I went to Conowingo Dam this afternoon to do a 
little scouting for a field trip tomorrow. The 
only unusual gull I found was a Lesser 
Black-backed Gull. However, at the entrance to the 
bathrooms, an Eastern Phoebe flew up from the 
bushes and landed on the rail at the entrance to 
the women's bathroom.

On the way home, I stopped to look at a flock of 
sparrows on Craigs Corners Road just north of the 
intersection with Wilkinson Road. My attention was 
drawn to the left side of the road where something 
was sending leaves flying in all directions. My 
first thought was that it had to be a Fox Sparrow 
and when I looked and saw a reddish bird, I 
thought I was correct. However, a closer look 
revealed it to be a Brown Thrasher. It did quite a 
bit of thrashing and was still there when I left.

Usually, if anyone around has Pine Siskins, it is 
me. So, I was getting quite frustrated reading all 
the reports this year of Pine Siskins all over the 
east coast and my feeders were bare. Finally, last 
Friday I saw a couple at my thistle feeder. I have 
seen a few each day since with the highest number 
being 4.

I also have a couple of brown Purple Finches each 
day with on occasional visit by an adult male. He 
was here just a few minutes ago.

So, with the goldfinches and House Finches, I am 
seeing 4 finch species each day. Here's hoping for 
a fifth.

Les

===========
Les Eastman
mailto:[log in to unmask]
Havre de Grace, MD

The eagle looked down on the river below
And he wrapped his wings round him and he fell 
like a stone
And the big salmon fought but the talons held true
And he shuddered as the world turned from silver 
to blue
                               Steve Earle