Took the extended family for a half day trip to Blackwater National Wildlife 
Refuge and vicinity in Dorchester County on June 1. We found the previously 
reported Dickcissel along Egypt Road a little over 2 miles south of Route 16; a 
Grasshopper Sparrow sang nearby. Highlights at Blackwater were a Glossy Ibis 
in a muddy field near pool 5c, a White-rumped Sandpiper mixed in with a small 
flock of Semipalmated Sandpipers in pool 5b, and a Horned Lark singing near 
the visitor’s center. There were two handsome male Blue Grosbeaks (Visitor’s 
Center and near Marsh Edge Trail), several Brown-headed Nuthatches near 
the Marsh Edge trail parking lot, many nice views of Bald Eagles and Osprey, 
and Pileated Woodpecker, Summer Tanager, Yellow-billed Cuckoo and a Red-
eyed Vireo on its nest around the parking lot for the Woods Trail.

Jim Wilkinson
Columbia, MD