For what it's worth, copulation is not a confirmation of breeding, at least under the guidelines of the Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA) survey.  It is one of the categories considered to be "probable", but not "confirmed".  This tidbit may be of interest and value to anyone who is Atlasing in nearby Delaware, which is currently conducting its BBA.

I did a lot of work in this area during MD's last BBA, and Yellow-throated W was not present as a breeder.  Fred, Jim and others probably have more site data than me, but I've never even found one in that block as a migrant, and think it is a very good find.  This area has a high diversity of breeders, and for anyone wanting to look up additional BBA info about it, Schoolhouse Pond is on the edge of the Upper Marlboro CE block.  The nearby Depot Ponds are located in the Bristol CW block.

In PG Co, for reasons known only to them they are very localized, sort of like Brown-headed Nuthatch (not present in PG but just used as an example).  Despite having a big "Yard" list (200+ species, 27 warblers), I've never observed one at our property.  I am located in the Bristol SW block, and it's very puzzling.  Jug Bay is not far from Schoolhouse Pond.  They breed at Jug Bay on the AA County side directly across the river from us, and on the PG side south of us at Selby's.  They breed within 3/4 to 3 miles in 3 directions from my house, and I routinely observe them as close as 1/2 mile from here, but despite a very persistent effort (10+ years) I have yet to find one here!  Of course, its always good to have species that you are always hoping for, right?

Cheers!
Jeff Shenot
Croom MD

############################

To unsubscribe from the MDOSPREY list:
write to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
or click the following link:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=MDOSPREY&A=1