Saturday morning I ventured up to Washington County, which has  produced 
several interesting reports recently. I didn't come anywhere near the  100+ 
species totals of John Dennehy or the Ostrowski/Hubick/Green team, but  there 
were some quality birds, including WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER, CERULEAN  WARBLER 
and MOURNING WARBLER.
 
At Indian Springs WMA (Blair's Valley) the wind was howling at dawn, so no  
Whip-poor-will, but eventually subsided as the sun warmed the slope. Still, 
 birdsong was minimal and warblers were hard to come by. Most of the best 
birds  were found within a few hundred feet of each other, just inside the 
woods above  the last field of second growth going uphill. Here I found 
HOODED, KENTUCKY,  CERULEAN, and BAY-BREASTED WARBLER, and also presumably John's 
MOURNING WARBLER  from a few days ago. The bird was singing and giving me 
glimpses in the shadows,  but eventually spished up on a vertical stalk for a 
1-second naked eye view at  15 feet. I also got solid visuals on the 
Bay-breasted and the Cerulean, a  bird I wasn't expecting to find here.
 
After a few hours at Blair's Valley I mainly checked out some of the local  
shorebird spots. The only bird of note was a single WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER 
at  the Hagerstown Airport pond.
 
My species total wasn't high but I did pick up 17 new Washington County  
birds. Some highlights:
 
BLAIR'S VALLEY - 
Wild Turkey - 2, plus 1 poorly calling turkey hunter w/decoy
Spotted Sandpiper - 4
Yellow-throated Vireo
Common Raven
Veery
Blue-winged Warbler, looked good for pure Blue-winged
Yellow Warbler - 4
Magnolia Warbler - 2
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 2
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler - 6
Cerulean Warbler, vigorously singing, good views
Ovenbird
Kentucky Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Common Yellowthroat - 8
Hooded Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
Orchard Oriole
 
BROADFORDING ROAD - 
Horned Lark
 
ROCKDALE ROAD - 
American Kestrel
 
HAGERSTOWN MALL POND - 
no shorebirds, very little water
Willow Flycatcher
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
 
HAGERSTOWN AIRPORT POND -
Killdeer
Solitary Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper - 2
Semipalmated Sandpiper - 2
Least Sandpiper - 9
White-rumped Sandpiper - nice breeding adult
 
BEAVER CREEK WETLANDS - 
no shorebirds
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole - 2
 
C&O CANAL AT RT. 34 BRIDGE - 
Wood Duck - hen w/7 ducklings
Warbling Vireo - 4
Common Raven - 2 on the railroad bridge
Cliff Swallow - probably 40-50 birds, huge array of nests on the  bridge
Yellow-throated Warbler - 2
Baltimore Oriole - 2
 
Joel Martin
Catonsville, MD