Dave,
   Though the latest recorded egg date for the state is Sept. 2 the latest
nestling date is Oct. 2 (1970), the date of fledging in that case. Certainly
there are nests with eggs later than the current record (from 1968 by the
way) but finding them is the hard part. Consequently your observation fits
well with the latter observation and yours is now the latest report of
dependent young for the state. Also, APG is on the Coastal Plain and all the
late breeding records for the state come from that section. Since this is a
common breeding species here it generates very few nesting reports.

On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 2:12 AM, Dave Webb <> wrote:

> During my lunch break yesterday at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford
> County, I was quite surprised to find outside of my building a dependent
> fledgling Chipping Sparrow begging and being fed by one of its parents.  The
> two were on the ground, beneath some shrubbery.  A couple of hours later in
> the afternoon they were both in the lower limbs of a nearby oak, the
> youngster still incessantly giving a series of rapid chips and following the
> parent as it gleaned the branches for food.  The late egg date for Chippies
> according to the Yellow Book is Sep 2.  In trying to guess when this
> youngster's egg was laid, Dave Ziolkowski reports that incubation and time
> to fledge are both in the 10-12 day range for CHSP.  The unknown variable
> here is once they leave the nest, how long are these young birds dependent
> on the parents for food?  In any case, this seems like a very late breeding
> record.
>



-- 
Bob Ringler
Eldersburg MD