Upper Watts Branch Park for 5/16:�
The birds were scattered today but the highlights were TWO Olive-sided Flycatchers interacting at the beaver dam (dead trees just off the intersection of Nelson St. and College Parkway) and two Gray-cheeked Thrushes (just upstream) of the Newfoundland minimus subspecies. �One sang and gave a typical contact note. �They were noticeably different in appearance from the nominate in having warm brown upperparts and a blush of buff in the throat and in the weak eyering. �These birds can be mistaken for Bicknell's Thrush, but Bicknell's has warm brown only in the tail and primary edges contrasting with flat gray-brown above. �Both show buff in the throat as a rule. �So beware.

The migrants:

Olive-sided Flycatcher 2
Acadian Flycatcher
Veery
Gray-cheeked Thrush 2
Swainson's Thrush 4
Wood Thrush 6
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler 2
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Bay-breasted Warbler 2
Blackpoll Warbler 5
American Redstart 6
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Scarlet Tanager 4
Baltimore Oriole
Indigo Bunting

Paul O'Brien
Rockville, Mont. Co., MD