You can tell migration is over - the number of posts to this list has
dropped to a precious few. So I spent the AM looking for my long lost KEWA.

    For those that don't bird much in Carroll County because it doesn't have
a maintenance yard, one of the few decent places to try it here is Hashawa -
my assigned bird count location for May, Sept and January counts. To me
Hashawa includes some county land back behind it that is designated on the
map as "Future Union Mills Reservoir site". In other words some day they
might dam up Pipe Creek and drown the place forever. No such plans are
currently in the works. Actually it has already been flooded once - in 1972
when Agnes came thru and washed out a bridge on Saw Mill Road. The bridge
was never rebuilt, traffic was diverted to Kowomu Trail and much of what was
once Saw Mill Rd is now a hiking/biking/horsey trail.
    One of the unique things about the area is some forest that still has a
good undergrowth. For those on the list that are new to birding, undergrowth
in a forest is crucial to a select group of birds that depend on it being
there- Veery, Hooded Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, Black-and-White Warbler,
Ovenbird, Canada Warbler and several others that I would have to look up.
It's easy - walk into some nearby forest and look around. If all you see are
leaves on the ground, forget it. These birds aren't going to be there. If
you see a lot of shrubs, bushes and young trees get out your binocs. They
might be there.
    To me one of the delights of a place like the future reservoir site is
the Kentucky Warbler. This bird can be hard to find anywhere but here I have
had good success. This year on the May Count, we whiffed on it for the first
time probably since we started doing the spring count about 20 years ago. So
today I went over to check behind us and have another look. Yes, I probably
should have gone earlier, but I've had other priorities lately.
    Long story short, KEWA is still missing. Plenty of VEERY, HOODED
WARBLERS and WORM-EATERS, but no KEWA. Makes me wanna eat worms. Don't know
if they've been cowbirded to death in there or what but if they ain't back
there next year, I'll flood the place myself - with tears.
    Ok, so I found some KEWA at Morgan Run. They are somewhat irregular
there, but to me it's sort of a consolation prize. I want them back where
they belong.

Jerry Tarbell
Wormeating in Carroll County