I did a little birding this morning, Thursday 9/4, in western 
Montgomery County.

The polo fields along Hughes Rd. held 26 Killdeer, 22 Horned Larks 
and very little else at around 9 a.m.  Later in the morning mowers 
were at work and the birds were frequently disturbed.  Dave Sperling 
arrived while I was there and spotted a Northern Harrier in the distance.

I then birded the Hughes Hollow impoundments, where I met up with 
Chris Wright.  Our best bird there was a very active OLIVE-SIDED 
FLYCATCHER, which perched at length on a high dead snag.  We also 
heard its loud "THREE BEERS!" call (don't know where the usual 
initial WHIP went to).

An adult Red-headed Woodpecker fly over but it did not perch where we 
could study it.  There were bunches of small birds all over, most of 
them Goldfinches and Hummingbirds.  We had  a nice female-plumaged 
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK and several warblers -- Magnolia, 
Chestnut-sided, Black-and-White, and Common Yellowthroat.  We had 
Warbling (bit unusual for Hughes) and White-eyed Vireos, 2 LEAST 
FLYCATCHERS, and lots of Wood-pewees.

Despite the growing heat, we went on to the Patton Turf Farms near 
White's Ferry in the hope of finding some "grasspipers."  No such 
luck, although we did count a whopping 120 Killdeer in one turf 
field, most of them clustered near a huge water sprinkler.  I think 
that is the largest group of Killdeer that I have ever seen in 
Maryland or anywhere else.

Good Birding

Mike Bowen
Montgomery Bird Club
Bethesda

D.H. Michael Bowen
8609 Ewing Drive
Bethesda, MD  20817
Telephone: (301) 530-5764
e-mail:  dhmbowenATyahooDOTcom