MARYLAND BIRDLIFE ISuPbtui oj- ids. ^i^aiyfanJ &XnLtfio[ocj icu[ ^Socizhj, dJuc. MARCH 1975 VOLUME 31 NUMBER J MARYLAND ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY, INC. Cylburn Mansion, 4915 Greenspring Ave. , Baltimore, Maryland 21209 STATE OFFICERS FOR MAY 11, 1974 TO MAY, 1975 President : First V.P. : Second V. P.: Secretary: Exec. Sec 'y : Treasurer: Barclay E. Tucker, l4l7 Grafton Shop Rd. , Bel Air 21014 838-6269 Mr. Floyd Parks, 129 Washington Ave., Chestertovn 21620 778-2112 Dr. Donald Messersmith,104l8 Brookmoor Dr,SilvrSpg 20901 593-5942 Mrs. John Ford, 408 Beach Drive, Annapolis 21403 267-8417 Mrs. C. B. Perryclear, 204 St. David Ct , Cockeysvl 21030 666-381 4 Mr. W. Gordon MacGregor, 5009 Greenleaf Rd, Balto 21210 435-3044 Mr. Carl W. Carlson Mrs. Dorothy Mendinhall Mr. Edward Peters Mr. John W. Poteet, Jr. Col. Leland S. Devore Mr . Charles Vaughn Mr. August E. Selckmann EXECUTIVE COUNCIL 5706 Lone Oak Drive, Bethesda 20014 Damsite, R.D . 2, Chestertown 21620 107 Williams Circle, Williamsport 21795 5608 Stonington Ave., Baltimore 21207 Parade Rest, RD 1, Port Deposit 21904 1306 Frederick Ave., Salisbury 21801 Route 2, Frederick 21701 530-0688 778-0826 223-9327 448-1967 378-3473 742-7221 874-2515 STATE TRUSTEES Allegany: *Mr. Dale B. Fuller Mrs. C. Gordon Taylor Anne Arundel: *Mr. Richard Heise Mrs. John Ford Mrs. Patricia Flory Baltimore: *Dr. Roger Herriott Mrs . C . Lockhard Conley Miss Jane Daniels Mrs. Raymond Geddes , Jr. Mr. C. Douglas Hackman Mrs. Martin C. Larrabee Mrs. Edward A. Metcalf Dr. Benjamin F. Pos cover Mr. John Poteet, Jr. Mr. Chandler S. Robbins Mrs. Joshua Rowe Caroline: *Mrs. Wilber Engle Mr. Stephen Westre Frederick: *Mr. August Selckmann Mrs . Mary Motherway * Chapter President Harford: Howard: Kent: Montgomery : Patuxent : Talbot : Washington: Wicomico: *Col, Leland Devore Dr. Mildred Gebhard Mr. John Wort man *Dr. Robert Herndon Mr. John P. Healy #Dr. Daniel Z. Gibson Mrs . Edward Mendinhall Mrs. James E. Plymire *Mr. Paul W. Woodward Mr. Carl Carlson Dr. J. William Oberraan Dr . Robert Hahn *Mrs. Ellen Gizzarelli Mr. Elwood Fisher Mr. Danny Bystrak *Mr . Ray Bryan Mr. & Mrs.' Robert Price *Mr . Robert Keedy Mr . Edward Peters *Mr. Charles Vaughn Mr. Henry Stone Active Membership (adults) Student Membership (full-time students) Junior Membership (under 18 years) Family Membership (Mr. & Mrs.) Sustaining Membership Life Membership Out-of-State Membership $ 3.00 plus local chapter dues 2.00 plus local chapter dues 1.00 plus local chapter dues 4.00 plus local chapter dues 6.00 plus local chapter dues 100.00 (payable in 4 annual installments) 3.00 { Maryland Birdlife only) Cover: Le Conte's Sparrow, West Ocean City, Maryland, January 4, 1975 Photo by Philip Stoddard MARYLAND BIRDLIFE I.. ' Volume 31 March 1975 Number 1 CODED NECK-BANDS FOR SWANS, CANADA GEESE AND SNOW GEESE 1974-75 Judith C. Johnson and William J. L. Sladen Another season of waterfowl wintering in Maryland has passed and more fascinating data continues to he gathered on individual birds. In August 1974 , 84 Whistling Swans were banded in Alaska, nine of which were too small to carry blue neck-bands. Over 60% of the 50 swans banded on the Northern Slope of Alaska last summer have been resighted. The Northern Slope birds fly southeast to the mid-Atlantic region whereas the swans in western Alaska mostly go to Utah and California. Since January 1975, 42 Whistlers were given black neck and tarsus bands in Maryland and 210 in North Carolina. Some 36,000 Whistling Swans were counted in the Maryland inventory this year, down about 4,000 from last year. In contrast, the population at Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina rose from 11,000 in 1973-1974 to 18,000 in 1974-1975. Perhaps our most famous pair of swans are C028 (black), originally banded on the Rhode River in February 1970, and her mate, A301 (blue), banded that summer on their breeding grounds on the Alaskan Northern Slope, near the Prudhoe Bay Oilfields. These birds have been seen as a family group with cygnets each summer since then. During the winters of 1970-1971 and 1971-1972 they fed in the fields in Queen Annes County, but were not seen in Maryland again until November 2k and 27, 1974, when they were observed with two of their three cygnets in fields near Ingle- side. After that they disappeared and we wonder where they went. Another interesting bird is C084, banded at Centreville, Maryland, in January 1970. It was seen near that location every winter until 1973- 1974, when there were no sightings, but it was back in Maryland at Locust Grove on December 8, 1974. With our mild winters, the Susquehanna River at Washington Boro, Pennsylvania, has become a favorite roosting and staging area for swans, and they feed in fields in Lancaster County dur- ing the day. C084 was there from January l8 to March 17 when we liter- ally saw it take off for the north with a group of twenty or so birds. On the l8th it was seen by the Canadians near Wallaceburg, Ontario, and on March 23rd it was at Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan. On the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay l6 Canada Geese were marked with our specially coded neck-bands near the Bay Bridge in 4 MARYLAND BIKDLIFE Vnl - 31. N0._1 February 1973, and another 62 near Davidsonville in March 1974. None of the 16 were seen the following fall until a few days after the hunting season ended when 75 $ were resighted. The Davidsonville flock gave us a 90$ resighting rate (56 out of 62) before spring migration and this year 42$ were back from their breeding grounds. What makes these sightings especially remarkable is that the collars are black on black necks, and inscribed with a 4-digit code in white letters. In February 1975, 18 Canada Geese were banded with white neck collars on the Western Shore, and they should be easier to spot than birds with black on black 1 Only three of the banded birds have been reported dead. In the spring of 1974, 103 Lesser Snow Geese were banded with green collars in California and Utah, with some also being dyed brown with sil- ver nitrate. This was done as part of the US/USSR Environmental Agree- ment, Project B-8, Northern Swans and other Northern Waterfowl . During the summer the Soviets dyed pink 250 Lesser Snow Geese on Wrangel Island in northeastern Siberia and placed orange neck bands on 178. A further 500 were dyed orange by Tom Barry in the Anderson River Delta, Northwest Territories, arctic Canada. The Snow Geese from Siberia migrate into the U.S.A, and most winter in California. Drs. A. A. Kistchinski and William Sladen are U.S.S.R. and U.S.A. Coordinators of Project B-8; E. U. Curtis Bohlen, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior for Fish, Wildlife 8s Parks, is Chairman of Problem Area V {Nature & Preserves) of the US/USSR Environmental Agreement, with Earl Baysinger, of the Office of Endangered Species, being Chairman of the Wildlife Working Group. Dr. V. E. Jacobi, the first Soviet working biologist to visit the U.S.A. under the US/USSR Environmental Agreement, spent six weeks here in the fall of 1974. He worked at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center studying their operations, and visited Assateague Island to observe Dr. F. Prescott Ward's work with the Peregrine Falcon. In late October he flew west with Dr. Sladen to look for Whistling Swans arriving in North Dakota on migration, and in Utah and California they looked for swans that were banded in western Alaska and for the Soviet Snow Geese. While at Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge, Tulelake, California, Drs. Sladen and Jacobi banded (green collars) an additional 82 Snow Geese. Dr. Jacobi was especially excited at seeing some of his Soviet geese and all told 46 of the Snow Geese neck-banded in Siberia have been either resighted or recovered as of April 1975, the first on September 19 in Alaska, and the others in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California. The most remarkable sighting was a pink goose reported at Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge in Southern Illinois by members of the Southern Illinois Bird Observatory. Our Johns Hopkins University Waterfowl Program cooperates and works closely with the U.S. Fish fie Wildlife Service, with State and Provincial wildlife biologists, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and with a growing number of enthusiastic volunteers. You can help by supporting the pro- gram and reporting neck-bands to Dr. William J. L. Sladen, Department of Pathobiology , The Johns Hopkins University, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore 21205. March 1975 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 2 AUTUMN HAWK AND JAY MIGRATION STUDIES AT TOWSON, 1973 David S. Lee and Zenas B. Sykes In spite of much local interest in the fall migration of hawks, there are few reports of systematic monitorings. Hawk Mountain (Kempton, Pennsylvania) is world renowned for its autumn hawk migrations. Here records have "been maintained since 1936. Systematic records have also "been kept at Cape May (New Jersey), Waggoners Gap, Bake Oven Knob (Pennsylvania) and South Mountain (Maryland) (see recent volumes of American Birds and Atlantic Naturalist). Hackman and Henny (1971) com- piled six years of random observations in an attempt to analyze popula- tion stability for ten species of diurnal raptors, and Ward and Berry (1972) have been studying the Maryland coastal flights of Peregrine Falcons. With these exceptions, we are not aware of any recent informa- tion on the patterns of fall hawk migrations in the central Atlantic states . In the fall of 1973, the students from several elective biology courses at Towson High School, Towson, Maryland, spent eight weeks re- cording migration activities from the roof of the school. Observation periods ran seven to eight hours a day, three to seven (5*^) days a week. Date and time of movements (as well as other miscellaneous data) were re- corded for 51 species of birds. Monarch butterflies, and several species of dragonflies. Only data on vultures, hawks, Blue Jays, and Monarchs are presented here. METHODS Between Sept. 27 and Nov. 17, 1973, we spent 4 7 days monitoring fall migrations. Daily observation periods started at 7:00 or 8:00 A.M. and ran until 3:00 or U:00 P.M. (E.S.T.)* During the first few weeks our observation periods continued until 5:00 P.M. , but we saw so few hawks during this later time period that it was discontinued. Two to ten ob- servers were present at all times. All participants had a two to three week training period in hawk identification prior to the study. Species identification was relatively difficult when compared with typical ridge-top hawk watching. Poor light, wide angle of approach, and the height of the birds all limited our efforts to detect field marks. Because of this, students were instructed to make liberal use of the "unidentified" category whenever there was any question or disagreement concerning the identity of a bird. One of us was on the roof approximately 75 percent of the time to confirm or to make identifications, and to be sure that the students maintained uniform coverage. We found that the best method for spotting hawks was to constantly scan both the northern horizon and the clouds in the northern half of the sky. Using this method, very few birds were able to get overhead or behind us without being picked up well in advance. Attempts to correlate weather maps with flight activity achieved only limited success. * Time shifts due to Daylight Savings Time. 6 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vnl. 31. No.JL Information on observed field marks, flight pattern, elevation, time, compass heading, and flock size (for Jays) was logged on a data chart for each sighting. Occasionally we were swamped with so many birds that it was possible to record only the species, the number, and the time. BLUE JAYS Except for reports of casual sightings and banding information, there seems to be little documentation of Blue Jay migration in the southeastern states. Stevenson (1973) has summarized this information. Because of the paucity of published information on this subject, the following may be of interest. Between Sept. 2k and Nov. 2, 1973 we observed 9,906 migrating Blue Jays. Only birds that were flying in flocks (or in visual contact with migrating flocks) and were well above the treeline were counted. From random counts we would estimate that an additional 3,000+ birds migrated through during count periods at, or below, treeline levels. Often indi- viduals and small flocks would fly up from the canopy and join migrating groups. These were also counted if they Joined the migrating flocks be- fore they were parallel to the school. Since dally migrations were usually well underway before the beginning of each day's observation period, and since the fall Jay migration started at least several weeks before our study, we have no indication of the total number of Jays moving through our observation area. Maximum numbers of birds were observed toward the end of September and in the first week in October (see Fig. l). High count days occurred . during this time (e.g.. Sept. 28, 1133; Oct. 3, 1023; Oct. 9» 1115). Most Jays came from the north or northeast. From our vantage point it appeared that all flocks (regardless of original compass bearing) left our area along a single narrow corridor, flying south-southwest. Jay migration was most intense in the morning hours. Flocks tended to be larger (average 15) and appeared more frequently. The afternoon flocks were smaller ( average 6 ) . MONARCH BUTTERFLIES We observed 9k2 migrating Monarch butterflies. Almost without ex- ception, butterflies were flying due south. Unlike the jays, Monarchs flew south singly and over a broad front. In the morning they tended to fly low and were few in number. In early afternoon they reached peak numbers (see Fig. 1). On warm, windless afternoons some individuals flew so high that they could be spotted only with the aid of binoculars. They continued to migrate in moderate numbers through mid-October. High count days were: Sept. 26, llU; Sept. 28, 230; Oct. 3, 66. The last Monarchs were recorded in the first week of November. There appears to be a pos- itive correlation between intensity and duration of jay and Monarch mi- gration, but they migrate during different times of the day. Several times we watched kestrels diving at Monarchs, but only once did a kestrel actually touch a butterfly and it made no attempt to eat it. March 1975 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 7 Monarch Butterflies 24 30 5 10 15 20 September October 25 30 5 10 15 November 20 Blue Jays Monarch Butterflies ‘"i” i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 t i 1 1 800 900 10^00 11:00 12N. 100 2:00 3 00 4 00 5:00 Hours (EST) Fig. 1. Interpretation of migration patterns of Blue Jays and Monarch butterflies expressed in inter-quartile and inter-octile banges. Thin lines represent observed range of activity. Heavy lines, progressing from left to right, represent 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 3 /4 and 7/8 of total re- Upper graph shows season of migration; lower graph, time of day. VULTURES j, HAWKS AMD EAGLES Of the 17 species of Falconiformes reported from Maryland (Stewart and Robbins, 1958) we observed all but two (Black Vulture and Swallow- tailed Kite). During our eight-week study we logged 1,526 individuals. All except a dozen or so were moving due south or south-southeast, and we assume they were migrating through our study area. Since we can assume that the hawks that flew over Towson appeared in the same relative numbers as they did at Hawk Mountain during the 1973 migration period (see "Discussion") and that the seasonal duration of their flight was also similar, we can make some estimates of the total number of hawks coining through our area. Between Aug. 1 and Sept. 23, personnel at Hawk Mountain logged 58 percent of their hawks (mostly Broad-wings); between Nov. l8 and Dec. 2 they saw fewer than one percent (mostly Red-tails). If we missed the same percentage before and after our study period, and if we add the average number of hawks per day times the number of days of no coverage during our study period (32.5 x 10), we can estimate that over 4,000 hawks migrated through the area during the fall of 1973- Random observations made by students during August and early September 1974 confirmed that large numbers of Broad-winged Hawks migrated through our study area. 8 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vnl . 