Hi Everyone,

I spent Sunday (9/20) looking for migrants in P.G. and Charles Counties with Jim Brighton and John Hubbell. We were joined by Stan Arnold for most of the morning and early afternoon, and by Mikey Lutmerding for the late afternoon shift. We met up around 4:30 a.m. to carpool and listen for night migrants and then spent the daylight hours between Indian Creek WMA, Maxwell Hall Park, and Patuxent River stops between Milltown Landing and Mount Calvert. Our highlights were expected night migrant thrushes, NASHVILLE and CAPE MAY WARBLERs at Indian Creek, PHILADELPHIA VIREO at Maxwell Hall, and BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER near Selby's Landing. 

There is also headline news in the world of Maryland county listing. With the 'Veer!' call of a Gray-cheeked Thrush over Charles Co. on Sunday morning, John Hubbell became only the third person to record 200 bird species in all 23 of Maryland's counties. Only Jim Stasz and Bob Ringler had previously accomplished this impressive feat. Congratulations, John! You are a worthy nemesis. You should take a vacation to celebrate, maybe over the next couple weekends! Or you could wait until May... :)

Here are the abridged lists:

Bowie, P.G. Co.
* A parking lot near Borders off Route 301, P.G. Co.

Swainson's Thrush--2 (Jim B. was there longer and might have had more)
warbler sp.--1

Dunkirk--Wawa Parking Lot, Calvert Co.
* Light traffic noise, a generator, and music from the Wawa made this a below average listening location. Still, we detected two thrush species while listening to the Rolling Stones and the Commodores.

Veery--2
Swainson's Thrush--1
warbler sp.--1
Song Sparrow--1 singing

Indian Creek WMA, Charles Co. - night listening
* Walking in to the end of the first hedgerow, the light traffic noise from Route 231 was quickly less prohibitive. It was a slow thrush flight in the fog, but it didn't take long to record three expected species.

Veery--2
Gray-cheeked Thrush--1
Swainson's Thrush--3
warbler sp.--3
Indigo Bunting--1

Burch Area--Sixes Road, Calvert Co.
*  After recording three expected thrush species at Indian Creek, we drove back across the Rte 231 bridge to have another run at Gray-cheeked in Calvert. Success!

Gray-cheeked Thrush--2
Swainson's Thrush--18

Indian Creek WMA, Charles Co. - dawn to about 10:30 a.m.
* Foggy and low 50s in the early a.m., gradually warming. Clear skies with just a few wispy clouds. High grass on the trail laden with dew so that our pants and boots are soaked for the day. We were joined by Stan Arnold halfway through the hike. Stan had a Philadelphia Vireo before we met up with him.

Canada Goose--54, inc. one flock of high-flying birds
Great Egret--1
Bald Eagle--1
Killdeer--1
Laughing Gull--5
Rock Pigeon--21; scarce and local in Charles Co. There seems to be a semi-reliable flock centered around Benedict/Maxwell Hall now.
Chimney Swift--14; flew by in one group in very direct flight
Ruby-throated Hummingbird--2
Eastern Wood-Pewee--1
Eastern Phoebe--1
Great Crested Flycatcher--1; perched high in a dead snag; scrutinized structure and plumage to be thorough; my personal late date is 23 Sep 2006 (Indiantown Road, Dorchester)
Red-eyed Vireo--9
Tree Swallow--15; flew by in one tight group
House Wren--5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher--1
American Robin--53
Gray Catbird--12
Brown Thrasher--5
NASHVILLE WARBLER--1; willow beside the dry pond
CAPE MAY WARBLER--1; Jim B. only
Northern Parula--5
Magnolia Warbler--5
Pine Warbler--2
Black-and-white Warbler--2
American Redstart--13
Common Yellowthroat--9
Eastern Towhee--3
Chipping Sparrow--2
Rose-breasted Grosbeak--2; flybys, calling
Blue Grosbeak--6
Indigo Bunting--28, inc. at least two barely-fledged juveniles
Bobolink--3; flybys, calling
Non-avian: Hackberry Emperor (1), Great Spangled Fritillary (2), Red-spotted Admiral (5), Pearl Crescent (10), Cloudless Sulfur (10).

Maxwell Hall Park, Charles Co.

