I had a nice birdy morning at the Hughes Hollow area of the McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area today (3/12/09) with 43 species.  A flock of Tree Swallows were checking out the nest boxes and natural cavities in the dead trees in and around the impoundments.  I flushed at least 5 Wilson's Snipe along the edges of the levees. I encountered a flock of at least 20 Rusty Blackbirds in the area of the impoundments and found additional birds in small groups back in the woods on the path to the River.  I saw my first Gray Catbird of the year for Maryland skulking along the edge of Hunting Quarter Road by the large eastern impoundment.  On the trail to the River, I found a solitary male Purple Finch quietly feeding high in a tree.  Had the same duck species reported by Mike Bowen from last evening, but of particular note the Wood Ducks were everywhere and constantly flushing in fairly large groups, so my count of 26 is conservative!  The full list from my eBird report follows.

Jim Nelson
Bethesda, MD

Location:     Hughes Hollow - McKee Beshers WLMA
Observation date:     3/12/09
Notes:     Rusty Blackbirds in several locations.
Number of species:     44

Canada Goose     27
Wood Duck     26
Gadwall     2
Mallard     4
Ring-necked Duck     27
Hooded Merganser     4
Great Blue Heron     3
Turkey Vulture     4
Red-shouldered Hawk     3
Wilson's Snipe     5
Mourning Dove     4
Red-bellied Woodpecker     7
Downy Woodpecker     6
Hairy Woodpecker     2
Northern Flicker     6
Pileated Woodpecker     1
Eastern Phoebe     1
Blue Jay     26
American Crow     25
Fish Crow     1
crow sp.     4
Tree Swallow     20
Carolina Chickadee     13
Tufted Titmouse     10
White-breasted Nuthatch     9
Carolina Wren     10
Winter Wren     5
Golden-crowned Kinglet     1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     1
Eastern Bluebird     6
American Robin     1
Gray Catbird     1
European Starling     16
Eastern Towhee     7
Song Sparrow     19
Swamp Sparrow     4
White-throated Sparrow     106
Dark-eyed Junco     1
Northern Cardinal     60
Red-winged Blackbird     30
Rusty Blackbird     28
Common Grackle     32
Brown-headed Cowbird     2
Purple Finch     1