Peter, 

   Those birds are not necessarily present because of the mild fall. Catbirds and House Wrens are annual in small numbers on most CBCs in Maryland & DC . Gnatcatchers are found less frequently, but in most years. In the past 40 years there have been about 71 reports of Gnatcatchers after the middle of November in 26 of those years including 16 different CBC circles, some multiple times. In fact the Baltimore Harbor CBC circle was set far enough south into Anne Arundel County to cover the area where a Gnatcatcher was found while scouting areas for that count the winter before it was first held. That area was developed soon afterward. 

Bob Ringler 
Eldersburg MD 
 



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Lev" <> 
To:  
Sent: Sunday, December 6, 2009 1:45:51 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: [MDOSPREY] out-of-season birds 

The Balt. Bird Club trip to Loch Raven this morning had an unexpected 
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  This bird, first spotted by Kevin Graff, was 
well-seen by 5 observers. It seemed to be healthy and alert.  We also saw 2 
Gray Catbirds. 

  

On Thurs,  Dec. 3 I had a first-year House Wren at Cromwell Valley Park, in 
the big meadow on the east side of the park. 

  

I would guess these birds are lingering in MD because of the mild fall.