31 . No . 1. VULTURES Turkey Vulture Total number observed 220 Earliest date Sept. 25 Latest date Nov. 17 Peak count days Oct. l 6 , 25 birds Nov. 6 , 44 birds Average per hour 0 . 666 Percent of total lb.hl6 We assumed several of the vultures were residents, probably repre- senting 10 to 15 of our 220 sightings. Most vultures migrated at the same height (i.e., 150-300 feet above the school). ACCIPITERS Sharp-shinned Cooper ' s Goshawk Total observed Earliest date Latest date Peak count days 211 Sept . 24 Nov. 17 Oct. li, 16 Oct .16, 28 Oct. 17, 17 Oct. 18. 23 1 6 Sept. 28 Nov. 17 Oct. 9, 3 1 Oct. 1, 1 Average per hour Percent of total 0.624 13.827 0 . 052 * 1.048 0.003 We often spotted a large flock of tightly packed songbirds as they maneuvered in unison above the treeline. By watching these flocks closely, we could pick out a Sharp-shin or an occasional kestrel as it made a diving pass through the flock. We assumed that the hawks were feeding, but we never actually saw one catch a bird. Sometimes we won- dered if the small birds were purposely mobbing the hawks, for on sev- eral occasions we watched them rise above the 1 trees and fly toward a passing hawk. We had a ratio of about 13 Sharp-shins for every Cooper's Hawk. In the second week of October a female Cooper's Hawk took up temporary residence around the school and spent the greater part of the afternoon chasing Starlings through the tree tops. The Goshawk was quite low, 100-150 feet, and several observers were able to get a good look at the face stripe (probably an adult male). BUTE0S Red-tai led Red-shouldered Broad-winged Rough- legged Total observed Earliest date Latest date Peak count days 575 Sept . 24 Nov. 17 Nov. 6 , 123 Nov. 7, 107 Nov. 12. 57 74 Oct. 25 Nov. 12 Oct. 21 , 10 Nov. 5, 11 Nov. 12, 26 24 Sept . 24 Oct . 1 Sept. 24, 17 3 Oct. 16 Nov. 6 Oct. 16, 2 Average per hour Percent of total 1.701 37.680 0.308* 4.858 0.428* 1.573 0.010 * Average for species' observed period of migration. March 19 75 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 1 Red-tails generally migrated at greater heights than other species. We suspect that a large proportion of the unidentified buteos were Red- shoulders. Their field marks were particularly 'difficult to confirm on overcast days when the birds were flying above 1000 feet. Our low count of Broad-wings is a result of our late start; most of the Broad-wing migration had already taken place prior to Sept. 24. Hawk Mountain re- ported 14,956 Broad-wings during the 1973 fall migration. The two Rough-legs on Oct. 1 6 were dark phase birds; they came in at treetop level and flew southeasterly. No information was recorded for the November sighting. EAGLES, HARRIER Golden Eagle Bald Eagle N. Harrier Osprey AND OSPREY Total observed Earliest date Latest date Peak count days 3 Oct. 19 Nov. 12 6 Sept . 2h Nov. 8 3 Oct. 17 Oct. 22 6l Sept. 2k Oct . 26 Oct. 1, 6 Oct. 3, 8 Oct. 10, 7 Average per horn Percent of total 0.010 0.020 0.010 0.280* 3.997 The first Golden Eagle was an immature; those on Nov. 11 and Nov. 12 were adults . The adult Bald Eagle was flying northeasterly and was one of the few hawks we saw that was not moving on a southerly course. Most Ospreys migrated as singles; seldom were they with other hawks. Only on two occasions did we see Ospreys in "pairs." Ospreys sighted before 10:30 A.M. were usually quite low (150-200 feet). Many students reported Ospreys fishing in Loch Raven Reservoir during the early part of our study period, and we assume that our early morning sightings were of birds that roosted in that area. FALCONS & UNKNOWN Peregrine Merlin Am. Kestrel Unknown Total observed Earliest date Latest date Peak count days 3 Oct. l4 Oct. 19 k Oct. 15 Oct . l8 Oct. 17, 2 65 Sept. 2k Nov. 17 Sept. 24, 9 Oct. 11, 9 Oct. 16, 7 Oct. 17, 7 257 Average per hour Percent of total 0.010 0.01U 0.192 4.259 0.760 16.841 Five additional large falcons in mid-October that we assumed were Peregrines or female Merlins were included as Unknowns. One or more American Kestrels took up temporary residence near the school and we sus- pect that a fair number of our sightings were multiple counts of the same birds. Our high percentage of Unknowns is a result of our insistence on recording any questionable sightings in this category; most of these birds w ere high-flying buteos. * Average for species' observed period of migration. 10 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 31 1 No. 1 DISCUSSION There are three major hawk migration routes through Maryland. Many individuals follow the Atlantic Coast; birds flying this route do not normally appear in our area. A second route follows the Fall Line; even though this flyway is only a few miles south of Towson, rarely did we see numbers of birds flying in a south-southwesterly direction that would indicate they were paralleling this route. The other major mi- gration route is along the mountains where the hawks ride the updrafts along the mountain slopes. The closest mountains, however, are 55 miles to the west of Towson. What, then, are these hawks doing over the Mary- land Piedmont? We believe that on days when the winds do not provide proper updrafts, many birds leave the mountain ridges and switch to the Fall Line route, peeling off across the Piedmont. A line of flight di- rectly south from the mountain ridges of Pennsylvania to the Fall Line, where it swings west of Chesapeake Bay, would intersect the Towson area. Yet, with only one year's data accumulated, and with seemingly limitless variations in the weather and the number and kinds of hawks, we cannot at this time consider this reasoning as anything more than speculation. Turkey Vulture Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Red -shouldered Hawk Broad -winged Hawk Osprey Kestrel 24 30 5 10 15 20 25 30 5 10 15 September October November 20 Fig. 2. Statistical interpretation of seasonal distribution for selected species of Falconi formes migrating over Towson, Maryland (1973). See Fig. 1 for explanation. March 1975 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 11 Fever than twenty percent of the hawks recorded appeared to he riding thermals, and most of these were noted early in the study period. By watching the weather we found that we could, to some degree of certainty, predict good flight days. We observed good flights of hawks from one to eight hours before a cold front came -through the area. Nov. 6 is a good example. Large numbers of hawks had been passing over all morning; by noon we had 133 hawks (of these, 108 were Red-tails). Then the cold front hit; the temperature dropped about 12 degrees as the front came through, and we did not see a single bird during the remain- der of the day. On other days we had hawks riding an hour or so behind a front. Many hawk-watchers have stated that the day after a front has passed through an area is not a good time for hawk migration. We did not always find this to be true, and we suspect that different factors affect birds traveling the mountain ridges where the dedicated observers congregate. Frequently poor flight days were characterized by winds out of the southwest or west. On the other hand, we had seven days on which we recorded fewer than ten hawks , and several of these days had local weather conditions identical to those of good flight days. Each species had a definite calendar period during which it was most abundant. Early migrants included Broad-winged Hawks, Ospreys and prob- ably immature Bald Eagles. Large falcons were confined to mid-October, and Red-tailed Hawks and Turkey Vultures were coining through in large numbers toward the latter part of our study period. Even species that were seen throughout the study period, kestrels and Sharp-shinned Hawks, for example, had peak periods of flight activity. These observations are nearly identical to those reported by many authors who have kept records of hawk movements along the major flyvays. Recently Mueller and Berger (1973) have shown specific rhythms of dally migration activity in hawks at Cedar Grove, Wisconsin. Their data suggest that accipiter activity peaks in the morning, followed by buteos, while falcons are most common in the early afternoon. Our accipiters and buteos appeared in the same sequence, but perhaps in slightly later time slots (see Table l). The falcons were most common, however, in the Table 1. Time of Observed Migration of Vultures and Hawks A. 7:00- 8:00 ,M. - 8:00- 9:00 - 9:00- 10:00 Eastern - 10:00- 11:00 Standard Time 11:00- 12:00- 12:00 1:00 1:00- 2:00 P, 2:00- 3:00 .M. - 3:00- 4:00 PERCENTA G E S Turkey Vultures 0.0 2.7 7.6 9-1 18.0 27-1 20.1 12.5 2.2 Accipiters 3.2 8.8 14.7 19.7 12.2 21.1+ 12.0 5.9 1.0 Buteos (excluding Bro ad-wg . Hawks ) 2.2 1.6 5-0 21.0 31.3 13-6 17.2 6.3 1.4 Broad-wg. Hawks 0.0 85.7 4.7 0.0 0.0 9.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 Osprey 2.1 10.5 19-1 6.3 23.1+ 25-5 8.1+ 4.2 0.0 Falcons 2.0 6.0 22.7 22.U 16 .1 11+.3 8.2 12.0 0.0 12 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 31. No- 1 morning. As Mueller and Berger observed (1973), the movement of Broad- vinged Hawks seems aberrant when compared to the other buteos. For our data, at least, this can be attributed to our small sample. Activity, for all species except Broad-wings, was low before 9:30 and after 3:00. The Towson High School "Hawk Watch" is of significant educational merit, justifying its continuance in coming years. Through eight weeks of observation and several weeks spent interpreting the data, the stu- dents learned a variety of biological, lessons. The scientific aspects of this report are greatly outweighed by the educational value of the experience and an increased individual aesthetic appreciation of the hawks themselves . It is hoped that in future yeans other teachers and students will continue with this project. Data collected over a period of several yeans will iron out many of the variables encountered in our first year's study. Perhaps other schools will adopt similar monitoring programs. In a time when the population stability of many diurnal raptors is threat- ened, it seems that such simple baseline studies could be of great value. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Approximately 75 students volunteered varying amounts of their time to assist in monitoring migrations. Although we will not take the space to acknowledge each one individually, we sincerely thank them for their interest. Without such help this report would not have been possible. Several students assisted in other ways: Lucy Millerant contacted Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and exchanged data; Robert Kelly and Mike Duran assisted in the analysis of the Blue Jay and Monarch data. Cooperation and interest from members of the administration, facility and staff of Towson High School are appreciated. Their tolerance and patience was in itself inspiring. C. Douglas Hackman offered both encouragement and useful advice; Barbara Lake supplied us with the 1973 Hawk Mountain records, and Nancy R. Halliday prepared the illustrations. LITERATURE CITED Hackman, C.D. and Henny, C.J. 1971- Hawk Migration over White Marsh, Maryland. Chesapeake Sci. 12(3) : 137-1^1 • Mueller, H. and Berger, D. 1973. The Daily Rhythm of Hawk Migration at Cedar Grove, Wisconsin. Auk 90( 3) : 591-596. Stevenson, H.M. 1973. Migration of the Blue Jay in the Southeastern United States. Fla. Field Naturalist l(l):9-l3. Stewart, R.E. and Robbins, C.S. 1958. Birds of Maryland and the District of Columbia. North Americana Fauna 62:1-^01. Ward, S. and Berry, R. 1972. Autumn Migration of Peregrine Falcons on Assateague Island 1970-71. J. Wildl. Manage . 