Nancy and I took a friend for a walk on the C&O Canal at the Antietam Aqueduct and for a drive around Antietam Battlefield today. I expected and did find Prairie Warbler, Grasshopper Sparrow, and Vesper Sparrow, but thought that the Yellow-breaster Chat might not be at Tour Stop #9, as the Park has removed all the brush and most of the trees from that area.

We did find Grasshopper and Vesper Sparrows at several places along the tour roads. We also heard Prairie Warbler in the woods to the right of the road leading to Burnside Bridge, but not at Tour Stop #9, where we have found it every year in the past six years. We also did not find Yellow-breasted Chat in that location, which in the past has been reliable.

I will check back to see whether the Chat has simply not yet arrived, but I fear that all the suitable habitat is gone and so is the species.

The Washington County Bird Club held a walk on the Battlefield this morning. I will also check with them to see if they had the chat.

The complete list of 54 species is as follows:

Great Blue Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Spotted Sandpiper
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Common Raven
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Louisiana Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
American Goldfinch


-- 
Elliot

-- 
Elliot Kirschbaum
Shepherdstown, WV
kingfisher501 at gmail dot com




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