I spent several hours yesterday (Saturday, April 18) birding in 
Charles County.  My best bird by far was a stunning RED-HEADED 
WOODPECKER that was feeding very actively, sometimes flycatching 
large insects in mid-air, all around the pond on Bumpy Oak Road.  
Other birds in the same vicinity included an adult BALD EAGLE that 
settled on a dead tree to watch us (the dog and me) for an extended 
period, a single RUSTY BLACKBIRD (looking a little lost) flushed 
from the edge of the pond, and three pairs of WOOD DUCKS.  Along 
the Indian Head Rail Trail east of the pond, I saw and heard my 
first-of-the-year PROTHONOTARY WARBLER.  I also heard a 
BLUE-HEADED VIREO and WHITE-EYED VIREO (also my FOY) 
as well as several NORTHERN PARULAS and many BLUE-GRAY 
GNATCATCHERS.

An earlier stop at Chapman State Park yielded singing PINE 
WARBLERS, many YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS and BLUE-GRAY 
GNATCATCHERS, and one NORTHERN PARULA.  I also found one 
distant (possibly two) COMMON LOON on the Potomac.

I took the long route home in order to stop at Benedict on the 
Patuxent River.  On the wharf pilings were one CASPIAN TERN, two 
ROYAL TERNS, one FORSTER'S TERN, and a couple of LAUGHING 
GULLS.  I crossed the bridge to Hallowing Point on the Calvert side, 
hoping to find more terns, but none turned up. 

Elaine Hendricks
Greenbelt, MD  (PG County)


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