Hi Folks,

I had an excited message from Brian Sykes on Thursday.  After several days
of careful stalking, he found a Willow Flycatcher nest at the Halethorpe
Farms Pond (Patapsco Pond #5, Balt. Co.), and using a mirror was able to
photograph the four eggs therein.  That's the good news.  When I called him
back yesterday, the good news had turned bad, as the nest had been robbed,
probably by a rat snake, as there was no disturbance to the nest itself.
The nest was tightly woven with a deep cup, and firmly attached to a grape
vine which was using a Boxelder Tree as its host.  The nest sat about 8 feet
above the current water level of the pond, about 10 feet back from the
current shoreline, and about 15 to 20 feet from the powerline cut where
these birds are usually seen or heard.  After finding the nest empty, Sykes
collected it and brought it home, where he sprayed it for preservation.
After visiting the pond and seeing where the nest had been, I went by his
place and took several photos of the nest.

During our hour-long visit to the pond (east end of Halethorpe Farms Rd.),
we saw/heard:

DC Cormorant--1 imm
GB Heron--1 flyby
Great Egret--1
Osprey--2
Bald Eagle--1 hatch year bird screaming for food
Herring Gull--1 adult
Rock Pigeon
Mo. Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo--1 or 2 were fairly vocal
Downy Woodpecker
E. Kingbird--one chased the GB Heron away
Rough-winged Swallow--1 fledgling
Barn Swallow--4 or 5 fledglings
Carolina Wren
BG Gnatcatcher--1 fledgling viewed; another bird heard
N. Mocker
Yellow Warbler--several still singing
Common Yellowthroat--one singing
Song Sparrow--several fledglings
Orchard Oriole--one singing

    Back at home in our yard in Ferndale (AA Co.), Elaine and I have been
hosting a juvenile female HAIRY WOODPECKER at our feeders for ten days now.
We are delighted with this since in 2005 we saw this species here only once,
and the same for 2006.  Also, on Thursday evening (5 July) we had an adult
LITTLE BLUE HERON fly over the yard in the late evening.  Last week we
watched a 3-foot Black Rat Snake try to devour a young robin in our back
yard, but the snake could not quite negotiate the outstretched shoulder of
the bird.  It was a lose-lose situation, as we found the disgorged robin an
hour later, indicating the snake went away hungry.  Of course, photos were
taken.  Another item of interest:  a dead bat found in the yard a couple
weeks ago.  I took several pics, and then buried it.  It was brown and
small, and I assume it was a Little Brown Myotis.  Perhaps I could send a
photo to someone with bat expertise?

Stan Arnold
Glen Burnie