Hi Everybody:
Helen Patton and I left Monday afternoon (6/8) for Green Ridge State Forest and then Garrett County. Two others were initially planning on joining us but there plans fell through so we decided to devote the next 2 days to working on our Allegany and Garrett County lists. We spent a few hours in Green Ridge SF. Nothing unusual here but Helen did get her county Worm-eating Warbler. Our next stop was North Branch at the sewage treatment plant. As expected we did not see many shorebirds, but we did see 1 Spotted Sandpiper, 2 Semi-palmated Plovers and 3 Semi-palmated Sandpipers ( a county bird for both of us). Several Cliff Swallows were also flying about.
Our last stop of the evening was at Finzel Swamp in Garrett County. VEERIES were singing. We were lucky enough to have a flyover COMMON NIGHTHAWK announce itself as it flew by (a County bird for both of us). After checking in for the night we went back to Finzel for night birds but the rain started so these plans quickly were aborted.
On Tuesday and Wednesday we spent full days birding: back to Green Ridge SF initially and then primarily in Garrett County We would end up covering all 4 corners of Garrett County and lots of spots in between. Since I had little sleep the past 2 nights and wanted to post this while fresh in my mind I will attempt to keep it short and sweet if that is possible. Believe me its not! Keep in mind we covered alot of territory and made many stops. We saw/heard easily over 100 species and tallied 22 species of WARBLERS, all on their breeding grounds. We had VEERIES, HERMIT THRUSHES and WOOD THRUSHES in many places. It was beautiful music to hear their songs, especially when 2 or more of these species were singing at the same time. Nothing like a symphony in the woods. Flycatchers included ACADIAN, WILLOW, ALDER, & LEAST. BOBOLINKS, and GRASSHOPPER and SAVANNAH SPARROWS were seen in numerous areas. HENSLOW'S SPARROWS were heard on Pea Ridge Road.
June 9 - Tuesday AM we stopped quickly at Finzel with no surprises. 45 minutes later we stopped along the C & O Canal (Rt. 51) at Spring Gap. Did not even have to get out of the car to pick up my Allegany County PROTHONOTARY WARBLER. We spent the next 2 hours in Green Ridge SF seeing only expected species and then headed back to God's Country (my nickname for Garrett County) for good. Highlights are listed below for the locations we visited.
A quick stop at Piney Run Reservoir proved that the pair of LESSER SCAUP seen by the "ELITE CRAZY SIX" on their big day were still there (somebody tell them they do not need to anchor them down anymore). No egrets or shorebirds so we moved on.
BLUE LICK ROAD (one of my favorite spots in Garrett) produced:
Wood Thrush 4
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Blue-headed Vireo (at eye level) 1
Wild Turkey 2
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
(and a great place to eat lunch)
WEST SHALE ROAD
Chestnut-sided Warbler 3
Black & White Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Hermit Thrush 2
TROUT RUN: Bobolinks; Grasshopper & Savannah Sparrows; Least and Willow Flycatchers; a pair of Kestrels calling &
interacting; no Uppies.
SNAGGY MOUNTAIN ROAD (north of Oakland and south Cranesville (my alltime favorite dirt road in Garrett County - imagine Montgomery County's Hunting Quarter Road on steroids):
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2
Barred owl 2 (serenading each other for 5 minutes)
Magnolia Warbler 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler 4
Swamp Sparrow 2
Veery 4
Hermit Thrush 5
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
June 10 - Wednesday AM at first daylight we repeated our steps to Trout Run - still no Uppies so we moved on. We spent 45 minutes driving through farm country south of Oakland attempting to find Helen a Horned Lark but to no avail. Since Bobolinks were seemingly everywhere Helen wondered if they had pushed the Horned Larks out.
BLUE RIBBON ROAD
Baltimore Oriole 3
Orchard Oriole 1 Thank you Bill Hubick and Stan Arnold for your recent posts... A county bird for me.
