Hi Mike,
I led a small party of birders to Blue Mash on Saturday May 23. While it
was very hot and we did not see many migrants either, we did see (okay, at
least 2 of us did) a Warbling Vireo as it flew from the first field on the
left of the entrance road to a sycamore along the road, then flew into the
woods where we lost sight of it. Initially I thought this was a new species
for my Blue mash list but I have one prior sighting in September of 2005,
so not terribly common there. We also had killer looks at a gorgeous male
Yellow-breasted Chat, or in this case an "orange-breasted" chat, as he had
great orangey color on his upper breast. He was doing his leg-dangling flight
display and singing vociferously also. And as you said, many Willow
Flycatchers too, as the habitat here is so perfect for them (and Yellow
Warblers).
We saw a lone female Wood Duck, a high flying Osprey, a heard only Prairie
Warbler (oddly not at all common here, given the habitat), great looks at
both oriole species, with one male Baltimore singing particularly loudly and
showing well (life looks for 2 or 3 of the kids on this trip!), and a
single Purple Martin. We had brief but good looks at Wood Thrush, Indigo
Buntings, E. Kingbird, and many other common species, but very few migrants. Nice
butterflies too.
We also ran into another large group of birders being led by Mark England.
It was a beginners birding-by-ear class for ANS. A great place to have that
type of walk, as the number of birds is not overwhelming, and many can be
heard and seen well in the open habitat.
Rick Sussman
Woodbine,MD
In a message dated 5/22/2009 7:48:30 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
writes:
On the other hand, some of the local breeding species were present in
good numbers, particularly: 22 GRAY CATBIRDS, 11 YELLOW WARBLERS, 9
COMMON YELLOWTHROATS and in particular 5 WILLOW FLYCATCHERS (all up
and singing). Also of note were 1 Yellow-breasted Chat and at least
5 Orchard Orioles.
Good Birding
Mike Bowen
**************An Excellent Credit Score is 750. See Yours in Just 2 Easy
Steps!
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221823249x1201398664/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072&hmpgID=62&bcd=May
ExcfooterNO62) |