It's been a long time since I really birded Allegany County, as opposed to  
driving through it, and the neglect has been showing in my anemic  2-digit 
county list. Not to mention the close-outs that have been in waiting for  
that one last county to be checked off. So on Friday I took a vacation  day 
and made a clockwise circuit of the county, leaving I-68 at Orleans  Road in 
the early morning and ending in the afternoon at Rocky Gap SP. With  
migration at a slow point I was expecting mostly ordinary species, and that's  what 
I got, which was fine. Best were COMMON LOON, BLUE-HEADED VIREO, and  
CERULEAN, KENTUCKY, and HOODED WARBLERS. AMERICAN REDSTARTS seemed to be  
everywhere. The day's tally was 83 species; 44 county birds and 12 county  
close-outs! Some location highlights are below.
 
LITTLE ORLEANS
Canada Goose     11
Red-bellied Woodpecker   2
Downy Woodpecker     1
Hairy  Woodpecker     2
Pileated Woodpecker      1
Eastern Phoebe     1
Black-capped Chickadee   2
Blackpoll Warbler     1
Baltimore  Oriole     4

OLDTOWN ROAD
Red-shouldered Hawk     1
Black-capped Chickadee   3
Cedar Waxwing     4
Pine Warbler   2
Prairie Warbler     2
Cerulean Warbler   3
American Redstart     10
Worm-eating  Warbler     3
Ovenbird     3
Hooded  Warbler     1
Yellow-breasted Chat      1
Scarlet Tanager     2

MERTENS AVENUE
Red-shouldered Hawk     2
Blue-headed Vireo   1
Chestnut-sided Warbler     1
Prairie  Warbler     2
Blackpoll Warbler      2
Cerulean Warbler     3
Black-and-white Warbler   8
Worm-eating Warbler     4
Ovenbird   3
Hooded Warbler     2
Yellow-breasted  Chat     1
Scarlet Tanager     3
Field  Sparrow     1

BONDS LANDING
Green Heron     1
Belted Kingfisher      1
Pileated Woodpecker     1
Yellow-throated Vireo   1
Warbling Vireo     1
Red-eyed Vireo   2
Common Raven     1
Northern Parula   2
Cerulean Warbler     1
American  Redstart     3
Louisiana Waterthrush      1
Common Yellowthroat     3

GREEN RIDGE ROAD
Blue-headed Vireo     1
Wood Thrush      2
Cerulean Warbler     2
Black-and-white Warbler   4
American Redstart     6
Worm-eating  Warbler     2
Ovenbird     5
Scarlet  Tanager     3
Brown-headed Cowbird     1
 
SPRING GAP
Wood Duck     4
Green Heron      1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo     1
Common Raven   2
Black-capped Chickadee     2
Carolina  Wren     1, only one of the day
Northern Parula   2
Yellow-throated Warbler     1
Blackpoll  Warbler     2
Cerulean Warbler      1
Louisiana Waterthrush     1
Baltimore Oriole   3

NORTH BRANCH
Mallard     7
Semipalmated Plover      1
Killdeer     1
Spotted Sandpiper      2
Solitary Sandpiper     2
Least Sandpiper   6
Northern Rough-winged Swallow      3
Blackpoll Warbler     1
Northern Waterthrush   1
Chipping Sparrow     1
Baltimore  Oriole     2

OLD LEGISLATIVE ROAD
House Wren     2
Yellow Warbler      2
American Redstart     1
Ovenbird      1
Kentucky Warbler     1
Common Yellowthroat   3
Field Sparrow     3
Grasshopper  Sparrow     5
Song Sparrow     3
Eastern  Meadowlark     1
House Finch     1
House  Sparrow     1
(No Henslow's Sparrows detected - do they still nest here? The  habitat 
looks different than when I was last here.)

ROCKY GAP STATE PARK
Common Loon     1
Spotted Sandpiper      4
Northern Flicker     1
 
Joel Martin
Catonsville, MD