Yesterday evening I met Bill Hubick and Ed Carlson at Brighton Dam for some
after-work birding. Our main purpose for getting together was to listen for
Whips, but we also enjoyed other spring migrants before dark.

After a fruitless scope check above the dam by Bill and Ed, I arrived and we
birded the lower part of the dam. An out-of-place highlight were
four RED-BREASTED MERGANSERs right beneath the dam in the very narrow
Patuxent River. Common Mergansers are the default merganser at Triadelphia,
certainly through March, but afterwards they become scarcer and it's any
merganser's ballgame. They were swimming on the Howard side of the river
when we first saw them, but they couldn't avoid crossing over to the
Montgomery side. They didn't stay long and were gone within a couple minutes
after first being noticed.

We continued to walk down river from the dam and enjoyed our FOY Acadian
Flycatchers, a singing Orchard Oriole, a beautiful male Redstart, and at
least three active Louisiana Waterthrushes. As people have noted earlier,
the Cliff Swallows have returned to the dam and could be seen easily in both
counties.

Next we drove over to Annapolis Rock Rd in western Howard County in hopes of
hearing Whip-poor-wills. The timing and habitat are great, but we didn't
luck into any despite persistent listening. Some of the notable birds at
Annapolis Rock were an extremely high-flying migrant Osprey, singing
Blue-winged Warblers on territory, and abundant Yellowthroats.

Full lists below:

Location:     Triadelphia Reservoir--Brighton Dam (Montgomery County)
Canada Goose     22     Four goslings
Red-breasted Merganser     4     * Novel location. Four hens on the river
BELOW the dam...
Double-crested Cormorant     1
Black Vulture     3
Turkey Vulture     14
Rock Pigeon     4
Mourning Dove     2
Red-bellied Woodpecker     2
Pileated Woodpecker     1
Acadian Flycatcher     2
Eastern Phoebe     3
Blue Jay     4
American Crow     1
Cliff Swallow     12
Carolina Chickadee     5
Tufted Titmouse     3
House Wren     1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     7
Eastern Bluebird     2
American Robin     2
European Starling     2
Northern Parula     3
American Redstart     1     Adult male
Louisiana Waterthrush     3
Common Yellowthroat     2
Chipping Sparrow     1
White-throated Sparrow     3
Northern Cardinal     3
Red-winged Blackbird     1
Brown-headed Cowbird     3
Orchard Oriole     1     Adult male singing persistently.
American Goldfinch     1

Location:     Triadelphia Reservoir--Brighton Dam (Howard County)
Canada Goose     19
Red-breasted Merganser     4
Double-crested Cormorant     15
Black Vulture     2
Turkey Vulture     13
Rock Pigeon     4
Mourning Dove     2
Red-bellied Woodpecker     1
Pileated Woodpecker     1
Eastern Phoebe     1
Blue Jay     2
Cliff Swallow     12
Carolina Chickadee     1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     1
European Starling     2
Ovenbird     1
Louisiana Waterthrush     2

 Location:     Patuxent River SP--Annapolis Rock Rd
Canada Goose     1     heard only
duck sp.     3
Turkey Vulture     1
Osprey     1     Flying extremely high. Seen from the parking lot. Migrant.
Mourning Dove     1
Barred Owl     1
Red-bellied Woodpecker     1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)     2
Blue Jay     1
American Crow     2
Purple Martin     1
Barn Swallow     2
Tufted Titmouse     1
Carolina Wren     1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     1
Wood Thrush     3
American Robin     2
Gray Catbird     4
Brown Thrasher     1
European Starling     2
Blue-winged Warbler     3
Prairie Warbler     3
Ovenbird     2
Common Yellowthroat     10     Careful estimate.
Eastern Towhee     6
Chipping Sparrow     3
Northern Cardinal     1
Common Grackle     2

Rob Ostrowski
Crofton, MD


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