I'll try to keep this brief. Laura and I spent the weekend at Carey Run.
Ross Geredien was also there on Fri nite and the Redmonds on Sat. Over the
course of the weekend Laura added 17 species to the list in the kitchen at
the sanctuary house. We were surprised that some were not already checked
off. Our list for the trip was roughly 88 species, which included most of
the "usual suspects". However let's cut to the chase: the list of "usual
suspects" for Garrett County is quite a bit different than ours down here in
the flatlands, as they call it. I like theirs better. We think of many of
them as migrators whizzing thru here with their pants on fire to get up
north. They call them breeders in Garrett.

We did Cranesville on Sat looking mainly for the NASHVILLE WARBLER. On Muddy
Creek road, we heard one that was too far back to try for a look at. It was
not in the location described by the Harris' who spotted one last week.
This one was further down the road in a more wooded area, not in the marshy
area described to me by Karen. BOBOLINKS AND MEADOWLARKS were seen and heard
in the fields as were a pair of KESTRELS. At one point we had 3 singing
ALDER FLYCATCHERS screaming at each other from their respective perches.
None of them had the guts to back it up physically. We also had 8 TURKEYS
and a female RUFFED GROUSE. More on this species later.
At Cranesville itself, we found NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH (seen and heard well),
PURPLE FINCH and a gazillion (exactly) CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLERS.
Drove back east via Maple Glade rd and Swallow Falls. The latter yielded a
gorgeous look at an eye-level BLUE-HEADED VIREO and a look at a BLACKBURNIAN
WARBLER. Laura heard a RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH.

I spent a part of the afternoon bludgeoning a trout stream (yes it was fun
thanks to some rain on Friday and some willing trout). It shouldn't be this
easy. And by the by I heard the only WINTER WREN of the trip on the way
down. No, this is not the stream where I normally get them. I usually get a
Canada Warbler right where my trail meets the stream.

Sunday featured a long morning walk at Finzel. VEERY was singing near the
parking lot. Only one of the trip. SWAMP SPARROWS and more ALDER FLYCATCHERS
dominated the swamp. Another NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH and another gazillion
CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLERS. However, conspicuous in its absence was
Golden-winged Warbler. I had 3 singing males here last year. Where did they
go? All reasonable theories are eligible for no prize but a warm thank you.

Pea Ridge was home to no less than 6 (count 'em) grassy species, featuring
the expected HENSLOW'S SPARROW. Got a good look. Meadowlark, Bobolink,
Redwing, GRASSHOPPER SPARROW and SAVANNAH SPARROW were also accounted for.

Another afternoon at a trout stream (for some reason none of my streams have
names or locations. Go figure) yielded a CANADA WARBLER on the way back up.
Yes, this is the stream where I usually get the wren. They musta switched
just to keep me on my toes. This stream did not fish as well but I did get
the biggest trout of the trip here.

After dinner we popped over to Piney Run Dam. Laura SPOTTED a SANDPIPER.
Gee. Wonder what kind it was. No Wood Ducks here and we got none for the
trip. (sniff)

This AM we loaded up to leave and managed a ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK right
there in the parking area at Carey Run. We heard others on the trip, but
this was the only visual of this gorgeous bird.

We stopped briefly at the northern head of the Savage Mt Hiking Trail and
found more (you guessed it) CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLERS, to go with the one I
saw on my usual morning walk at Carey Run.
We then concluded the trip at Legislative Road. We spotted BIRDERS up on the
ridge above us that turned out to be Warren and Lisa Strobel. They nicely
directed us to a spot where they had seen a Golden-winged. Laura found
another Henslow's Sparrow.
However at the spot where we hoped to finally get the Golden-winged, we
added some species but did not see or hear the warbler we were hoping for.
A KENTUCKY WARBLER sang across the road from some very nice looking habitat
that should have had the Golden-winged, but he had apparently retired for
the morning. WHITE-EYED VIREO was in there. Laura heard but could not find a
Blue-winged, thus we could not confirm that it was not the Golden-winged. A
RUBY-THROATED HUMMER showed up. No Golden-winged. (sniff)

And now for the unusual. The Redmonds had mentioned seeing a RUFFED GROUSE
near the gate at Carey Run. Sure enough, as I was fussing with the lock last
night, I heard something to my right and there was the grouse walking boldly
in the underbrush. I got back in the truck after opening the gate and he
walked across the road in front of us and then over to the driver side. He
watched us as closely as we watched him. Quite a close-up view. Folks, this
is a bird that you often only get a fleeting view of as he whirrs off into
the woods because he heard you coming. This guy has no fear of humans.
I mentioned him to Charlotte Folk when she came over later to collect the
fees for the stay. She said he was there last year, too. Anybody got an
explanation for this guy?

As usual we had a wonderful trip to this place that I have grown to love
over about thirty years now. This write-up is about as brief as I can get
about any trip out there. I didn't even list all of the 8 Flycatcher species
we had, including a Phoebe nesting next to the back door at Carey Run.
     And coincidentally we stopped at Gary Yoder's shop at Penn Alps on
Saturday. Laura is now the proud owner of a feather carved by this amazing
artist. What feather you ask? It is a carving of a male Ruffed Grouse tail
feather. Just like the one she was admiring on the bird. And yes, Gary says
he will be raffling off another carving, but he doesn't have the tickets
yet. This year's carving will be a Saw-whet Owl.

Please, Lord. Let me win that raffle. I'll be a good boy. Honest. I put all
the trout back didn't I?

Jerry Tarbell
Back in the Flatlands of Carroll County.