36(2) : 484-1*92. David S. Lee, North Carolina State Museum, Raleigh, N.C. 276ll and Zenas B. Sykes, 107 Stevenson Lane, Towson, Md. 21212 March 1975 MARYLAND BIKDLIFE 13 DIURNAL VOCALIZATION BY A WINTERING BLACK RAIL Jan G. Reese I heard a Black Rail {Latevallus gamaiaensis) calling at 8:50 a.m. on January l6, 1975 at the base of the observation tower at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Dorchester County, Maryland. There was heavy overcast with intermittent light rain, no wind, rising barometric pressure, 100 percent humidity, 28 to 33° F temperature and all the nearby tributaries were frozen. The rail was vocalizing from tufted hairgrass { Deschampsia aespitosa ) on the south side of the tower when I arrived. The primary sound being constantly emitted was a ticking sim- ilar to tapping two pebbles together. Three to five kik notes were usually followed by a double kik, i.e., kik, kik, kik , kik, kik-kik. 1 walked within eight meters of the singing rail and imitated the song. Within minutes the rail was seen at my feet through the chest-high grasses. It stopped vocalizing when within a meter of where I stood, a behavior also witnessed by Wierenga (1973). When not vocalizing, the rail's path was visible via the jittering and rustle of grass. I changed position in the grass three additional times to afford my companion, Joanne Parulis, a better view of the rail. The rail quickly decoyed each time I commenced imitating thie kik notes after changing my position. On two occasions the rail emitted a weak, mellow ahaaa sound that was barely audible; this sound was like a scratchy human exhale. We successfully flushed the rail across a small pathway, but saw it fly only about a meter. Spring or summer reportings of the Black Rail have been made in nine Maryland counties (Robbins 1971 ) despite its supposedly limited habitat range and scarcity. Preference for extensive marsh areas, reluctance to fly, nocturnal habits, and small size are factors contrib- uting to classification of the Black Rail as rare and elusive. These same factors are responsible for nearly all the Maryland records being rails heard, but not seen. Meritt (1963), Rowlett and Wierenga (in Robbins 1973) and Wierenga (1973) had no problem finding, hearing or seeing Black Rails in Maryland. Vocalization by this rail is puzzling since it does not resemble spectrograms made of spring and summer singing Black Rails, yet it is similar to some calls of the Yellow Rail ( Cotmmieops noveboracensis) (Kellogg et at. 1959, Kellogg 1962, Reynard 1974). I can offer no ex- planation for this anomaly, but hope this observation may aid future investigators in determining the complete repertoire of both species. The first wintering Black Rail in Maryland was seen on the Southern Dorchester County Christmas Bird Count on December 26, 1973 by Claudia Wilds (Bystrak 1974, Robbins 1974). With annually increasing numbers of birdwatchers, it is not surprising to find formerly elusive species more commonly reported than before or occurring at times and places not pre- viously reported. Black Rail sightings in two consecutive mild Maryland MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 31' No. 1 l4 winters is a good example. Both wintering rails were found in excellent rail habitat and at locations only a few hundred meters apart. I suggest that more field work in suitable habitat may show the Black Rail to win- ter frequently in Maryland marshes. LITERATURE CITED Bystrak, P. G. 1974. The Maryland Christmas Counts of 1973. Md. Birdlife 30(1): 3-8. Kellogg, P. P. 1962. Vocalizations of the Black Rail ( Laterallus jamaicensis) and the Yellow Rail ( Cotumicops noveboracensis) . Auk 79 (4): 698-701. Kellogg, P. P., A. A. Allen, and R. T. Peterson. 1959- A field guide to bird songs. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Mass, Meritt , D. S. 1963. Black Rail in Dorchester County. Md. Birdlife 19 (*0:107. Reynard, G. B. 197*+. Some vocalizations of the Black, Yellow, and Virginia Rails. Auk 91(4) =747-756 . Robbins, C. S. 1971. The season — April, May, June, 1971. Md. Birdlife 27(3) :139-lU9- 1973. The season — April, May, June, 1973. Md. Birdlife 29(3): 11U-12U. (compiler). 1974. Christmas Bird Count, Southern Dorchester County, Md. Am. Birds 28(2) : 276-277. Wierenga, H. 1973. Behavior of a Black Rail. Md. Birdlife 29(3) :87. Box 298, St. Michaels 21663 O RESULTS OF THE MOS BLUEBIRD PROJECT IN 1974 Laurence Zeleny Bluebirds had another good nesting season in Maryland, judging by the results of the MOS bluebird project. An estimated 1,837 young blue- birds were fledged from Maryland boxes, a 54 percent increase over the 1973 total of 1,191. The total number raised since the MOS project began in 1969 is 5,262 bluebirds. Table 1 shows the number of young bluebirds reported fledged in 1974 in each Maryland county. Table 1. Number of young bluebirds reported fledged Allegany 13 Garrett 24 Anne Arundel 154 Howard 115 Baltimore . 30 Montgomery 306 Calvert 302 Prince Georges 673 Cecil 24 Washington 172 Charles 3 Total lTW Frederick 21 March 1975 MARYLAND BIKDLIFE 15. Several "bluebird trails" have been developed, each consisting of a number of nesting boxes. These are usually spaced 100 yards or more apart and arranged so they can be monitored conveniently by car, bicycle, or on foot. Table 2 gives a summary of those trails that produced 50 or more young bluebirds in 1971+ . Table 2. Trails that produced 50 or more young bluebirds in 197^ Location Operator No . of boxes Est. yg fledged Near Clear Spring, Washington Co. Daniel Boone 27 79 Near Smithsburg , Washington County Daniel Boone 32 75 Hughes Hollow, Seneca, Montgomery Co. Paul W. Woodward 50 81 River Road and vicinity, Potomac, to Sycamore Landing, Montgomery Co. Edwin T. McKnight & David B. Stewart 22 75 Southern Howard County Mrs. Eleanor Robbins ; 28 5l+ Ft. George G. Meade, Anne Arundel Co. Mrs. Rena Bishop 26 72 Agricultural Research Center, P.G. Co. Lawrence Zeleny 77 196 Goddard Space Flight Center, P.G. Co. Charles Dupree 50 80 Piscataway Park, Prince Georges Co. Timothy Manns 35 85 Merckle Wildlife Management Area near Croom, Prince Georges Co. Edgar A. Merckle 20 116 Near Upper Marlboro, P.G. Co. Steve Keathley 100 60 Near Dunkirk, Calvert Co. Jon Boone 30 125 Near Sunderland, Calvert Co. Lester Denton 1+0 125 Lusby, Calvert Co. Mrs. C. Wohlgemuth T 52 Total from the most productive trails 5W 1,275 Edgar Merckle 's trail near Croom was especially productive for a trail in its first year. Mrs. Christopher Wohlgemuth's trail is a fine example of what can be accomplished with close attention to a small number of nesting boxes in a limited area; her trail averaged 7-1+ young fledged per box as compared to 2.3 for the lU trails summarized in Table 2. Paul Woodward's trail is noteworthy in that most of his boxes were made from half-gallon milk cartons rather than the standard wooden boxes used almost exclusively by the other collaborators . (See Maryland Birdlife 29:151-152.) The continued increase in number of bluebirds fledged each year under this project is indeed encouraging. This is largely the result of ex- panding participation. We cannot conclude that there has been an equiva- lent increase in the Eastern Bluebird population for the entire State. Continued expansion of the project should put us well on the way toward our goad of restoring the Maryland bluebird population. MOS mem- bers are urged to participate in this much-needed conservation effort in 1975. 1+312 Van Buren St., Hyattsville 16 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol . 31 > No. 1 Le CONTE'S SPARROW IN MARYLAND M. Kathleen Klimkiem-az The highlight of the winter for "landlubber" birders was the Le Conte's Sparrow ( Ammospiza leeontii) . David Nutter and Paul Burdick first sighted the bird on the Ocean City Christmas Count, December 27, 197^ at Ocean Pines, Worcester County. It was carefully studied by both observers and was added to the hypothetical State list. Attempts to find the bird the next day were unsuccessful. After the "marathon" of Christmas counts ended, several of us de- cided to attempt capture of the Le Conte’s for verification. Permission was obtained from the developers of Ocean Pines, the development where the bird was found. The banding party arrived at the field on a calm, drizzly January 1975* Mist nets were strategically placed along a hedgerow at the far end of the field. The group — Pete Pyle, Phil Stoddard, David Nutter, George Robbins, Daniel Boone, Evan and Ives Hannay, and the author — slowly drove the birds from the far end of the field to the hedgerow. The Le Conte’s was flushed into the hedgerow and then reflushed into the nets. The bird was identified as a full "adult" plumaged Le Conte's Sparrow. It was carefully banded (l260-60825 ) , measured (wing chord, 50 mm; tail, h9 mm; bill length, 7 mm; bill width, 5 mm; bill depth, 6 mm), and photographed. Examination for degree of skull ossification revealed that the bird was a "young of the year" ( 1/ 3 ossified). Fat class was 1. Verification feathers and a photograph have been deposited in the National Photoduplicate File (accession no. 5^8-lB) at the Patux- ent Wildlife Research Center. Le Conte’s Sparrow is a very shy, secretive yet tame bird. When flushed they seldom fly far and almost always fly very low and errati- cally. The habitat consists of the drier edges of marshes,- wet meadows or fields. The field at Ocean Pines was approximately 200 yds long and 75 yds wide with two brush piles and was bordered on two sides by bare mud, on the third by the road and the other by the hedgerow. The vege- tation was similar to that favored by Henslow's Sparrow ( Ammodramus henslowii) — Broomsedge ( Andropogon vivginious ) and Switchgrass ( Panieim virgatum) . Asters, goldenrods, a few shrubs and saplings (less than 2 ft tall) were scattered throughout the field. The field was very moist with areas of standing water. The bird was usually easily flushed near the hedgerow and would sit in the small trees and bushes for as long as one-half hour under observation. Approximately 100 birders saw the bird which was last seen on February 8, 1975- The winter of 197^-75 appears to have been a good one for wintering Le Conte's in the east. Four regional Christmas counts (Ocean City; Back Bay and Little Creek, Va. ; Bodie-Pea Island, N.C.) reported a total of 5 individuals. Another bird was observed at Indian River, Delaware. March 1975 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE II At least two birds were found Thanksgiving weekend and most were seen into the middle or end of January. Special thanks are extended to the Ocean Pines personnel for their cooperation and assistance. 13117 Larchdale Road, #2, Laurel 208ll A - 2ATH ANNUAL NEST CARD SUMMARY, 1972 Daniel Boone In 1972, the year of Hurricane Agnes, an excellent turnout of 99 observers recorded a total of 101 bird species which they found nesting in Maryland. Both the number of observers and the number of nesting species represented a marked increase over the previous seven years, approaching the level of interest characteristic of the 1950' s. The fact that only Harford County failed to achieve coverage was indicative of the wide range of activity. Please refer to Table 1 for a listing of birds for each county. Without doubt, Agnes was a major factor affecting the fate of many nesting birds. No one, for example, reported a successful Purple Martin nesting. The flooding of lowlands on the Eastern Shore resulted in the destruction of hundreds of egrets and herons. Inland, torrential rains and high-force winds wrecked havoc with flycatcher, tanager, and warbler nests . Despite this natural disaster, birds persevered and observers per- sisted, establishing several new records. Ted Van Velzen found the first State nesting of a Greater Black-backed Gull. Other observers un- covered a shifting in the breeding areas of a few species, notably find- ing Little Tern nests at Sandy Point. Moreover, one observer pinpointed a cardinal with eggs two weeks later than any previous record. As shown in Table 2, Anne Arundel County observers led the State in submitting the highest number of nest cards, as well as in reporting the greatest number of species. This reflected the superb efforts of Hal Wierenga, Morgan Jones, and Rena Bishop. Thanks should also go to Jan Reese, who provided his usual splendid coverage of Eastern Shore counties, and to Paul Bystrak for his fine effort Statewide. Special congratulations must go to Dale Fuller and Lydia Beiler for their reports from the Appalachian Mountain Region of Garrett County. Their coverage was especially significant because of the relative scarcity of nesting information about that area. Although there was generally widespread coverage, observers seemed so intent upon discovering unusual species that they often neglected to report many commonplace birds, such as Black-capped Chickadee, king- fisher, and goldfinch. Curiously, however, despite the fact that Birdlife published the results of the Montgomery County Atlas for 1972, 18 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 31, No. 1 Table 1. Summary of All 1972 Maryland Nests Reported Species GAWP ALAR R L S E C B H RAO R L W MPA 0 R N N I N CCS A H T LAM C K Q E E U C N E C T D A A 0 R L R 100 188 1*6 w s w 10 0 C M R Great Blue Heron Green Heron Cattle Egret Great Egret Snovy Egret 6 100 20 Louisiana Heron Glossy Ibis Mute Swan Canada Goose Mallard 2 3 10 Am. Black Duck Wood Duck Red-tailed Hawk Red-shouldered Hawk Bald Eagle 1 1 13 2 1 2 l6 11 1 2 1 1 Osprey Am. Kestrel Common Bobwhite Ring-necked Pheasant Wild Turkey 1 lj 1 1 Virginia Rail Killdeer Willett Am. Woodcock Gt ■ Black-backed Gull 1 12 3 111 Herring Gull Common Tern Little Tern Rock Dove Mourning Dove 3 2 6 1 3 5 3 117 1 U Yellow-billed Cuckoo Barn Owl Common Screech Owl Great Horned Owl Barred Owl 1 1 12 1 1 2 1 3 6 1 Chimney Swift Common Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpeck. Hairy Woodpecker 1 3 Downy Woodpecker Eastern Kingbird Gt. Crested Flycatch. Eastern Phoebe Acadian Flycatcher 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 Eastern Pewee Horned Lark Tree Swallow Bank Swallow Rough-winged Swallow 1 9 1 11 18 9 & 9 2 U 10 150 2 1*22 10 1 11 * Barn Swallow Purple Martin Blue Jay Am. Crow Fish Crow 1 2 1* 1 3 11 7 52 10 March 1975 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 19 Species G A W F ALAR R L S E C B H RAO R L W MPA 0 R H N I N C C A H L A C K Q E E U C N E C T D A A 0 R L R W S I 0 C M Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-br. Nuthatch Brown-headed Nuthatch Brown Creeper 1 2 1 1 h k 1 1 4 2 2 House Wren Bewick's Wren Carolina Wren Marsh Wren Northern Mockingbird 27 7 2 2 1 2 hT 5 1 1 5 2 7 2 3 5 7 1 k l 1 1 Gray Catbird Brown Thrasher Am. Robin Wood Thrush Eastern Bluebird 3 1 3 11 22 1 1 13 3 20 10 9 1 1 3 18 11 2 4 30 9 5 6 1 20 30 3 5 9 20 11 . 2 h 10 1 1 13 1 2 1 3 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher European Starling White-eyed Vireo Yellow-throated Vireo Solitary Vireo 2 15 12 6 1 1 1 Red-eyed Vireo Yellow Warbler Chestnut-sided Warb. Ovenbird Louisiana Waterthrush Kentucky Warbler Yellowthroat Yellow-breasted Chat House Sparrow Red-winged Blackbird 11 1 1 Ik 1 1 k 19 11 13 2 Orchard Oriole Northern Oriole Boat-tailed Grackle Common Grackle Brown-headed Covbird 10 3 1 1 1 1 3 2 5 1 2 1 1 k 2 1 1 Scarlet Tanager Northern Cardinal Blue Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Rufous-sided Towhee 1 2 3 6 1 1 3 10 8 2 1 1 1 6 2 Savannah Sparrow Sharp-tailed Sparrow Seaside Sparrow Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Song Sparrow 5 5 h 1 k 12 2 W 0 R in which there was a "confirmed" nesting record of a Cliff Swallow in at least four quarter blocks, no one submitted a nest card for this species. In the future- observers ought not to overlook the obvious and, at the same time, should emphasize consistency of reporting, especially with unusual nesting species. ANNOTATED LIST The following list includes brief notes on all 101 species reported. The number after the species name indicates the number of cards observers submitted for that species. Underscored dates are new records for the State. 