Bald Eagle--3
Peregrine Falcon--1
Cooper's Hawk--1
Red-shouldered Hawk--1
Laughing Gull--1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo--1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird--1
Red-headed Woodpecker--1 adult; high-flying migrant
Acadian Flycatcher--3; all three seen well and heard calling rather explosive 'whit' notes. One bird sang its full song a couple times. Large-headed with sloped foreheads, prominent but thin and even-width eye ring, wide notched tail, etc.
Yellow-throated Vireo--1 singing
PHILADELPHIA VIREO--1; bright individual; new county bird for all this morning
Red-eyed Vireo--8
Veery--1
Wood Thrush--3; doing quite a bit of calling, with a few flight calls mixed in; I think of Wood Thrush flight calls as having the quality of sneakers on a basketball court
Magnolia Warbler--2
Palm Warbler (Western)--1
Blackpoll Warbler--1
Black-and-white Warbler--3
American Redstart--6
Ovenbird--1
Common Yellowthroat--4
Summer Tanager--1
Scarlet Tanager--1
Eastern Towhee--1
Indigo Bunting--1
Non-avian: Tiger Swallowtail (10; 3 dark forms), Great Spangled Fritillary (2), Question Mark (1), Cloudless Sulfur (8); Emerald sp.

Milltown Landing, P.G. Co.

Double-crested Cormorant--5
Bald Eagle--1
Red-shouldered Hawk--1
Laughing Gull--6
Ring-billed Gull--1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo--1
Chimney Swift--10
Ruby-throated Hummingbird--2
Eastern Phoebe--1
White-eyed Vireo--1
Red-eyed Vireo--1
House Wren--2
Gray Catbird--3
Northern Parula--1
American Redstart--1
Common Yellowthroat--1
Indigo Bunting--3
Non-avian: Viceroy (2), Checkered Skipper (5), Southern Leopard Frog.

Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary, P.G. Co.
* The area around the two bridges was quiet as we devoured our takeout Bojangles cajun fast food. Drove the loop by the Merkle visitor center but detected almost no bird activity. Moved on to Selby's and Jackson Landings. One Ovenbird.

Patuxent River--Selby's Landing, P.G. Co.
* Joined by Mikey Lutmerding for the rest of the day. Stopped to work a feeding flock in the woods and then did some scanning from the landing.

Wood Duck--1
Double-crested Cormorant--1
Great Egret--2
Bald Eagle--1
Northern Harrier--2
Laughing Gull--6
Ring-billed Gull--1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird--1
Eastern Phoebe--1
Red-eyed Vireo--3
House Wren--1
Gray Catbird--3
Northern Parula--3
Magnolia Warbler--1
BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER--1; very drab and weakly marked individual, making it fun to pull out of the flock. P.G. County bird #200 for me. 
Pine Warbler--1
Black-and-white Warbler--2
American Redstart--3
Ovenbird--1
Hooded Warbler--1
Scarlet Tanager--1
Eastern Towhee--2
Indigo Bunting--1

Patuxent River Park--Jackson Landing, P.G. Co.

Wood Duck--8
Blue-winged Teal--1
Double-crested Cormorant--22
Great Egret--2
Green Heron--1
Sora--2
Solitary Sandpiper--1 juvenile
Laughing Gull--7
Ring-billed Gull--1
Caspian Tern--1
Forster's Tern--2
White-eyed Vireo--1
Red-eyed Vireo--2
House Wren--2
Gray Catbird--1
Northern Parula--1
Black-and-white Warbler--1
American Redstart--1
Common Yellowthroat--1
warbler sp.--1; hard, fairly metallic chip right near the observation platform. Last visit we still had a lingering Prothonotary, which is a good fit for what we heard, but we were unable to confirm.
Indigo Bunting--1

Patuxent River Park--Mt. Calvert, P.G. Co.

Chimney Swift--1
Eastern Wood-Pewee--1
EASTERN KINGBIRD--1; my personal late date by three days (after 5 at Point Lookout, 9/17/2006). Without luck and/or hard work, this could easily have been our last of the season. Turns out Rob Ostrowski had this bird earlier in the day as well. 
Palm Warbler (Western)--1
Common Yellowthroat--1
Blue Grosbeak--2
Indigo Bunting--1
Brown-headed Cowbird--600; large flock just a couple hundred yards outside of the gate to the park. Scanned briefly for rare blackbirds. Counted by 10s, then 50s, conservative.

CORRECTION: In my post about 9/12 on Assateague, I listed our LARK SPARROW from Bayside as an adult. Matt Hafner noted the limited fine streaking on the bird's upper breast that indicated this bird is a hatch-year bird. I didn't realize this year's birds could be so far along in molt by early to mid-September. Matt said by October its nearly impossible to age them in the field. Thanks, Matt!  

Good birding!

Bill

Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland

http://www.billhubick.com