NE Frederick County (July 4th):

On Saturday afternoon 7/4, my husband and I drove up to the previously-reported Sixes Bridge Rd location (between Sixes Rd and Grimes Rd), with wonderful looks at multiple singing Dickcissels and a male Bobolink foraging in a cut hayfield.

Also in the area: a singing Eastern Meadowlark on Mumma Ford Rd (just W-NW of the Catoctin Mtn Growers' greenhouses on Sixes Bridge Rd); an adult Red-headed Woodpecker on a telephone pole (NW of the Sixes Bridge Rd / Grimes Rd junction); and singing Grasshopper Sparrows at multiple locations. Indigo Buntings and Red-winged Blackbirds were also present. Three Barn Swallow fledglings were perched on a roadside fence waiting for mom or dad to return with food.


Yard Birds 7/4-7/5 (Monrovia, MD -- southern Frederick County):

Eastern Bluebird juveniles and adults
Eastern Kingbird pair
Indigo Bunting male singing
Chipping Sparrow pair feeding nestlings
House Wren pair feeding fledglings
Carolina Wren pair feeding fledglings
Eastern Towhee heard from neighboring property
Northern Mockingbirds
American Goldfinch pair
(I refilled my feeders on 7/5 -- finally catching up after a couple of very busy months.)
(Non-birdy note -- a rabbit nest and a mouse nest in our backyard and several daily deer visitors)


Yard Birds 7/5 (Damascus, MD -- relatives' house -- close to the Montgomery/Frederick County line):

Chimney Swifts feeding nestlings
Blue-gray Gnatcatchers feeding fledglings
House Wrens feeding nestlings
Eastern Phoebes foraging
Gray Catbird singing
(Non-birdy note -- Gray Treefrogs trilling not far from their tadpoles and newly-independent young)

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Jessica Bruland
Monrovia, MD
aderynyreira -at- yahoo dot com