20 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 31, No. 1 GREAT BLUE HERON, 3. Hurricane Agnes left approximately 70 dead young in its wake at the Poplar Island colony, Talbot County (JR). GREEN HERON, 6 . Eggs, May 7 to June 17- Predators robbed nest in P.G. Co. CATTLE EGRET, 1. June 5 nest contents ranged from freshly hatched eggs to nearly fully fledged young. GREAT EGRET, 1. A small colony on Poplar Island. SNOWY EGRET, 2. Two nests containing 3 eggs each on Ma^ 28 in Dorchester Co. (HTA). Eggs should be found much earlier in that young have been observed in the nest on May 1. LOUISIANA HERON, 1. At least 1 pair in a Queen Annes Co. colony. GLOSSY IBIS, 2. Nests with eggs and young on May 28 in Dorchester Co. establish both an early egg and early young record for Maryland (HTA). MUTE SWAN, 7* All nests in Talbot Co.; clutches of 5-9 eggs. CANADA GOOSE, 1. Family at Blackwater Refuge (HTA). MALLARD, 17* Eggs as early as March 27 in Kent Co. and viable eggs as late as July 3 in Talbot Co. AM. BLACK DUCK, 9. Downy young on Aug . 13 at Blackwater Refuge (HTA). WOOD DUCK, 6. No nests, but broods of downy young observed from Apr. 17 to June 18. RED-TAILED HAWK, 3. Two successful nests with 2 young each in P.G. Co. RED- SHOULDERED HAWK, 31. One young still in nest on June 15 at Patuxent. Elwood Martin's study yielded most of the cards. BALD EAGLE, 2. One young fledged in Talbot Co. Nest in Kent Co. pro- duced no young. OSPREY, 2. Only 2 nests reported besides Jan Reese's study area. AM. KESTREL, 6. Two eggs on Mar . 23 and 4 young on May l6 (MCPerry). COMMON BOBWHITE, 1. A very late Oxon Hill nest hatched 7 young, Oct. 1. RING-NECKED PHEASANT, 2. Clutches of 11 and 2 eggs; both nests failed. WILD TURKEY, 1. Washington Co. nest with 9 eggs was unsuccessful (DDB). VIRGINIA RAIL, 1. Three nearly full-grown young feeding with adult in marsh at Sandy Point (HLW). KILLDEER, 13. Eggs from Apr. ih to June 27. AM. WOODCOCK, 1. Predator destroyed a nest near Bowie that had U eggs on Apr. 1 (EMM) . WILLET, 2. Four eggs on May 13 at Irish Grove Sanctuary, Somerset Co. GREATER BLACK-BACKED GULL , 1. First nest record for Maryland. One nearly full-grown young found with Herring Gull chicks on an island south of Ocean City on June 27 (WTVanVelzen) .• HERRING GULL — No card submitted; a brief mention of 7 or 8 pairs with several young found nesting with Greater Black-backed Gull. COMMON TERN, 2. Jan Reese found colonies of 8 and 117 nests on the Eastern Shore . LITTLE TERN, 2. Sandy Point colony with 6 nests had eggs from May 19 to Aug . 10 (HLW) . ROCK DOVE, 2. One young at Irish Grove Sanctuary on June 21 and 2 young in a College Park nest on Oct. 27 (PGB). MOURNING DOVE, 27. Adult on Prince Georges Co. nest, Oct . 27 (SEDecker). YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, 1. Nest with 2 eggs 3 feet above ground was apparently unsuccessful (CTA). BARN OWL, 18. Eggs found on Mar . l8 in Talbot Co. (JGR). Three young rescued from farm house chimney, after owner's attempts to kill them, transferred to Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. March 1915 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 21 COMMON SCREECH OWL, 4. Two eggs on Mar. 27 produced young on May 23, both of which were handed (MCP). GREAT HORNED OWL, 1. Adult on eggs Feb. 15, one chick estimated 4-5 weeks old on Mar. 12, and full-grown young near nest on Apr. 28 (HLW). BARRED OWL, 2. One nest at Patuxent fledged 2 young (EMM). CHIMNEY SWIFT, 1. Small colony of 10 pairs found in a chimney (EG). COMMON FLICKER, 12. One nest in fiberglass insulation in attic of house. PILEATED WOODPECKER, 2. Two young fledged from a Ft. Meade nest. RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER, 5- Young in nest from May 29 to July 30. HAIRY WOODPECKER, 3. Nests with young from 15 to 60 feet off ground in deciduous tree cavities. DOWNY WOODPECKER, 5. Noisy young heard before nest located in 2 reports. EASTERN KINGBIRD, 11. At least 4 nestings failed because of Agnes. One pair renested and fledged 2 young in Howard Co. (JKS). GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER, 8. Early nestling on June 17 in Talbot Co. (HTA). Only one brood reported to have survived Agnes. EASTERN PHOEBE, 28. Eggs from Apr. 25 to June 28, young from May l4 to July 12. ACADIAN FLYCATCHER, 4. One nest with 2 young on July 29 (EG). Agnes destroyed 2 other nests with young. EASTERN PEWEE, 1. Heavy rains destroyed nesting. There should be more cards for this common Maryland nester. HORNED LARK, 1. Four young in nest on May 28. TREE SWALLOW, 24. Six eggs in 2 Carey Run nests on May 19 (DBF). Adults feeding young in Washington Co. on June 28, fledglings observed on July 18. First nesting in the Ridge and Valley Province (DDB). BANK SWALLOW, 4. Caroline Co. colony contained 400+ active nests (PGB). ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW, 3. Observed excavating nest burrow in Kent Co. on Apr. 16 (MRP). BARN SWALLOW, 66. Cards from 12 counties produced an excellent range of egg and young dates. A nest in Caroline Co. had eggs on May 1_ and young on May 20 (PGB). Young still in nest on Aug. 12 in Montgomery Co. (DLP). PURPLE MARTIN, 13. Not one nest reported was successful. BLUE JAY, 22. Three eggs on Apr. 17 (DRS) and 5 recently hatched young on May 12, both Baltimore Co. nests, highlighted the cards from 6 counties . AM. CROW, 2. One successful nest fledged 2 young on June 3 (DMM). FISH CROW, 2. Both nests 25 to 50 feet up in loblolly pine trees. CAROLINA CHICKADEE, 22. Talbot Co. nest with 9 eggs on May 5 (HTA). Eggs from Apr. l6 to May 28. Early young in another Talbot nest on Apr. 30 (JGR). TUFTED TITMOUSE, 7- All eggs in May. WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, 2. Nests in deciduous tree cavities from 1.5 to 22 feet high both fledged young. BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH, 2. Female on eggs Apr. 30 in an Irish Grove, nest. BROWN CREEPER, 1. Rena Bishop found a nest containing young on June 1 near Crofton, Anne Arundel Co. Young probably fledged June 3. HOUSE WREN, 78. Young from May. ]_ in Caroline Co. (MB) to July 29 at Carey Run Sanctuary in Garrett Co. (DBF). BEWICK'S WREN, 1. Richard Rowlett found a nest containing 5 young in an ..abandoned flatbed trucks on June- 15 near. Little. Orleans.. 22 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 31, No. 1 CAROLINA WREN, 20. Almost all found around Man's dwellings; air condi- tioner, metal charcoal grill, English ivy. MARSH WREN, 6 . All in marshes with Spartina. It is unlikely that any nesting survived Agnes. NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD, 2 6 . Nest building as early as Mar . 31 in Montgomery Co. (SCochran). Most nests in suburban backyards. GRAY CATBIRD, 35* A Baltimore nest had an egg on May 10 and young on May 26 (GJK). BROWN THRASHER, 20. Early young on May 11 in a Prince Georges Co. nest (JCL). AM. ROBIN, 142. Ten nests on man-made structures in six comities. WOOD THRUSH, 19. Cowbirds parasitized three nests, one of which contained 3 host and 3 cowbird eggs (HLW). EASTERN BLUEBIRD, 127. Apple trees provided nest site for 2 broods, the rest were in boxes. Eggs from Apr. 1 in Allegany Co. (LM) to July 29. Only 2 pairs reported nesting on Maryland's Eastern Shore, both in Caroline Co. Mean clutch size of 96 nests was 4.32 eggs. BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, 4. Anne Arundel Co. nest fledged 2 young on June 7 (RHB). EUROPEAN STARLING, 54. Four kestrel boxes in Talbot Co. had eggs on June 17 (HTA). WHITE-EYED VIREO, 2. One egg in Montgomery Co. nest on May 28 (CSR). YELLOW-THROATED VIREO, 1. Nest abandoned because of human activities (HLW) . SOLITARY VIREO, 1. Parasitized nest with 2 host and 1 cowbird egg on June 29 was abandoned two days later (PGB). RED-EYED VIREO, 4. Nest at Carey Run had 3 young banded on July 25 . A Caroline Co. nest contained 3 host and 1 cowbird egg (SMB). YELLOW WARBLER, 6 . A clutch of 4 warm eggs was found May 13 at Irish Grove Wildlife Sanctuary (PGB). CHESTNUT- SIDED WARBLER, 1. This nest, with 1 egg on June l4, failed be- cause of cowbirds. OVENBIRD, 2. , A Charles Co. nest with 6 eggs on May 7 broke the State Record by three days (EHSchell). LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH, 2. Young being fed out of nest in both reports. KENTUCKY WARBLER, 1. Four eggs on May 28 fledged 4 young June 13 (CSR). COMMON YELLOWTHROAT , 1. Female building nest on ground May 6 (DB). YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, 3. Clutches of eggs found from May 29 to July 8 . HOUSE SPARROW, 66 . Eggs from Apr. 22 to Aug. l4, young from Apr. 30 to Aug. l 8 . Nests mainly found in bluebird boxes. RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, 12. Twenty-seven nests from nine counties, in- cluding Garrett (LMB). ORCHARD ORIOLE, 7. Three eggs from May 27 to July 1 in 6 counties. Nests 12 to 20 feet above ground in deciduous tree branches. NORTHERN ORIOLE, 11. Adults feeding young in Caroline Co. nest on July 25 beats the previous late record by 3 weeks (RJLeggett). BOAT-TAILED GRACfCLE, 6 . All nests found at Irish Grove Sanctuary on May 20. One contained 4 warm eggs. COMMON GRACKLE, 38 . Eggs hatching Apr. 30 in 2 Anne Arundel Co. nests. BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD, 12. Hosts were a phoebe, Solitary and Red-eyed Vireos, Yellow and Chestnut-sided Warblers, a cardinal, and Chipping, Field and Song Sparrows. March 1975 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 23 Table 2. County and State Totals for 1972 Species Observers Nests Cards Garrett 21 4 99 99 Allegany 23 9 78 78 Washington 8 2 28 28 Frederick 5 3 15 15 Carroll 1 1 i 1 Baltimore 21 8 69 69 Howard 28 18 ill ill Montgomery 26 13 67 67 Prince Georges 4l 21 201 201 Anne Arundel 59 15 470 232 Calvert 4 3 23 23 Charles l 1 1 1 Saint Marys 2 1 13 13 Cecil 4 1 6 6 Kent 26 7 6o 60 Queen Annes 12 3 147 17 Caroline 31 10 495 ' 74 Talbot 26 2 393 61 Dorchester 12 3 210 15 Wicomico 1 1 1 1 Somerset 24 9 73 73 Worcester 2 1 8 1 State total 22 101 99 2569 1246 SCARLET TANAGER, 2. Young in a nest on the early date of June 5 (RHB). Hurricane Agnes destroyed the other nest. NORTHERN CARDINAL, 47. A nest containing 2 varm eggs on Sept . 2. in Anne Arundel Co. is l4 days later than the previous Maryland late egg date (EG). BLUE GROSBEAK, 2. A pair had an unsuccessful first nesting but fledged. 4 banded young July 23 at Ft. Meade (RHB). INDIGO BUNTING, 4. Not one success in any of the reported nests. RUFOUS-SIDED TOWHEE, 5* Two Garrett Co. nests with 3 eggs, June 25 (LMB). SAVANNAH SPARROW, 2. Three large young in a Garrett Co. nest on June 4 were observed with parents on June 5- A second nesting failed be- cause of predation (LMB). This is only the second nesting report of this species in Maryland. SHARP-TAILED SPARROW, 3. Five young found in Somerset Co. marsh on June 12. SEASIDE SPARROW, 3- Irish Grove nesting fledged 4 young on June 10 ( BESharp ) . CHIPPING SPARROW, 17. Eggs from May 2 to July 8 ; young from May 9 to Aug. l4. All nests from 1 to 8 feet above ground, FIELD SPARROW, 9- Five young on May 27 in Howard Co., and a Garrett Co. nest containing 5 cowbird eggs and 1 host young on July 17 (LMB). SONG SPARROW, 12. Clutches of 3, 4, and 5 eggs all within 6.2 feet of the ground. 2k MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 31 - No. 1 The following is the list of contributors who submitted 10 or more nest cards for 1972. The first number in parenthesis after the observer’s name represents the total number of cards submitted, the second number indicates the number of species: H.T. Armistead (28,18), C.T. Atkinson (16.11) . L.M. Beiler (59,20), R.H. Bishop (51,24), D.D. Boone (39,7), J.E. Boone (19,2), D. Bystrak (38,20), P.G. Bystrak (59,25), S.M. Bystrak (12.11) , P.G. Campbell (ll,5), R.B. Fletcher (21,l4), D.B. Fuller (40,3), E. Gizzarelli (l8,l6), J.B. Hansen (10,8), C.F. Jeschke (25, ll), M.V. Jones (57,20), E.E. Klaas (57,8), G.J. Klein (21,13), J.B. Longcore (21.12) , J.C. Lusby (56,12), B.A. Malec (21,10), D.M. Malec (25, l6), E.M. Martin (32,5), L. Minnick (15,6), H. B. Norwood (10,2), M.R. Plymire (23.13) , D.L. Prestemon (12,6), J.G. Reese (58,24), C.S. Robbins (38,23), E.C . Robbins (37,8), D.R. Santoni (21,11), J.K. Solem (39,20), H.L. Wierenga (59,37). 