Hi Folks,

Brian Sykes was anxious to show me some of his recent finds at the
Halethorpe Farms Pond this afternoon, so I brought my digital camera and
scope, to record several bird nests that he has been observing.  We viewed
the following nests, and I was able to get some digiscope documentation of
most:

Red-winged Blackbird--nest with one egg, about two feet off ground

Common Yellowthroat--nest with three eggs, about 8 inches off ground

E. Kingbird--trashy looking nest about 10 feet up in small tree at pond's
edge; one egg seen through mirror

Red-eyed Vireo--nest about 20 feet up in large tree; female on nest

Am. Redstart--nest about 10 feet up in medium tree; five young viewed and
photographed through mirror; adult pair nearby

Hummingbird--nest about 20 feet up in Sycamore Tree where they've nested in
previous years

Prothonotary Warbler--nest in large cavity (2.5-3.0 inch opening) of
smallish tree; three young viewed through mirror; after we moved away from
the nest, the male came in to feed the young, followed a minute later by the
female

Five years ago it would have taken half a season to record this many nests.
During the course of the breeding bird atlas, Sykes developed a tremendous
amount of expertise and patience in tracking down and photographing nesting
evidence.  This was highlighted by his discovery and documentation of a
Brown Creeper nest in March 2006, probably the first such documention in
Maryland.

A few of the other birds noted at the pond:

DC Cormorant--1
Bald Eagle--1 adult flyover, one of the local nesters, according to Sykes
Herring Gull--1 adult
Least Tern--1
GC Flycatcher--1 very vocal
Yellow Warbler--many singing
Orchard Oriole--seen and heard

The Warbling Vireos, which are common here, were silent.

Stan Arnold
Glen Burnie