Hi all, 

Warm and misty, especially over Pine Lake, this morning. Despite the southerly wind overnight, not much in the way of neptropical migrants although a few First of Year enlivened the walk. We did WRP, parts of adjacent Brookside Gardens and the Nature Center. Best bird was the much-anticipated return of our GREEN HERONS, a pair at the nature center pond, one (male?) calling repeatedly. However the park has removed much of the pond's bordering vegetation, apparently mostly invasives. with a promise to "replant with native plants" which however has not happened so all very bare. Last we saw of the herons they were flying together over to Brookside's ponds, which might offer better habitat now. Last year 3-4 young herons fledged so hoping for an equally good season this year. 

Other than that, a marked increase in House Wrens and Catbirds, FOS GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHERS and OVENBIRDS (2 of each) and a distantly-heard Wood Thrush making its alarm call. Another birder reported an Orchard Oriole in the Gardens but we missed it. Six Cormorants flying overhead to the north were a bit unusual for this site. 

Our full eBird list is below. 

Gail Mackiernan and Barry Cooper 
Colesville, MD 

Wheaton Regional Park and Brookside Gardens, Montgomery, US-MD 
Apr 20, 2012 7:30 AM - 9:30 AM 
Protocol: Traveling 
2.0 mile(s) 
Comments: warm, misty in some places, slight southerly breeze, a few new species but thin on the ground 
46 species (+1 other taxa) 

Canada Goose 8 
Mallard 1 
Double-crested Cormorant 6 fly-over heading north 
Green Heron 2 at Nature Ctr. pond; first of year 
Turkey Vulture 1 
hawk sp. 1 
Mourning Dove 6 
Chimney Swift 3 
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4 
Downy Woodpecker 3 
Hairy Woodpecker 1 
Northern Flicker 1 
Pileated Woodpecker 1 
Eastern Phoebe 2 at nest 
Great Crested Flycatcher 2 first of year 
Blue-headed Vireo 1 heard only 
Blue Jay 6 
American Crow 1 
Fish Crow 2 
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1 
Tree Swallow 4 
Barn Swallow 6 
Carolina Chickadee 4 
Tufted Titmouse 2 
White-breasted Nuthatch 1 
Carolina Wren 3 
House Wren 7 significant increase since last visit 
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 8 
Eastern Bluebird 1 at nest box 
Wood Thrush 1 heard only; first of year 
American Robin 35 "best estimate" 
Gray Catbird 4 
Northern Mockingbird 1 
European Starling 6 
Ovenbird 2 heard only; first of year 
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1 
Eastern Towhee 4 
Chipping Sparrow 10 
Song Sparrow 3 
White-throated Sparrow 4 
Northern Cardinal 8 
Red-winged Blackbird 7 
Common Grackle 18 
Brown-headed Cowbird 2 
House Finch 2 
American Goldfinch 8 
House Sparrow 2 

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 ( http://ebird.org ) 



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