49 W. Maple St., Funkstown 21734 O CHANGES IN COMMON NAMES OF SOME MARYLAND BIRDS In the April 1973 issue of The Auk, The Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists' Union announced many changes in common and scientific names of North American Birds. Some of these changes resulted from the "lumping" of birds that were previously considered separate species (Snow and Blue Geese, Ipswich and Savannah Sparrows, European and Green-winged Teal, Baltimore and Bullock's Orioles, the three North American flickers, and the Slate-colored, Oregon, and White-winged Juncos). Some new names resulted from "splitting" what had been considered one species into two different species (Traill's Fly- catcher into the northern Alder Flycatcher with its fee-bee-o song and the southern Willow Flycatcher wrth its fitz-beW song; Boat-tailed Grackle into the Great-tailed Grackle of the arid Southwest and Mexico and the Boat-tailed Grackle of the salt marshes from Delaware to Louisiana; Herring Gull into the arctic-breeding Thayer's Gull and the common. old Herring Gull). Some changes in common names became necessary in preparation for including all of Mexico and Central America in the next (Sixth) edition of the A.O.U. Check-List. With other species of bobwhites, robins, and yellowthroats in the next A.O.U. Check-List, our species will need a distinguishing modifier. Maryland Bivdlife delayed making any changes in bird names until this first issue of Volume 31, partly to avoid confusion in the 5-year cumulative Index soon to be published, and partly to await publication in 1975 of the A. B.A. Checklist. The A. B.A. Checklist has incorporated all taxonomic changes adopted by the A.O.U., and most of the name changes the A.O.U. has announced; it has also gone much farther and considered scores of other instances where names currently in use could lead to serious confusion among international travelers. Ideally, the English-speaking peoples of the world should all use the same names for March 1975 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 25 the same birds, and some progress toward this end was made by the A.B.A. Checklist Committee; yet there are still many names on which we differ from the use in Britain. We hope the British will accept many of the A.B.A. names; but some like Oldsquaw that are strictly American would never be acceptable to the British as a replacement for their name. Long-tailed Duck. The following list shows the name changes in the A.B.A. Checklist that affect Maryland birds. These names are adopted starting with this issue of Maryland Birdlife. They will also be used in the various field guides, the new Maryland Field List, and a host of other publications. We shall, of course, continue to refer to robins, mockingbirds, and cardinals in informal conversation, and to talk about Baltimore Orioles when we mean the eastern subspecies of the newly formed species. Northern Oriole (which also includes the Bullock's Oriole of the West). But in formal publications with worldwide circulation these must now be referred to as American Robins, Northern Mockingbirds, Northern Cardinals, and Northern Orioles. The following initials are used to indicate the major reasons for the changes in English names: A - Name already in use in other countries B - Name shortened and simplified C - Name more appropriate for comparison with another species D - Old name used for different species in other countries E - Color phase rather than a distinct species F - To show correct family L - Lumped into a single species by A.O.U. M - Modifier necessary to distinguish from other species N - Former name not diagnostic S - Single species split into two species by A.O.U. U - New name announced by A.O.U. in 1973 (Auk 90: 1+11-419) V - New name announced by A.O.U. but hyphen dropped by A.B.A. Table 1. List of New Names Old Name New Name Reasons for Change Scientific Name Fulmar NORTHERN FULMAR MU Leach’s Petrel LEACH'S STORM PETREL NV Wilson's Petrel WILSON'S STORM PETREL NV White Pelican AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN M Gannet NORTHERN GANNET M Anhinga AMERICAN ANHINGA M Common Egret GREAT EGRET AU Wood Ibis WOOD STORK FU White-fronted Goose GREATER WHITE-FRONTED M GOOSE Blue Goose lumped with SNOW GOOSE EU Black Duck AMERICAN BLACK DUCK DM Fulmarus glaaialis Oeeanodroma leuoorhoa Ooeanites oaeanicus Peleaanus erythrorhynchos Morns bass anus Anhinga anhinga Casmerodius albus Myateria amerioana Anser albifrons Chen aaerulesoens Anas rub ripe s 26 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 31, No. 1 .Reasons Old Name New Name for Change Scientific Name Pintail COMMON PINTAIL M Anas acuta Common Teal GREEN-WINGED TEAL LU Anas crecca European Widgeon EURASIAN WIGEON N Anas penelope American Widgeon AMERICAN WIGEON AU Anas americana Shoveler NORTHERN SHOVELER MU Anas clypeata Common Scoter BLACK SCOTER AU Melanitta nigra Goshawk NORTHERN GOSHAWK M Accipiter gentilis Marsh Hawk NORTHERN HARRIER M Circus cyaneus Pigeon Hawk BERLIN AU Falco columbarius Sparrow Hawk AMERICAN KESTREL AMU Falco sparverius Bobwhite COMMON BOBWHITE M Colinus virginianus American Golden LESSER GOLDEN PLOVER AC Pluvialis dominica Plover Upland Plover UPLAND SANDPIPER AFU Bartramia longi cauda Knot RED KNOT MU Calidris canutus Skua ■ GREAT SKUA M Catharacta skua Great Black-backed • Gull GREATER BLACK -BACKED GULL C Larus marinus Least Tern LITTLE TERN AN Sterna albifrons Common Puffin ATLANTIC PUFFIN N Fratercula arctica Ground Dove COMMON GROUND DOVE M Columbina passerina Screech Owl COMMON SCREECH OWL M Otus asio Yellow-shafted COMMON FLICKER U Colap tes auratus Flicker Traill's Flycatcher ALDER FLYCATCHER and su Empidonax alnorum WILLOW FLYCATCHER su Enrpidonax trcdllii Eastern Wood Pewee EASTERN PEWEE B Contopus virens Western Wood Pewee WESTERN PEWEE B Contopus sordidulus Common Raven NORTHERN RAVEN N Corvus corax Common Crow AMERICAN CROW N Corvus brachyrhynchos Long-billed Marsh MARSH WREN B Telmatodytes palustris Wren Short-billed Marsh SEDGE WREN BN Cistothorus platensis Wren Mockingbird NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD M Mimus polyglottos Catbird GRAY CATBIRD MU Dwnetella carolinensis Robin AMERICAN ROBIN AMU Turdus migratorius Starling EUROPEAN STARLING M Stumus vulgaris Parula Warbler NORTHERN PARULA WARBLER M Parula americana Myrtle Warbler YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER LU Dendroica coronata Yellowthroat COMMON YELLOWTHROAT MU Geothlypis trichas Baltimore Oriole NORTHERN ORIOLE LU Icterus galbula Cardinal NORTHERN CARDINAL M Cardinalis cardinalis Ipswich Sparrow ■SAVANNAH SPARROW LU Passerculus sandttichensis Slate-colored Junco NORTHERN JUNCO L Junco hyemalis Oregon Junco NORTHERN JUNCO L Junco hyemalis Tree Sparrow AMERICAN TREE SPARROW D Spizella arborea Editor March 197? MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 21 THE MARYLAND CHRISTMAS COUNTS OF 1974 Paul G, By strdk Take generally favorable weather, add an excellent food crop, and throw in an Q% increase in participation and you have an outstanding year for Christmas counts, right? More or less, as it turns out. Maryland did have a record 189 species total for all 20 counts, beating the old record of 187 tied last year. These included 6 species new for Maryland Christmas counts: American Redstart, Ovenbird, Brewer's Black- bird, Barn Swallow, Spotted Sandpiper, and White- fronted Goose. It also included 2 species new for Maryland at any season, the Le Conte's Sparrow and Eared Grebe. The average number of species per count increased very slightly over the previous year; and yet, few species were abnormally common and only one count broke its record for number of species. Some semi-hardy species continued to be favored by mild weather. Carolina Wrens, as mentioned last year, have nearly filled all available habitat and consequently did not increase further this year. However, they have not yet suffered the inevitable decrease either-. In contrast. Eastern Bluebirds continued to increase, this year by 153$. They have not yet reached the carrying capacity of their habitat and could show further gains in the future. As in past few years. Fox Sparrows did not prosper in spite of the mild winter. The Statewide total of 50, when corrected for hours of coverage, is about the same as last year. Remove the 12 that were at the feeder at Irish Grove Sanctuary and you have another devastating decrease. One half the total for- the whole State was on two counts, Seneca and Crisfield. White-throats were back to normal numbers for the first time in several years. Northern finches continued to be conspicuous by their absence, with only Evening Grosbeak and Purple Finch present in any numbers at all. This was true in the mountains as well as the coastal plain. Northern raptors, with the exception of Long-eared and Short-eared Owls, were not as common as last year, but were still present in good numbers. Long- eared Owls provided one of the pleasant surprises this winter, with 2k found on 5 different counts. This included a phenomenal 13 on the Southern Dorchester count, where they were calling in both the morning and evening. So were 6 other species of owls in the marshes and forests of Dorchester County that morning. The only owl missed on this count was the Snowy Owl, and that only bedause the one in Cambridge did not wander far enough south to be included. Two counts deserve special mention this year. The first is the ' Seneca count, where compiler Bill Oberman assembled a mighty host of 93 observers , who in turn put in a total of 330 party-hours (both figures new records for a Maryland count). Their 105 9pecies_included- 2 unique for the State (Green Heron, Spotted Sandpiper), a redstart in Virginia, and 30 Statewide high counts. Four of these Statewide high counts were also national highs: 86 Pileated Woodpeckers, 36k Red-bellied Wood- peckers, 623 Downy Woodpeckers, and 3»6ll Northern Juncos. Some of the 28 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 31' No. 1 State high counts were: 1,1*33 Carolina Chickadees, 103 Brown Creepers, 762 Carolina Wrens, 1,182 Cedar Waxwings , and 1,650 Northern Cardinals. The figures are impressive, but they represent more than just placing 93 competent people in a 15-mile circle. Imagine if you will the amount of effort involved in recruiting and assigning this many people, not to mention the planning, coordination, and cooperation necessary to see that they each had a mutually exclusive territory to cover. The efforts are great and the results show it. Another count deserving of special, mention is the Crisfield count. It was the only count this year to report a new record for species total, 131 species. It had 28 Statewide high counts and 3 unique spe- cies. Last year it was one of the best places in the nation for rails; this year it would surely be included in a best places in the world list with 35 Kings, 12 Clappers, 266 Virginias (national high), and 4 Soras. Good totals for other species include 3 1 * Black-crowned Night Herons , 30 Hooded Mergansers, 119 Hermit Thrushes, and 297 Bobwhites. Unusual win- tering species included a Snowy Egret and a Lincoln's Sparrow. Crisfield had the distinction of having reported the second largest number of birds, with a total of 1*78,000. Charlie Vaughn is compiler of this count, which had only 25 participants . On which count did the observers average the most miles on foot? Obviously the answer is the Accokeek count, which is done entirely on foot. The four observers averaged miles apiece. Surprisingly, the Crisfield people averaged about the same and the Seneca and Garrett people were not far behind at 7 miles each. The Statewide average is about 5h miles per person. Obviously everyone is aware of the value of time spent on foot. In addition, two counts had bicycle mileage and four made use of motorboats or canoes. This year's most active participant was Danny Bystrak, who was on 9 of the 20 Maryland counts. Several other people were on 8 Maryland counts, including Chan Robbins, Paul McKenzie, and Kathy Klimkiewicz. Following the pattern set last year. Figures 1 and 2 demonstrate the population trends for 1* species of general interest over the past 10 years. The rough totals have been converted to birds per 10 party- hours for purposes of comparison. As in past years, an annotated list of the 197** Maryland Christmas counts follows, presented in order of northern-most to southern-most regions . GARRETT COUNTY - 2k observers, 92 party-hours (57 on foot); 62 species, 7 ,****9 individuals . Eight Statewide high counts, including 17 Ruffed Grouse, 2k Wild Turkeys, 322 American Coots, 5 Northern Ravens, 1,079 Black-capped Chickadees ,. 23 Red-breasted Nuthatches. Chipping Sparrow was an unusual bird for this area. ALLEGANY COUNTY - 21 observers, 62 party-hours (20 on foot); 62 species, 10,165 individuals. Five Eastern Phoebes and an Ovenbird were exceptional for this area. March 1975 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 22 Fig. 1. Winter population trends for Carolina Wren (left) and E. Bluebird Fig. 2. Winter population trends for White-throat (left) and Fox Sparrow WASHINGTON COUNTY - 27 observers, 77 party-hours (30 on foot); 72 spe- cies, 921,253 individuals , of which 900,000 were a winter roost of starlings and blackbirds in Hagerstown. Sixty-two Evening Grosbeaks were a Maryland high. Horned Grebe and Northern Raven were good birds for this area. CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN - l8 observers, 135 party-hours (58 on foot); 68 species, 16,878 individuals. Northern Goshawk and 29 Ring-necked Pheasants were State highs. l6l Carolina Wrens on a count that has missed them during bad winters I 30 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 31, No. 1 ROCK RUN - 15 observers, 6 3 party-hours (21.5 on foot); 75 species, 12,288 individuals.- 258 Greater Black-backed Gulls vere a Maryland high* Seven Wild Turkeys, a Dunlin and a Barn Swallow vere outstanding local finds. ELKTON -22 observers, 92 party-hours (48 on foot); 84 species, 34,10? individuals. A Brewer's Blackbird and 5 Snow Geese were very much out of place in the northern Bay area. BALTIMORE - 45 observers, 132 party-hours (?6 on foot); 84 species, 30,320 individuals. 103 Common Mergansers and 5,480 Herring Gulls were Statewide highs. A Red-throated Loon was a good find for Baltimore. TRIADELPHIA RESERVOIR - 50 observers, 21? party -hours (179*5 on foot); 90 species, 35,838 individuals. 1,80? Mourning Doves, 5,286 American Crows, 126 Fish Crows, 150 Water Pipits, and 3,184 White-throats were Maryland highs. A Snow Goose, 2 House Wrens, and 9 Brown Thrashers were good birds for the middle Piedmont area. SENECA - 93 observers , 330 party-hours ( 268 on foot ) ; 105 species, 17^,725 individuals. Discussed in detail previously. ACCOKEEK - 4 observers, 29 party-hours (29 on foot); 67 species, 3,027 individuals. Three Northern Shovelers and a House Wren were unusual birds after 43 consecutive years. BOWIE - 89 observers, 289 party-hours (228 on foot); 92 species, 78,827 individuals. Ten Statewide highs, including 112 Ring^necked Ducks , 730 Field Sparrows , 310 Common Flickers , 89 Hairy Woodpeckers, and 1,209 Song Sparrows. Three Northern Shovelers and a Pine Warbler were good finds for this area. ANNAPOLIS - 53 observers, 172 party-hours (98 on foot); 102 species, 42,862 individuals. A Laughing Gull was a good bird. Seven Maryland highs, including 4? Snow Buntings, 2,388 Greater Scaup, 837. Lesser Scaup, 3,588 Ruddy Ducks, 150 American Wigeon, and 28 Gadwalls . POINT LOOKOUT - 32 observers, 138.5 party-hours (103 on foot); 111 species, 37,636 individuals. A Forster's Tern and 11 Dunlins were good finds. Seven State highs included 2 Yellow-breasted Chats, 6 Great Cormorants, 4,493 Oldsquaws, 2 Merlins, and 564 White-winged Scoters. DENTON - 15 observers, 56 party -hours (26 on foot); 85 species, 14,736 individuals. Good birds included an American Bittern, 30. American Brant, 40 Snow Buntings, 2,921 Whistling Swans. 109 Horned Larks and 5 Loggerhead Shrikes were State highs. SALISBURY - 22 observers, 77 party-hours (54 on foot); 93 species, 17,509 individuals. Three Great Egrets, 80 Common Snipe, 8 Eastern Phoebes , and 1? Chipping Sparrows were Maryland highs . ST. MICHAELS - 31 observers, 107 party-hours (50.5 on foot); 100 species, 95,308 individuals. Thirty-two Mute Swans, 5,636 Canvas- backs, 100 Common Screech Owls, ?8 Great Horned Owls, 196 House Finches, and 5,368 Buffleheads were Statewide highs. The 20 Pine Siskins were 83# of the Statewide total. . LOWER KENT - 46 observers, 130 party-hours (73 on foot); 113 species, 143,175 individuals. 