Hi Folks,

With tomorrow being the last day of school in Howard Co., we are now taking 
finals, and I had none to administer today so took the morning off to try 
for the cormorant.  I left the house at 5:20 a.m. and took back roads to the 
Potomac River.  I drove through some very heavy rain, and passed many 
driveways and dirt roads that were gushing muddy water into the road.  By 
the time I reached Violette's Lock the rain had let up, but was still 
falling.  Therefore I left the scope in the car, and headed to the first 
fisherman's path that connected the tow path with the shoreline.  The rain 
made the path very muddy and slippery, so as I was descending the incline, I 
had to end up running down to keep from slipping, and thus I burst into the 
open like a herd of elephants.  Well doggon it if this didn't flush a 
cormorant that was perched there on the big clump of snags not too far out, 
and the bird went flying to the left, downstream, around the trees and out 
of sight.  I got the impression that this was the bird I was looking for, 
and here I spook it away with barely a look at it.

I stayed put for a few minutes, contemplating my next move, when what I 
assume was the same cormorant came flying from my left, and headed upstream, 
about 50 yards from the shoreline.  I had several good seconds to study the 
bird in binoculars, and here's why I feel pretty good about calling it the 
Neotropic:

--fairly small bill
--fairly sleek appearance; not as bulky as Double-crested
--long tail--the most striking field mark
--uniformly dark color (even though it was flying against the bright sky); 
every other cormorant present during my two-plus-hour visit was an immature 
Double-crested with pale throat and breast; this bird was much darker

Unfortunately, the bird flew solo, so I had no other bird with which to gage 
its size.  It flew several hundred yards upstream, and then put down on the 
water.  Even though it was still raining gently, I headed back to the car to 
grab the scope, camera, and umbrella.  The next two hours would be spent 
trying to refind and photograph the bird.  No luck.  I hiked upstream to 
Pennyfield, and about the same distance beyond, almost reaching MM 25.  I 
never saw the bird again.  Once I passed the mowed grassy areas near 
Pennyfield, there was no more access to the river.  What may have once been 
paths were now overgrown, and also appeared very steep and treacherous.

I got an email from Barbara Gearheart's husband telling me she was on the 
way, but just then my Blackberry malfunctioned, and I was not able to call 
her with details.  I assume she came and looked, but I'm also assuming that 
no news from her means bad news.  This evening I got a text message from Jim 
Brighton and company, who said they had the bird come in to roost.  So the 
question is, just like with the BBW Ducks, where does the bird go during the 
day?

I had one other sighting that was exciting for me.  I saw a group of ducks 
that I assumed were Wood Ducks, but it turned out to be a hen COMMON 
MERGANSER with nine ducklings.  The youngsters were almost as big as mom, 
but had more white on the lower face, and looked a bit scruffier.  The only 
warblers during my trek were N. Parula (4), Prothonotary (1), and La. 
Waterthrush (1).  At least six Yellow-billed Cuckoos were heard calling.

Looks like it's dawn or dusk for the cormorant.  Good luck to those seeking 
it, and thanks to Dave Czaplak for finding and posting on the bird.

Stan Arnold
Ferndale (AA Co.)