROAT - 3
Joel Martin
Catonsville, MD
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