107,725 Canada Geese (national high), 148 Common Pintails, 85 Red-tailed Hawks, 2 Saw-whet Owls, and 5 House Wrens were Statewide highs. March 1975 MARYLAND BIKDLIFB 31 SOUTHERN DORCHESTER - 33 observers, 120 party-hours (9 6 on foot); llU species, 64,208 individuals. Twenty-three Maryland highs, including 35 Bald Eagles, 13 Long-eared Owls, and 660 Swamp Sparrows. A Nashville Warbler was the best find. CRISFIELD - 25 observers, 135 party-hours (102 on foot); 131 species, 1*78,000 individuals. Discussed in detail previously. OCEAN CITY - 41* observers, 191 party-hours (ll*3 on foot); l46 species , 288,575 individuals. Severe weather ruined the afternoon for this, the perennial leader of Maryland Christmas counts. In spite of it, there were 1*5 State highs and 2 new species for Maryland, the Le Conte's Sparrow and an Eared Grebe. An Osprey was only the second on a Maryland Christmas count. For the complete lists see the April 1975 issue of American Birds. Only one Christmas count was submitted for an M.O.S. sanctuary: 7,254 individuals of 79 species at Irish Grove on Dec. 2 6. i 110 Linda Lane, Millersville TT THE PRESIDENT'S PAGE The following letter is self-explanatory. We are deeply grateful to Colonel Bodenstein for presenting M.O.S. with the Manderes Creek Sanctuary. "Dear Col. Bodenstein: "On behalf of the entire membership of M.O.S. let me thank you for your munificent gift to the Society of eight acres for a sanc- tuary in Anne Arundel County. "The ease of access to the sanctuary from the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area makes the gift especially valuable. I anticipate that many birders will be visiting it. "This gift, together with your diligent service as our Conserva- tion Chairman for the past two years, is very much appreciated. Very truly yours , /s/ Barclay E. Tucker', President" The membership is often not aware of the effort that our dedicated committee members put into their assignment. From the minutes of the Executive Council meeting on Jan. 18 a few excerpts will show that our committees do indeed deserve recognition. The Bluebird Committee chaired by Dr. Zeleny reported that (l) news releases were about to be sent to approximately 70 Maryland newspapers; (2) in 1974, 75 collaborators reported 3,154 young bluebirds fledged from 1,480 nest boxes; and (3) 1,000 printed instructions for making and mounting bluebird boxes had been sent out in reply to inquiries. The By-Laws Committee chaired by Mr. Plant submitted two proposed amendments — one giving the Board of Trustees authority to amend the By- Laws, the other creating an Unaffiliated Member class of membership. If these amendments are approved, the membership will vote on them in May. 32 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 31, No. 1 The Conservation Committee chaired by Col. Bodenstein displayed a weekly newsletter published jointly by the Maryland Conservation Council and the Maryland Environmental Trust. Purpose of the letter is to report in an unbiased fashion all legislative activity in the conservation field. The Council directed Col. Bodenstein to send a sample copy to each Chapter President. All members are urged to take advantage of this publication. Appreciation was expressed to Col. Bodenstein for providing M.O.S. a sub- scription to the Conservation Keport as well as memberships in the Citi- zens Program for the Chesapeake Bay and the Maryland Conservation Council. The Education Committee chaired by Dr. Poscover reported that a loose- leaf resources guide is being planned that will list: M.O.S. Committees, State and Chapter officers, resources in each County, and conservation organizations in Maryland. Other ideas on the horizon are: desira- bility of an M.O.S. academic course, development of a questionnaire to the Chapters to assist the Committee in its planning, the possibility of more extensive M.O.S. sponsored trips, and a more active M.O.S. library. The Scholarship Committee chaired by Dr. Gebhard reported that from 13 eligible applicants the following 3 were selected: Kermit L. Updegrove of the Harford Chapter for the Helen Miller Scholarship, Avind E. Bonde of the Montgomery Chapter for the other M.O.S. Scholarship, and Mrs. Joy G. Wheeler of the Baltimore Chapter for the scholarship from the Amateur Gardener's Club of Baltimore, The Sanctuary Committee chaired by Mr. Unger reported that the 55*962 acres comprising the Pelot Sanctuary in Caroline County had been surveyed and 59 concrete markers installed. The bill presented for this large job was $3,5^0, which the Surveyor graciously reduced to $2,803. Mr. Unger explained that $3^,500 had been realized from the sale of property be- queathed to M.O.S. by Mrs. Pelot; $10,000 had been used to purchase the Sanctuary; and $2^,500 was placed in a special sanctuary trust fund, the income of which could be used by any of our sanctuaries. Mr. Unger also announced that M.O.S. has been approached by the Maryland Environmental Trust about the possibility of accepting the dona- tion of a conservation easement. This matter is being studied by each Trustee prior to considering it at the Trustees Meeting on March 22. The Pest Bird Policy Committee chaired by Dr. Messersmith distributed a policy statement, which is the same one expected to be adopted by the Audubon Naturalist Society; this report will be acted upon on March 22. Mr. Parks, our First Vice-President, reported on his investigation of sites for the 1975 Annual Convention. The Diplomat Motor Hotel on the Boardwalk at 26th Street in Ocean City was selected. Treasurer Gordon MacGregor gave a detailed account of M.O.S. finances. Of course, he is always pleased to receive contributions toward the re- duction of our mortgage, which on Jan. l8 stood at $11,783. Barclay E. Tucker March 1975 MARYLAND BIRD LIFE 33 SNOWY OWL AT FORT McHENRY, BALTIMORE D. Girard Jewell An immature Snowy Owl ( Nyatea saandiaoa) frequenting the Baltimore Harbor area was sighted on numerous occasions at Fort McHenry. Tom Westmoreland, Chief of Visitors Services at the fort, was first to spot the owl, on December 21, 197^ at 10 p.m. Other park employees reported seeing the bird in various trees along the seawall throughout the month of January, 1975. The abundant supply of gulls around the fort as well as the vari- ety of rodents from the granary next door probably explain the owl's seeming preference for that area. Repeated efforts to find pellets went unrewarded. An article on the owl in a local newspaper spurred everyone's interest and a Snowy Owl Hot Line was established between Fort McHenry and the Baltimore Chapter's Rare Bird Alert. The fort administration was also persuaded to keep a log at the desk recording the sightings. The photograph on this page was taken on February 6 at p.m. while the bird perched in a tree along the northeast side of the sea- wall. This, as far as we know, was the last time the bird was sighted at the fort. Almost a week later, on February 12, a number of members saw the owl perched on the antenna of a house adjoining Latrobe Park on Locust Point, about five blocks away from Fort McHenry. This was the last recorded sighting of the Snowy Owl in the area. 10 Altura Court, Apt. T-3, Baltimore 2123^ 3h MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 31, No. 1 THE SEASON OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, 1974 Chandler S. Robbins Killing frosts in nearly all parts of the State on Oct. 3 and h ushered in the period with a real wallop. The average temperature for the first week of October was ten degrees colder than the average for the first week of November. In fact, after that first heavy frost, more than six weeks passed before it became that cold again. This mildness through most of October, and to a lesser extent in November and December, must have been responsible for many of the late records and winter stragglers . Weak cold fronts crossed Maryland on Oct. 7, 13, 15, l8, 23, 25, and 28, and Nov. H, 12, and lU, each front bringing at least a small wave of migrants on the same or the following day. Arrivals of the late migrants are summarized in Table 1, and depar- ture dates are summarized in Table 2. Underscored dates in these tables designate banded birds and are not to be confused with underscored dates or counts in the text, which signify new early or late dates or high seasonal counts for their respective Sections of the State. Thanks are tendered to the many scores of persons who contributed dates for these two tables ; those who supplied the greatest number of entries for each county are listed below, and credits for record-breaking dates are given in the, text: Garre tt County — Mrs. Frances Pope; Alleg any — John Willetts, James Paulus ; Washi ngton — Daniel Boone, Paul McKenzie; Frede rick — John W. Richards; Balti more City and County — Mrs. Peggy Bohanan, Mrs. Gladys Cole; Howa rd — Joanne Solem, Rosamond Munro, Jay Sheppard; Montg omery — Mrs. M. B. Donnald, Peter Pyle, Lucy and Mrs. Nancy MacClintock, Fred Evenden, Robert W. Warfield; Prince Georges — Leonard Teuber, Chandler Robbins, Danny Bystrak; Anne Arundel — Hal Wierenga, Mark Hoffman, Danny Bystrak, Mrs. Rena Bishop, Prof, and Mrs. David Howard; Char les — Leonard Teuber, George, David and Andrew Wilmot , Olive Sorzano; Calve rt — John H. Fales ; Kent — Mr. and Mrs. Edward Mendinhall, Mrs. Margery Plymire, Mrs. Arline Delario, James Gruber, Floyd Parks; Carol ine — Marvin W. Hewitt, Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Fletcher, Steve Westre, Mrs. Ethel Engle; Talbo t — Jan Reese, Harry Armistead, Danny Bystrak, Patricia Mehlhop; Dorch ester — Harry Armistead; Some rset — Mrs. Gladys Cole, Paul and Danny Bystrak, Charles Vaughn, Mrs. Gertrude Oakman. Table 1. Fall Arrival Dates for Late-arriving Species, 197!* Median Species 10-yr 1974 Garr Alle Wash Fred Balt Howd Mont Pr.G Anne Chaa Calv Kent Caro Talb Pore Somr Common Loon 10/30 11/17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8/26 10/30 — 11/ 2 12/14 10/18 9/29 Homed Grebe — 11/17 0 10/19 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 11/21 — 12/ 8 11/17 10/13 Whistling Swan 11/ 6 11/13 — 0 0 11/16 11/16 0 0 0 11/ 7 — 11/13 10/ 5 11/13 10/20 Snow Goose — 10/30 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/20 0 0 0 12/ 3 11/25 10/12 9/28 11/ 9 Gadwall — — 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 10/19 0 0 0 0 0 9/ 2 9/28 Common Pintail — 10/ 8 0 0 0 0 0 d 0 10/28 9/14 10/24 0 8/21 10/15 10/12 9/ 2 10/ 5 Green-winged Teal — 10/13 0 0 0 11/ 9 11/ 6 0 0 — 9/ 5 11/10 0 10/13 0 0 9/ 2 9/28 American Wigeon — 9/28 11/23 10/19 11/ 4 0 0 0 0 — 9/23 0 0 9/16 10/14 9/22 91 2 9/28 Northern Shoveler — — 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 10/ 2 0 0 9/ 2 9/28 Redhead — — 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/16 10/20 0 12/22 0 0 0 0 Ring-necked Duck — 11/ 9 11/ it 0 0 0 11/11 0 0 11/ 9 0 0 0 12/22 10/22 0 0 0 Canvasback — 10/25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/19 10/ 2 10/ 7 0 10/23 12/ 5 10/27 — — Lesser Scaup — — 0 10/19 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 10/20 — 10/23 10/22 Bufflehead — 11/ 9 11/ 6 10/19 11/24 11/ 9 10/19 12/ 6 0 10/29 10/22 11/27 11/28 11/17 11/23 10/27 Oldsquaw — 10/16 0 11/ 5 10/16 0 0 0 0 0 10/14 0 — 10/ 6 0 10/27 White-winged Scoter — 10/15 0 0 10/16 0 10/19 0 0 0 10/12 0 11/24 0 0 10/14 0 10/13 Ruddy Duck — 10/24 11/15 7/29 0 0 10/12 11/17 0 10/28 11/ 1 10/20 9/17 10/ 2 0 10/27 0 Rough-legged Hawk — — 12/ 4 0 0 11/ 9 0 0 10/20 0 0 0 0 12/22 0 0 American Coot — 10/19 — 10/19 0 0 10/25 11/17 10/ 6 10/ 2 9/29 0 10/14 — 0 10/29 11/ 3 American Woodcock — 10/30 11/ 3 10/20 10 19 11/10 — — 10/30 Saw-whet Owl — 11/ 3 0 10/19 0 0 0 11/ 3 10/30 0 0 0 0 12/22 0 12/22 0 0 White-breasted Nuthatch — 10/28 10/19 10/29 9/ 7 10/28 — 10/27 0 10/28 12/14 12/22 Hermit Thrush 10/11 10/ 8 — 10/12 11/24 10/16 10/ 8 — 9/18 10/ 8 10/ 8 10/14 — 10/ 1 10/23 10/ 5 Eastern Bluebird — 9/29 10/ 2 — 9/18 9/29 — 9/16 — 10/ 4 10/26 — 9/22 Water Pipit — — 0 0 0 11/ 9 0 0 0 10/10 10/14 0 0 0 — 10/27 0 Oranged-crowned Warbler — 10/20 0 0 0 10/10 0 d 0 0 0 10/ 2 0 0 0 0 Rusty Blackbird — 10/28 11/22 — 11/ 4 10/28 10/26 10/13 — 12/ 6 10/22 10/26 11/ 3 Evening Grosbeak 11/ 1* 11/26 — 11/ 2 10/27 12/15 — 12/20 11/19 12/ 3 12/13 11/ 7 — Purple Finch — 10/21 10/28 1/ 1 11/ 2 — 10/10 10/20 10/ 5 10/ 5 10/22 10/27 12/21 10/ 4 10/22 9/21 — 9/19 House Finch — 10/26 11/17 0 9/ 1 0 11/16 0 9/15 10/27 8/19 0 11/18 10/22 11/14 10/26 0 10/22 Pine Siskin — 12/15 0 0 0 0 10/25 0 12/15 0 11/ 9 0 12/27 12/16 0 0 0 0 American Tree Sparrow — 11/25 12/ 2 11/ 9 11/24 11/25 11/11 11/ 9 0 1/11 11/24 0 12/22 12/30 12/26 White-crowned Sparrow 10/14 10/10 10/ 2 10/19 — 10/15 — 10/11 10/ 9 10/ 8 10/ 8 10/ 8 — 10/19 10/25 10/ 7 — 10/21 Fox Sparrow 10/28 10/25 10/30 10/18 — — 11/16 10/28 10/20 10/19 — 10/ 8 10/25 10/28 — 10/19 — 10/25 March 1975 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 36 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 31, No. 1 Grebes . Two mass arrivals of Horned Grebes were documented on the Lower Eastern Shore. Jan Reese noted a single flock of 300 in the Chop- tank River on Oct. 31, and Harry Armistead estimated 75 in Dorchester County on Nov. 2 in locations where he had found only 15 birds on the previous day. An Eared Grebe closely approached by boat in Ocean City Inlet during the Dec. 27 Christmas Count (Jay M. Sheppard) is a new spe- cies for Maryland's Hypothetical List. Pelagic Birds . Richard Rowlett's pelagic trips off Ocean City almost never fail to add to our knowledge of distribution and migration dates of pelagic species. The most successful trips are those that suc- ceed in reaching Baltimore Canyon, about 50 miles offshore. Such a trip on Oct . 19 provided the earliest arrival date for a Northern Fulmar, the first October sighting of a Greater Shearwater, and the latest fall de- parture date for a Cory's Shearwater off Maryland, all 50 miles out. Quite unexpected on the Nov . 