Hi Everybody:                                                                                                                                         Tuesday, May 26

Kyle Carstensen (a transplanted Montgomery County birder now residing in Colorado) was in town for the week and the two of us left Gaithersburg this morning at 3:30 AM and headed north. We endured the pouring rain and darkness and arrived in Cecil County's Elk Neck State Forest  off of Irishtown Road hoping to hear a calling Whip-poor-will. It was not meant to happen. After several other uneventful stops we checked out the waterfront in Charleston. Here we finally had a small bit of success with 2 LEAST TERNS, 1 CASPIAN TERN and 1 SPOTTED SANDPIPER (a county bird). After several other unsuccessful stops in Elkton and at Courthouse MHA we "crossed the border" into Kent County. The rain was finally beginning to let up.

We spent an hour driving through Sassafras River NRMA and found some interesting birds. We had at least 3 BALD EAGLES, 8 GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS, 1 BLUE GROSBEAK, 1 YELLOW WARBLER,  and 3 YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS. A quick stop at Great Oak Landing produced absolutely nothing; there were still 30+ BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS on Fish Hatchery Road.  We then headed for Remington Road in hopes of seeing the Reeve reported yesterday. No luck. We did see one of the WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS but no Stilt Sanpiper. All of the other shorebirds previously reported were still there in similar numbers. I did pick up 2 county birds (Semipalmated Plover and a Bobwhite). Kyle and I then headed into Rock Hall for a long overdue lunch.

We then headed for Eastern Neck NWR. Kyle had never been there so we slowly drove to the far end of the refuge and then hit the side roads on the way back birding primarily from the car and seeing very little. Our best birds were 10 Wild Turkeys crossing the road in front of us as we headed down to the buttyerfly garden.  We then drove down the gravel road marked Ingleside.

 As we reached the parking area at the end of the road I saw an EASTERN PHOEBE on a post in the edge of the field to the left. As I brought my binoculars up to confirm the flycatcher a bird flew up and pushed off the Phoebe. My initial thought was Mockingbird, then I saw the telltale tail and we were face to face with a SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER! I would guess the time was around 2 PM. It was very active working the edge of the field and hedge/tree row. The gusting winds were steady at 10-15 miles per hour and the bird for the most part stayed within 10 feet of the ground. It put on quite a show, especially in flight, hovering several times and showing the salmon coloring under the wings and forked tail when in flight. It is an adult female. 

 After several minutes I began getting the word out via cell phone. Thank you to Dave Powell for promptly posting the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher on MDOsprey. Within 3 1/2 hours over 20 people proved that they had nothing better to do on the afternoon after Memorial Day and had satisfying looks at the bird. I can't wait to see the pictures. Dan Hass has some great ones which he had posted prior to my posting.

A special thanks to Stan Arnold, Walter Ellison, Nancy Martin and Jim Brighton for posting the previous day's reports and updates of the REEVE. Had I not read them Monday evening Kyle and I planned on being at Point Lookout in St. Mary's County at first daylight before I changed our plans.

P.S. To the best of my knowledge the REEVE was not relocated by anybody on Tuesday.

Jim Green
Gaithersburg, MD

WORK IN MODERATION, BIRD IN EXCESS!!!