Hi Everyone,

Peter Barnes (visiting from Texas) and I had a fun day birding Dorchester County.  At 4:15 this afternoon after a long, birdy day, we came across 4 Dickcissels on Egypt Rd, about 2 miles south of Rt 16.  Three of the birds were perched on wires on the east side of the road, the fourth was further back in the field on that side.  Three of the birds were singing.  I haven't yet looked in North American Birds or the MDOsprey archives to learn about the breeding status of this species in Dorchester County.  I did see the question mark in the Yellow Book, and we are within safe dates (5/15 to 7/30) for this species according to the DE Breeding Bird Atlas project.  Ebird gave me an "Oops!" which always makes me feel like I've accomplished something :)  Perhaps with the recent completion of the MD BBA, this is a known location for the species, but just in case I thought I'd post...  Either way, we got a kick out of it!

We spent all morning on Elliott Island Rd, where we had nice views of our lifer Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows.  We were pleasantly surprised at how easy they were to find in patches of short grass early in the morning (ca. 7:15 am).  Between two areas, we saw 7 individuals.  All we had to do was stand at the edge of the road and watch.  Plenty of Seaside Sparrows in the same areas.

Have fun,

Ron Gutberlet
Salisbury, MD