23 trip were l6 Greater Shearwaters 62 miles east of Ocean City at Baltimore Canyon — another record-breaking date. Herons and Egrets . Numbers were generally low during the late fall , but several noteworthy late dates were recorded: a Green Heron in Talbot County on Nov. 10 (Jan Reese), an immature Cattle Egret at Blackwater Refuge on Nov. 29 (Mark Hoffman), a Great Egret at Pomonkey Creek in Charles County on Dec. 17 (George Wilmot), and a Ye 1 1 0W- crowned Night Heron at Lake Roland regularly through Oct. 17 (one day short of the latest record for the State). Swans and Geese . A "fantastic diurnal migration" of Whistling Swans estimated in excess of 10,000 birds flew over St. Michaels on Nov. l6 (Jan Reese). Rodney Jones and party saw 4,000 from Rock Run Sanctuary and Perry Point on the same day. The peak fall count of Canada Geese was 15,000, Talbot Co., Oct. lU (Reese). Single individuals of the small hutahineii race were reported at Bellevue on Oct. 12 (Armistead), St. Michaels on Oct. 21 (Reese), and Sandy Point State Park on Nov. 4 (Hal Wierenga) . New for Caroline County was a flock of 30 Brant on the Denton Christmas Count, Dec. l4 (jerry and Roberta Fletcher and Ed Unger). White-fronted Geese seem to be increasing in Maryland. There were several observations from Blackwater Refuge, involving at least 2 individuals, and one was shot at the Fishing Bay Wildlife Management Area (fide Bill Julian); another White-front seen by Elwood Martin near Berlin on Dec. 27 was the first ever reported from Worcester County. Snow Geese are now taken for granted in most of the Eastern Shore counties, but are still considered rare in winter west of the Chesapeake; single birds were found on Christmas Counts at Triadelphia Reservoir (Clarksville by A1 Geis) and Annapolis (Jim Gibson), and 8 individuals at Point Lookout. Ducks . There were several reports of Fulvous Tree Ducks in the Middle Atlantic and Northeastern States. One was present at Remington Farms for four weeks starting June 3- One discovered by Claudia Wilds at West Ocean City on Nov. 10 remained through the period; the possi- bility that this was the same individual that escaped from the Salisbury zoo has not been ruled out. On Oct. l4, 2 early Oldsquaws and a flight of 150 scoters including all three species passed by Sandy Point State March 1975 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 37 Park (Hal Wierenga). On Oct. 19 a very fast airflow from the northwest into the Middle Atlantic States, coupled with locally heavy rain, depos- ited a good variety of waterfowl at inland stations; included more Horned Grebe and American Coot as well as Lesser Scaup, Buffi ehead, and Ruddy Duck at Oldtown (James Paulus), and an unprecedented Harlequin Duck to- gether with Buffi ehead and White-winged Scoter at Druid Hill Park in Baltimore City (Peggy Bohanan). The next big influx was on Oct. 27 , following cold frontal passage on the 26th; Harry Armistead reported the arrival of 8 common species of diving ducks at Bellevue, where they had not been present on the 26th. A peak tally of 1,500 Common Goldeneyes in one huge raft was sighted off Bay Ridge, Anne Arundel County, on Dec. 12 (Wierenga). And as late as Dec. 21 a large migratory flight of ducks was observed going down the tidal Potomac in Maryland waters off Freestone Point, Va. ; 687 Canvasbacks and 4,150 scaup were counted in Ih hours by Bob and Peter Pyle. The first King Eider of the winter was seen from Assateague State Park on the early date of Oct. 20 (Rowlett and Hal Wierenga) . Vultures and Hawks . Black Vultures were extraordinarily common on the Lower Eastern Shore; Ocean City and Crisfield had a combined total of 307 individuals on the Christmas Counts, and the State Christmas Count total for 197*+ was exactly 500 birds. For the second consecutive year single Northern Goshawks were seen on both the Catoctin Mountain (C. S. Robbins) and Garrett County (Rowlett and Bonnie Bowen) Christmas Counts. What may have been the same Catoctin bird was seen on Dec. 23 by John Richards. Other goshawks were reported from Parkville on Nov. l6 (Mike Resch) and Kingsville on Nov. 2k (Bob Wood). On Nov. 8, 1973, Hal Wierenga ( Maryland Birdlife 30:40) counted 91 Red-tailed Hawks and 5 Red-Shoulders crossing from Kent Island to Sandy Point into gentle south- west winds. In 1974 he made his best tally on Nov. 23, when winds were light south-southwest after two or three days of strong northwest or north winds: 131 Red-tails and 8 Red- shoulders . Hal made the signif- icant observations that some buteos cross from Kent Island to the Anne Arundel County shore in a broad band extending from at least 2 miles north of Sandy Point down to Thomas Point, and that none of the hawks he has seen appear to have been taking advantage of winds deflected by the Bay Bridges. Except for an Osprey on the Ocean City Christmas Count (Donald Weber, Gordon Foer), the last ones seen in Maryland were an immature in Talbot County on Nov. l4 (Donald Meritt) and one of unspeci- fied age at Cambridge on Nov. 17 (Rowlett end Vee Willet). Very late Broad-winged Hawks were seen at Monument Knob on Oct. 26 (4 by Ross Corderman) and at Bellevue on Oct. 29 (Armistead). Dr. Prescott Ward again monitored the fall migration of Peregrine Falcons at Assateague - Island; he and R. B. Berry banded 22 of the 59 individuals sighted from Sept. 21 to Oct. 19 ; 7 35® were immatures. Shorebirds . Long-billed Dowitchers, which are typically found late in the shorebird migration — when they are found at all in Maryland — were seen at Blackwater Refuge from Oct. 26 (Kathleen Klimkiewicz and others) to Nov. 10 (32. by Rowlett). At the same location a HudSOnian Godwit was present from Oct. 26 to Oct. 28 (Miss Klimkiewicz, Daniel Boone, and others), constituting only the second Maryland record away from the coast. 38 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 31' No. 1 Jaegers . Boat trips off Ocean City yielded the only Maryland jaeger records of the fall. Richard Rowlett saw an adult Long-tailed Jaeger on Aug. 8, 50 miles out to sea; the only previous record of this species in Maryland was on May 1, 1906 at Ocean City. Rowlett also broke the early fall arrival date for the Pomarine Jaeger on Aug. 8. On Oct. 19, Rowlett and party identified 1 Pomarine Jaeger and 3 Parasitics, and on Nov. 23, £ Pomarines and 3 Parasitics. Gulls . The highest count of Bonaparte's Gulls in Chesapeake Bay was of 50 birds off Sandy Point State Park on Nov. 12 (Hal Wierenga) ; the last departure from Garrett County was on Nov. 22 (Fran Pope). The first Black-legged Kitti wakes were 8 seen off Ocean City on Oct. 19 and an immature flying off Assateague State Park the next day (Rowlett). The highest pelagic count was 13^ on Nov. 23 (Rowlett). An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull 50 miles east of Ocean City on Oct. 19. (Rowlett, Hal Wierenga, Marshall Howe and Harold Morrin) was a welcome addition to the small number of Maryland records of this Old World species, and 2 GlauCOUS Gulls off Ocean City on Rowlett's Nov. 23 pelagic trip were the second- earliest on record for the State. New for the inland Bowie Christmas Count were 3 Greater Black-backed Gulls, Dec. 28 (Robert Patterson); this species was recorded at an all-time high for the State of 210 individuals at Ocean City, Dec. 27. For the fourth successive year the Little Gull was found on the Ocean City Christmas Count — 2 birds. Terns . Late Royal Terns on the Western Shore were spotted at Point Lookout on Oct. 5 (Ernest Willoughby) and Hillsmere on Nov. 8 (Hal Wierenga). And the last Forster's Terns away from the coast were sighted at Sandy Point on Nov. 22 and on the Point Lookout Christmas Count, Dec. 22 (both by Hal Wierenga). Cuckoos . Most cuckoos left by the end of September; then, after a near absence of two weeks there was a flurry of sightings, Oct. 16-26. The latest Yellow-bills were found at "Adventure" in Montgomery County (banded on Oct. 22 and seen on Oct. 26, Margaret Donnald) , at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center on Oct. 25 (Danny Bystrak) , and banded at Crownsville on Oct. 26 (Danny Bystrak). A Black-bill was seen in Allegany County on Oct. 20 (John Willetts), and an exhausted bird was found sitting on the sand at Sandy Point on Oct. 22 (Hal Wierenga). Owls . It was a good winter for Long-eared Owls and Snowy Owls in Maryland, but a poor year for Saw-whets. The Long-ear that wintered at Sandy Point arrived on Nov. 15, two weeks or more earlier than the pre- vious winter (Hal Wierenga). Long-ears were found on the Annapolis, Catoctin, Crisfield (6), Triadelphia (3), and Southern Dorchester County Christmas Counts, with a record tally of 1£ on the latter. Talbot Christ- mas Counters found an even 100 Screech Owls on Dec. 22, setting a record that will be hard to beat. An immature Snowy Owl was present in Dundalk on the record-early date of Oct . 2£; it was viewed by many people, but re- mained only part of that one day. The next report of a Snowy came from Bailey's Neck near Easton on Nov. 28 (Hughlett Henry). Another was seen in Queen Annes County on Dec. 13 (Wallace Miller); and another along the Chop- tank River in Cambridge was studied by many observers in late December. March 1975 MARYLAND BIRDLIPE 39 Nighthawks , Hummingbirds . Single late Common Nighthawks were ob- served at Seneca on OctT 12 (Rowlett) and in Kent County on Oct. 15 (Mendinhalls) . Late Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were found in Germantown on Oct. 10 (Robert Warfield), Annapolis on Oct. 11 (Hal Wierenga) and Talbot County on Oct. ih (Reese). Woodpeckers . Red-headed Woodpeckers were still migrating in the first week of November. Hal Wierenga watched one circling high near the tip of Sandy Point on Nov. 2, and Fran Pope saw a bird of the year at Mountain Lake on Nov. 8. Flycatchers and Swallows . There were several noteworthy late rec- ords. An Eastern Kingbird seen in Montgomery County on Oct. 5 was only two days short of the latest Piedmont record (Lucy and Nancy MacClintock) . Yellow-bellied Flycatchers were banded in three counties in October (Table 2), with the latest records on Oct. 8 at Damsite and Oct. 9 at Adventure. A Least Flycatcher, two days short of the State departure record, was banded at Advent lire (near Potomac in Montgomery County) on Oct. 20 (Margaret Donnald) . Following the Oct. 7 cold front there was a major migration of Eastern Phoebes on the 8th at Sandy Point (25 birds by Hal Wierenga). The only Western Kingbird recorded was along Old Morgnec Road in Kent County on Oct. 1 (Floyd Parks). A Cliff Swallow at Poplar Island on Sept . 6^ (Danny Bystrak) is of interest because it is the latest of the few fall records for the Eastern Shore Section of Maryland. A Tree Swallow at Sandy Point on Nov. l6 (Hal Wierenga) was late for west of the Chesapeake; also late were Barn Swallows at Seneca on Oct. 12 (Rowlett) and at Irish Grove Sanctuary on Oct. 13 (Daniel Boone and others ) . Jays , Thrushes . The peak of Blue Jay migration apparently occurred on 0ct\ 6 , when Jan Reese estimated in excess of 5,000 birds passing over Talbot County. On Oct. 1, the second night after cold- frontal passage, Hal Wierenga counted several hundred thrush calls over Annapolis between 10 p.m. and midnight; and on the next day he found h Wood Thrushes, 30 Swainson's, 6 Gray-cheeks, and a Veery at Sandy Point State Park. Exceptionally late departure dates were Nov. 11 for Wood Thrush and Oct. 26 for a banded Swainson's Thrush in Montgomery County (Peter Pyle), Oct. 28 for a Gray-cheeked Thrush banded at Crownsville (Danny Bystrak), and Oct. 13 for a Veery in Charles County (Leonard Teuber). Gnatcatchers and Vireos . Even though the median departure date for the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was normal in 197^, there were two extraordi- narily late dates; one bird was found on the Baltimore Chapter trip to Perry Point on Nov. l6 (Rodney Jones), the other at Fort Foote on Dec. 11 (Teuber). Late vireos included a record-breaking White-eyed Vireo for Western Maryland, banded at Accident on Oct. 23 and recaptured on Oct . 25 (Fran Pope); the first December Solitary Vireo for Maryland, nearly caught by hand at Thurmont on Dec . 18 (John and Ruth Richards); and a Red-eyed Vireo seen at Adventure on Nov. 2 (Margaret Donnald). Warblers . Eleven species of warblers were found in Maryland in November and/or December, and there were also many late October records. 4o MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 31, No. 1 The more noteworthy of the late departure dates were: Black-and-white Warbler on Nov. 3_ at Fulton (John Janney, fide Rosamond Munro); Blue- winged Warbler on Qct . 6_ in Montgomery County (Peter Pyle); Tennessee Warbler seen on Oct. 15 at Sandy Point State Park (Hal Wierenga), and banded on Oct. 19 at Laurel (Robbins) and Oct . 20 at Mountain Lake Park (Mrs. Pope); Orange-crowned Warbler on Dec . J_ in Annapolis (David and Marguerite Howard); Nashville Warbler on Oct ■ 20 at Mountain Lake Park (Mrs. Pope), on Oct. 22 in Silver Spring (Lucy and Nancy MacClintock) , on Oct. 27 at Bellevue ( Armistead) , and on the Dec. 30 Southern Dor- chester County Christmas Count (Dorothea Malec); Northern Parula Warbler on Oct . 2k and Yellow Warbler on Oct. 3, both in Anne Arundel County (Hal Wierenga); Magnolia Warbler banded on Oct. 18 at Damsite (Mendin- halls), Oct. 19 at Laurel (Robbins), and Oct. 25 at Accident (Mrs. Pope), and studied at leisure on Nov . 2. in Silver Spring (MacClintocks ) ; Cape May Warbler seen on Oct. 30 at Damsite (Dorothy Mendinhall); Black- throated Blue Warbler banded on Nov . 3. at Damsite ( Mendinhalls ) and at St. Michaels (Reese), establishing a tie for the latest record for Mary- land; Black-throated Green Warbler banded on Oct. 21 at Mountain Lake Park (Mrs. Pope), and seen on Oct. 19 in Allegany County (John Willetts), Oct. 2k at Silver Spring (MacClintocks), and Oct. 27 at Damsite (Dorothy Mendinhall and Margery Plymire); Blackburnian Warbler seen on Oct . 2 6 in Montgomery County, a new State record by two days (Fred Evenden); Chestnut-sided Warbler seen on Oct . 27 at Fort Meade, two days past the latest State record (Rena Bishop) ; Ovenbird on Dec . 28 at Oldtown, attracted by Screech Owl tape to within 3 feet and studied at leisure (John Willetts and William Devlin), second winter record for Maryland; Louisiana Waterthrush on Oct. 1 in southern Prince Georges County, one day short of the State record (Leonard Teuber); Kentucky Warbler on Sept . 20 in Severna Park (Mark Hoffman); Common Yel 1 OWthroatS to Nov . 17 at Bellevue (Armistead), Nov. 11 in Anne Arundel County (Hal Wierenga), and Nov . 2_ at Silver Spring (MacClintocks); Yel 1 OW-breasted Chat, 2 on the Dec. 22 Point Lookout Christmas Count; Hooded Warbler banded at Dam- site on Oct . 3, (Mendinhalls); Wilson's Warbler on Oct. 12 at Adventure (Mrs. Donnald) ; and American Redstart female seen on Oct. 26 at Bellevue (Armistead). Although the large number of late dates stole the warbler show this season, we should not ignore the abundant YellOW-rumped Warbler that we used to call the Myrtle; immediately after passage of a nocturnal cold front, Hal Wierenga found Sandy Point State Park inundated with some 500 Yellow- rumps on Oct. 18. Orioles and Tanagers . a pair of late Northern (Baltimore) Orioles was sighted on Nov. 10 in Millers', Carroll County (Patsy Perlman). Sin- gles were found on Dec. 2k in Charles County (George Wilmot , Olive Sorzano) and on the Bowie Christmas Count (Mrs. Leroy Gross). A late Orchard Oriole on Oct. 5 and Scarlet Tanager on Oct . 