MOUNT NEBO WMA
Veery at least 2 singing their little hearts out
Alder Flycatcher 1
Willow Flycatcher 1
Common Raven 2
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Black & whitr Warbler 1
(Our target bird here was Blue-winged Warbler but it was not meant to be)
YOUGHIOGHENY RIVER LAKE (at the end of Old Morgantown Road - our mission here was to find some of the Garrett County breeders that are a given in Montgomery County but hard to find in Garrett). We parked and then walked the trail heading south along the water's edge.
Prothonotary Warbler 2 heard immediately after getting out of the car (a county bird for me)
Yellow Warbler 4
Acadian Flycatcher 1
Yellow-billled Cuckoo 1
Parula Warbler 1
Cerulean Warbler 1
Yellow-throated Warbler 1 a county bird for both of us singing across the water form the other side
Carolina Wren 1 not an east bird to find in Garrett County
Orchard Oriole 1
It was already noontime and we decided that we wanted to head for Mt. Zion Road (the entrance road into Jennings Randolph Lake in SEern Garrett County. We agreed not to take all major roads. After peering at the map we moved on with a route in mind. Less than a mile back up Old Morgantown Road I stopped at the powerline cut. I had been slamming on the breaks and doing this same thing for the last day or so. Helen had become used to my antics which finally paid off. The same powerline cut which we had stopped at on the way in and had given us nothing now produced a singing PRAIRIE WARBLER. This was a County bird for me and also my 78th County Closeout. We would end up hearing 2 or 3 more before the day was over (which is usually the case after paying your dues to get the first one).
We headed back into Friendsville and took Bear Creek Road out of the whitewater rafting-friendly town. Near the intersection of Sam Friend Road I hit the breaks and made a sharp lefthand turn and stopped and listened. 30 seconds later the bird I thought I heard called again and confirmed its identity. Helen & I both had our first Garrett County WORMEATING WARBLER. We continued driving southeasterly until we hit our next target spot.
MT. ZION ROAD - HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDED: despite being midday many birds were singing
Hooded Warbler 1
Grasshopper Sparrow 3
Cerulean Warbler 3
Barred Owl 1 silently flew across the road in front of the car
Black & White Warbler 1
Yellow-breasted Chat 3 2 of them trying to outcall each other on opposite sides of the road
Golden-winged Warbler 1 heard first & then finally seen on top of the bluff from the parking lot; I told Helen we
needed a visual ID before confirming. (I learned my lesson last year in Green Ridge SF
when we had a Golden-winged singing a Blue-winged song. It is necessary to visually
confirm Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warblers in the westerm MD counties due to
interbreeding).
Prairie Warbler 1 heard singing on the way out of the parking lot
Wild Turkey 1
WALNUT BOTTOM ROAD
Cerulean Warbler 1
Yellow-breasted Chat 1
CHESTNUT GROVE ROAD
Yellow Warbler 1
Hooded Warbler 1
BLUE-WINGED WARBLER less than a mile up the road from the intersection with Walnut Bottom Road there was a
hillside with fairly dense secondary growth. After ten minutes of walking up and down the
road we heard a Blue-winged buzzy call. 5 minutes later we were able to see the bird and
confirm the ID. This was a county bird for both Helen and I.
RUSSELL ROAD (our last stop before heading home)
Hooded Warbler 1
American Redstart 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Prairie Warbler 1
Grasshopper Sparrow 3
Mockingbird 3 not an east bird to find in Garrett
I would like to thank Stan Arnold for his recent Garrett County post which served as a successful guide for Helen and I, especially on Old Morgantown Road. (Stan, I guess I have to pay more money next time I stay at Carey Run to get a flyover Fish Crow). Also to Jim Brighton, who gave me pointers via cell phone the last 2 days. Helen and I had a great time birding in God's Country.
Jim Green
Gaithersburg, MD
WORK IN MODERATION, BIRD IN EXCESS!!!
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