Sunday June 3 and Monday June 4 Mark Linardi, Gail Frantz, Kevin Graff,
Pete Webb and I birded in Western Maryland. This trip originated from
discussions with Mark Linardi, who had never birded in Western Maryland
and had three main target species: Henslow's Sparrow, Golden-winged
Warbler, and Alder Flycatcher. Therefore, based on my past experiences,
our key destinations were Old Legislative Road for Henslow's and
Golden-winged Warbler and Finzel Swamp for Alder Flycatcher.

Sunday we arrived at Old Legislative Rd around 11 AM. We quickly heard a
Golden-wing but it was clearly not very close to the road. So, knowing
rain might set in soon, we decided to go for the tougher species first -
Henslow's Sparrow. We walked up to the first plateau where I have
usually had them. For a while we were just hearing and seeing
Grasshopper Sparrows, plus Bobolinks, Willow Flycatcher, and
Meadowlarks. Finally, Pete and I started hearing probable Henslow's
Sparrows very faintly and gradually became more convinced they were real
and probably there were two of them. But, even though we thought they
were close based on triangulation on the sounds, they just would not
perch in view the way they usually do sooner or later. After roughly two
hours we decided we had to retreat due to the onset of rain, which we
thought wrongly would be scattered and brief.
After lunch it was still raining but we kept on trying for Henslow's
Sparrow and whatever else would come along. First we tried Aaron Run
Road, which starts in a remarkably obscure way under different names in
Allegany County a few miles north of Westernport. The rain was light but
it made birding tough, especially for hearing those tiny "see-lick"
sounds from birds that probably would not sing in the rain anyway. So we
had no luck with the Henslow's, but as we got to the end of the fields,
we saw one of the trip highlights - a black bear about 100 yards away,
lumbering across the fields towards the woods.  Then we saw a singing
Mockingbird, rare for Garrett Co.
As the rain increased, we tried to pick up warblers along various
Lonaconing-to-Avilton roads that are often productive, but we were very
unsuccessful due to the rain. Finally we reached Pea Ridge Road, which
was brand new to me. It has wonderful extensive fields and looks perfect
for Henslow's Sparrow, but again we had no luck as the rain continued.
The best we could do was add a wet, singing Savannah Sparrow. It also
had about the highest concentration of Bobolinks I ever saw outside of
migration.

The next day the forecast was good and it was already mostly sunny in
the morning. We went off to Finzel Swamp. Pretty quickly we heard and
saw an Alder Flycatcher giving unusually unambiguous renditions of its
"re-BEET" song. It was in good view on a snag not too far away. Some of
the other species there were three or four Common Ravens, Purple Finch
(well-seen), Northern Waterthrush, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Yellow
Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. We also saw a fresh
Harris' Checkerspot butterfly near the pond, which we were originally
thinking was a Baltimore Checkerspot. Mark Linardi got a few good
pictures of it from which we ID'ed it today as a Harris'.

Next it was back to Old Legislative Road. Immediately we heard the
Golden-winged Warbler and Mark plunged into the brush in pursuit while
the rest of us jaded folks birded from the road. Our main sighting was a
Yellow-billed Cuckoo, which we encountered a number of times throughout
the trip (no Black-bills). Soon Mark happily called us to report he saw
the Golden-wing well, which made us all very happy.

Then we went up the hill again for the sparrows. There were fewer
Grasshopper Sparrows than the day before and it was somewhat windy, so
it was not looking good. But gradually we started hearing the
"see-licks" from the Henslow's Sparrows - at least three birds. One of
them sounded practically at our feet. However they still did not want to
perch in view on a bush or tall weed. Finally, one perched and sang for
about 30 seconds on a low tuft just long enough for all of us to get
acceptable looks at it.

Based on this and other reports, I would theorize that the Henslow's
were just a little late in arriving this year, like so many species, and
were still feeling each other out for territory without being confident
enough yet to sing in plain view.

We had hoped to go to Swallow Falls and other western Garrett County
locations, but due to the mostly rained-out first day and the focus on
the three target species, we just did not have the time, or at least the
energy (for most of us) for that. Therefore we decided to wander the
roads from Lonaconing again ending up at New Germany State Park. We
heard a pretty good number of warblers but scarcely saw any of them.
There seems to have been a general shyness-disease going around all
over. Most frustrating was that we looked for four or five singing
Blackburnian Warblers but just could not get them into view despite
valiant efforts. Some of the species on this route were Broad-winged
Hawk, Common Raven, Wood Thrush, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler,
Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler,
Yellow-rumped Warbler (New Germany), Black-throated Green Warbler,
Blackburnian Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler,
American Redstart, Kentucky Warbler (Mill Run Rd, Allegany Co).

We split up at New Germany. Mark, Gail, and I spent about a final
half-hour of birding on beautiful Blue Lick Road (off Lower New Germany
Road NE of New Germany park). It follows a very deep but narrow hemlock
forest. Soon we were watching a Hermit Thrush carrying food, patiently
waiting for us to leave. We heard Wood Thrushes and maybe a Hermit or
two, a Blue-headed Vireo, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-throated
Green Warbler, and our only Canada Warbler. I just heard from Pete that
he and Kevin picked up Hooded, Worm-eating, Pine and Prairie Warblers in
Green Ridge State Forest on the way home.

Steve Sanford
scartan^AT^verizon^DOT^net
Randallstown MD
Baltimore County