28 were in the David Howards' garden in Annapolis. Other late Scarlet Tanagers were banded on Oct. 22 at Damsite and seen on Poplar Island on Nov . 23 (Danny Bystrak and Pat Mehlhop ) . House Finch . "Arrival" dates were reported all the way from August to mid-December, but 10 of the 15 dates were clustered in the periods Oct. 22-27 and Nov. ll*-22. With Christmas Count totals such as 105 in Table 2 . Latest Fall Departure Dates, 1974 Species Median 10-yr 1975 " Garr 0 0 0 0 Alle 0 0 0 0 Wash Fred Balt 9/29 0 0 8/18 Howd Mont 9 / 7 9 / 7 9 / 7 0 Pr.G Anne Chas Calv Kent 10 / 6 11/10 0 W 10/19 10/21 10/ 7 12/22 8/24 000 000 8/29 10/12 12/17 8/25 9/19 Caro Talb 12/14 11/17 — 11/10 9/27 0 9/19 9/ 7 — 9/24 Pore Somr 10/12 10/ 5 10/12 Pied-billed Grebe Green Heron Little Blue Heron Cattle Egret Great Egret — 11/10 10/ 2 10/ 6 — 10/ 3 0 10/13 8/21 — 0 0 0 0 8/12 0 0 10/ 5 0 0 0 9/13 0 0 11/23 9/29 11/ 2 11/29 11/ 9 Snowy Egret — 10/10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9/22 10/ 6 0 0 9/ 8 0 10/14 11/ 2 11/ 3 Blue-winged Teal — 0 — 0 10/19 0 0 — — 11/16 — — 9/10 9/19 Wood Duck — 11/ It 0 0 11/ 4 10/13 12/28 — 10/17 12/10 12/ 3 11/25 — 0 10/25 11/ 3 — — Broad-winged Hawk 9/30 10/ U — — 10/26 — 9/26 9/20 — 9/l6 10/17 10/13 10/ 4 9/24 0 10/29 0 0 Osprey 10/ 5 10/21 — — 10/26 10/13 11/ 9 0 10/ 5 10/28 11/ 8 10/13 8/31 10/21 0 11/14 9/ 2 — Greater Yellowlegs 10/26 11/ 8 0 — 11/4 0 11/ 6 0 — 11/ 4 11/17 11/17 0 10/14 12/13 10/31 11/ 9 11/10 Lesser Yellowlegs — 10/10 — — 10/19 10/13 8/18 0 10/ 8 — 8/31 0 9/19 — — 0 11/ 9 11/10 Solitary Sandpiper — 9/26 0 — 8/25 0 — 0 — 10/ 1 10/ 3 9/ 5 0 9/23 — 0 9/28 — Spotted Sandpiper — 9/21 — — 9/ 2 0 9/21 — — 10/12 10/ 5 10/ 9 0 0 — 9/ 1 9/ 2 — American Woodcock — 11/ 9 — — 10/27 12/10 11/ 9 11/ 6 10/30 10/23 10/27 w 11/10 12/22 12/16 11/23 W w Semipalmated Sandpiper — 9/12 0 — 9/ 1 0 — 0 0 0 9/24 0 0 8/22 — 7/31 9/28 11/ 3 Least Sandpiper — 9/30 0 — 9/14 0 0 0 0 10/ 1 10/14 0 0 0 — 7/31 9/28 11/ 3 Pectoral Sandpiper — 10/12 0 10/11 8/24 0 — 0 0 10/10 11/ 5 0 0 — — 0 11/ 9 10/12 Dunlin — 11/10 0 10/13 0 10/19 0 0 0 10/10 11/13 0 0 12/13 0 12/22 11/ 9 U/10 Laughing Gull — 11/llt 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/17 12/ 9 — 10/22 12/22 0 11/10 — 10/20 Bonaparte's Gull — 11/22 0 0 0 10/21 0 0 0 12/ 3 0 0 0 0 12/30 0 — Forster ' a Tern — 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/11 11/22 10/27 0 0 0 — 9/29 — Royal Tern — 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/ 8 0 0 0 0 10/13 9/29 0 Caspian Tern — 9/29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/ 4 10/18 0 9/12 0 0 9/21 9/29 0 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 9/30 9/2lt — 9/24 — _._9/26 . 8/l4 10/26 10/25 10/26 10/ 3 8/15 — — . 9/22 ?/ ? — Black-billed Cuckoo — 9/28 — 10/20 0 0 9/12 8/11 0 0 10/22 0 0 0 0 0 9/28 0 Whip-poor-will — 0 9/15 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/ 5 9/ 2 — Common Nighthawk 9/lb 10/ 6 10/ 6 — — — 9/11 9/ 2 10/ 6 10/ 5 10/ 6 10/ 6 0 10/15 — 9/18 — 0 Chimney Swift 10/ 8 10/ 7 — — 9/24 — 10/17 10/ 7 10/18 10/10 10/12 10/ 8 10/ 5 10/ 5 — 10/ 7 9/29 — Ruby -thr . Kummingb ir d 9/18 9/29 9/25 — 9/15 — 10/ 9 9/21 10/10 9/18 10/11 9/29 9/14 9/30 9/26 10/14 — 10 / 4 Common Flicker — 10/31 — 10/12 11/24 w W 10/18 w tf w w 10/31 w w 11 / 4 W w Red-headed Woodpecker — 11/ 8 11 / 8 0 — — — 0 — — 11 / 2 w 12 / 5 12/22 0 11 / 2 — 0 Yellow-bell. Sapsucker — 11/24 12/15 — — — 11/24 11/17 — — 11/27 w — 12/22 11/23 10/14 0 w Eastern Kingbird 9 / 8 9/22 — — 9/ l — — 8/20 10/ 5 9/18 9/23 — 9/22 9/23 — 9/22 9/ 2 — Gt. Created Flycatcher 9/14 9/16 — — _9/15_ — 9/21 9/ 4 9/10 9/23 9/17 — — 10 / 1 — — 9/ 2 — March 1975 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE ■p- ro Species Median 10-yr 19fg~ 10/21 EaBtern Phoebe Acadian Flycatcher Yellow-bell. Flycatcher — Traill's Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Eastern Pevee Tree Swallow Bank Swallow Barn Swallow Purple Martin 10/16 9/23 9/30 9/16 9/22 10/ 2 10/16 9/13 10/ 3 10/14 9 / 8 9/18 1L5L Parr Alle Wash Fred Balt Howd Mont Pr.Gf Anne Chas Calv Kent Caro Talb Dorc Somr 0 9/15 0 — 9/22 9/25 — 0 8/29 — 8/29 — 9/22 9/23 0 0 9/24 10/19 0 10/11 9/25 9/30 9/l4 10/ 3 11/16 9/21 9/22 iZii 10/13 9/23 0 9/16 9/ 5 10/23 8/25 0 0 0 9/24 10/7 M 10/ff 10/ 8 10/21 0 9/16 ?/ 9 9/19 9/18 9/ 8 9/ 3 1/li. 10/ 4 10/14 8/24 10/ 4 10/26 9/28 10/12 0 9/22 9/22 0 0 9/28 10/ 4 8/26 10/20 10/15 8/13 10/ 6 .2/H V/2810/7 10/26 10/20 9/28 0 9/28 10/13 _2Z_ 2 -- Blue Jay Red-breasted Nuthatch House Wren Gray Catbird" Brown Thrasher 10/ 4 10/16 10/14 10/27 10/24 10/12 10/22 10/27 W W W 9/28 Wood Thrush Hermit Thrush Swainson's Thrush Gray-cheeked Thrush Veery Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Ruby-crowned Kinglet Water Pipit Cedar Waxwing White-eyed Vireo 10/ 8 10/30 10/10 10/ 7 9/23 10/13 11/ 9 10/16 10/ 9 10/ 6 11 / 2 9/29 10/ 6 0 "9727 9/14 11 / 2 9/22 9/14 11/16 12/ 4 11/23 9/26 10/31 0 11 / 2 0 10/28 0 10/25 1/12 0 Yellow-throated Vireo Solitary Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Philadelphia Vireo Black-&-white Warbler 10/14 10/ 4 1 Of 4 10/13 10/12 9/22 10/12 0 10/ 4 0 10/13 10/13 9/17 9/24 12/18 0 10/22 W 11/11 10/14 10/12 11/10 11/10 W 10/23 0 — 10/12 10/7 10/ 1 10/ 4 10/12 11/17 10/14 10/11 10/ 5 12/14 12/14 w 9/22 11/30 12/22 11/23 9/22 11 / 2 10/28 10/18 10/ 3 10/ 3 0 10/13 0 10/ 4 0 0 10/ 6 10/12 9/22 10/14 0 0 10 / 6 Blue-winged Warbler Tennessee Warbler Nashville Warbler No. Parula Warbler Yellow Warbler Magnolia Warbler Cape May Warbler 10/ 2 10/ 5 9/30 10/ 4 10/ 4 9/23 10/ 9 10/ 5 10/ 5 9/16 10/12 10/ 6 0 10/20 10/20 0 10/13 10/13 10/25 10/ 6 10/16 9/15 0 8/13 9/23 0 10/ 2 10/13 10/ 2 9/21 9/23 10/15 10/ 5 10/24 10/ 3 10/13 10/18 10/ 3 10/ 3 10/ 3 9/18 10/ 7 9/16 0 0 0 9/23 0 0 0 10/ 3 1M 10/18 10/30 0 0 0 9/16 9/28 10/21 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 31, No Species Blk-thr. Blue Warbler Myrtle Warbler Blk-thr. Green Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Chestnut-s lded Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Pine Warbler Prairie Warbler Palm Warbler Median 9/30 10/ 8 10/22 10/ 2 10/10 10/ 6 9/19 10/18 Garr Alle Wash Fred| Balt Howd Mont Pr.G Anne Chas Calv Kent I Caro Talb Pore Somr — 10/12 10 / 2 ? 11 / 2 10/21 10/19 — 9/22 9/15 9/23 9/2U — 10 / 6 9/24 0 10/13 — 0 0 9/24 0 — 10/18 10/13 — 10/13 9/23 10/1 0 10 / 6 10/19 11/ 5 10 / 3 10 / 5 — 9/23 9/30 9/27 9/19 9/18 10/ 5 10/15 0 10/22 11/16 10/24 10/26 10/10 10/11 11/12 10/11 10/ 1 10/ 2 0 10/15 11/ 2 10/28 10/ 8 9/21 10/27 10/ £ Ovenbird Northern Waterthrush Louisians Waterthrush Kentucky Warbler Connecticut Warbler 10 / 10 / 10/6 9/24 9/15 9/28 10/ 7 10/ 2 10/12 Mourning Warbler Common Yellovthroat Yellow-breasted Chat Hooded Warbler Wilson's Warbler — 10/ 1 10/14 10/13 10/ 9 9/14 — 9/22 9/22 10 / 2 0 0 10/ 2 10/13 — 91 2 10/ 9 0 8 / 2 10/10 9/22 — 10 / 1 9/ 4 10/15 Canada Warbler American Redstart Bobolink Orchard Oriole Northern Oriole 9/18 9/25 9/30 10/ 7 — 9/18 9/22 9/26 .0 9/23 9/15 10 / 1 0 10/17 10/12 9/13 — 9/26 9/22 9/19 0 0 9/22 — 9/24 0 0 0 0 0 9/28 0 0 9/22 0 - 10/10 9/30 0 0 9/12 10/ 1 10/15 10/17 10/ 5 9/30 9/17 9/21 0 12/24 0 10/13 9/15 7/18 o JO, 0 10/ 4 10/ 4 ■m 10/26 9/22 9 / 6 9/22 0 9/19 0 0 0 0 9/28 10/17 9/ 2 10/13 Scarlet Tanager Summer Tanager Rose-breasted Grosbeak Blue Grosbeak Indigo Bunting 10/ 4 9/30 10/ 6 10 / nr 9/15 10/ 4 9/22 10/ 4 0 0 0 10/ 6 9/23 0 9/24 0 Rufous-sided Towhee Vesper Sparrow Chipping Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Fox Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow Swamp Sparrow 10/29 10/26 11/24 11 / 2 10/28 10/22 11 / 1 11/17 10/ 8 10/30 12/15 10/20 11/ 4 10/ 3 9/28 — 10/27 10/18 — 10/30 11/ 2 11/25 11/ 9 *— 10/ 9 10/ 6 0 10/30 10/ 6 W 10/ 2 10/ 7 0 0 10/ 8 10/ 5 0 10/ 5 10/16 10/ 5 12/28 12/ 2 10/28 9/23 10/ 4 9/10 9/30 9/29 9/15 9/2 6 9/21 10/ 3 9/21 9/ 5 10/ 2 9/ 5 10/ 4 10/19 10/ 7 — 11/ 5 — 10/25 11/16 11/17 9/25 10/ 5 — 10/15 10/28 10/24 10/22 10/20 10/22 0 10/ 4 91 8 ■9/21 9/23 9/28 10/ 1 9/27 9/26 11/23 9/15 9/22 9/22 9/22 9 / 2 0 9/17 o 10/27 11/ 9 Ti/T? 0 MUML w o w 11/17 o w ”16/26“ 11/ 9 11/17 11/ 3 10/26 10/12 11/17 — 10/12 W 0 11/ 9 W 11/ 3 10/13 10/23 W 0 -P" u> March 1975 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 44 MARYLAND BIKDLIFE Vol. 31, No. 1 Washington County, l4l at Triadelphia, and 196 at St. Michaels, it is hard to believe there are still three Maryland counties with no record of a House Finch: Carroll, Charles, and Queen Annes. Other Finches . The northern finches were unusually scarce through- out the period. There were scattered small flocks of Evening Grosbeaks, and Christinas Counters managed to locate a few of them on most Maryland counts , but the highest totals were only 62 individuals in the Garrett County and Washington County circles. Pine Siskins were another story; there were only two reports during the entire fall migration period, and only three Christmas Counts reported them, ranging from a low of 1 bird at Seneca to the magnificent high of 20 at St. Michaels. Even in the mountains there was not a single report of a crossbill, a redpoll, or a Pine Grosbeak. The only Dickcissel discovered during this period was species number 222 for Harry Armstead's property list at Bellevue, seen on Nov. 9- Sparrows , Snow Buntings , and Longspurs . An early American Tree Sparrow was found at Blackwater Refuge on Oct. 26 (Kathy Klimkiewicz) , and a late Lincoln's Sparrow was banded at Adventure on Oct. 27 (Mrs. Margaret Donnald) . Although Snow Buntings were strangely absent from Assateague Island after an initial sighting of 55 birds on Nov. 3 (Elwood Martin), they were noted in exceptionally good numbers at other places in Maryland: the first 2 arrived on the record-breaking date of Oct . 22 at Sandy Point, where numbers gradually rose to 17 on Oct. 26, 32 on Nov. 2, and 55 on Nov. 24, then dropped down to 47 birds for most of December (Hal Wierenga and Mark Hoffman); across the Bay at Ridgely, a flock of 40 on Dec. 14-15 added this species to the Caroline County list (Steve Radis, Steve Westre, and Marvin Hewitt) and 2 were sighted at Elliott Island on Nov. 4 (Martin); and up in the mountains 4 individ- uals were located on the Dec. 15 Garrett County Christmas Count (John Willetts). The only Lapland Longspur viewed during the period was found in company with Snow Buntings at Sandy Point State Park from the early date of Oct. 25 through Nov. 24 (Hal Wierenga). 7900 Brooklyn Bridge Rd. , Laurel 20810 POTPOURRI FOR NON-SOPH I STI CATED BIRDERS Leland S. Devore At a recent meeting of the Trustees of the MOS I took a stand that was akin to degrading Motherhood. In order to reduce expenses of the Society, I suggested eliminating Maryland Birdlife . There was a shocked silence; it was broken by a voice in the tone of one speaking to an inmate at an institution who might go berserk at any moment. It said "Now, now, you know we can't do that." That seemed a very valid reason so I accepted it. Later the blow fell. After the meeting it was sug- gested since I had stated very few of the rank-and-file membership of MOS really enjoyed the Journal, that I should write an article that might entertain the 90# who found Birdlife rather dull. This is the March 1975 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE ^5 result; it is for us non-teehnical types who enjoy birding, and with average luck can tell a Wood Thrush from a Veery, but do not have the expertise to get a gut-reaction when confronted with the information that the speculum of the female Mallard is believed to be l/l6ths of an inch narrower this year than in 1938 when, the last measurements were recorded. The thrust of my treatise shall be bits of extraneous information which may be professionally questionable, but I hope mildly entertaining. For instance, a bit of bird-lore that may prove profitable is to get an expert ornithologist to bet with you on how far a Great Blue Heron must hop along the ground or other solid surface before he gets up flying speed to take off. The expert should say "Oh, about 10 yards, maybe 15." Bet him $5.00 it is closer to Uo yards, then go to Bombay Hook on a cold day in February. Those herons slip and slide on the ice trying to take off until, if you don't get convulsions laughing at their ludicrous ac- tions, you can collect your $5.00 with no argument. Want to REALLY attract all sorts of birds on your field trips? Get a portable tape recorder and play a tape of a Screech Owl a few times near a likely looking habitat ; you will be deluged with most of the birds in the area. They will flutter around for several minutes looking for that sound. I'm not sure why, for I'd think they'd be afraid of an owl, but in daylight they DO come looking for the screech. Just don't do this during the nesting season when it could increase the danger of predation. You meet some odd situations in birding. I was talking to a group from a local garden club about feeding birds. Afterwards a lady told me she had picked up a thrush that was injured and had kept it safe. She said she fed it nothing but mashed potatoes; was that all right? Fortu- nately, I was so amazed that it took me a second to start to tell her the bird would probably die in two days on that diet. In that second she added "I have had him three years." I kept quiet; you can't argue with success. Maybe that IS the way to feed injured thrushes. Another person called me late one evening and asked what to do. Seems she had washed her husband's white shirt and didn't bring it in from the clothes- line until after dark. When she got it in the lighted kitchen two Carolina Wrens shot out of it, one from each sleeve. When she called they were in the oven, quite content in that dark cavern. I told her, assuming she didn't want roast wren, to turn off the lights, reach slowly in the oven and grab them gently, then let them go near some trees outside. I guess it worked. Did you hear about the great buzzard-thaw at Hawk Mountain last winter? After an all-night freezing rain, dozens of vultures were on the ground, helpless with an ice covering. The local residents gathered them up, shut them in a vacant room and thawed them enough to melt the ice. Can you imagine the interior decoration of that room? Melted ice, feathers, bird lice, excrement — I'll bet that room stays vacant a LONG time. 46 MARYLAND BIRD LIFE Vol. 31. No. 1 Did you ever wonder what happens to dead birds? There are thousands of birds in your immediate area, yet you almost never find a dead one. Well, the Charleston, W.Va. Gazette recently published an article stating an old abandoned silo neax the village of Horsepens , W.Va, had been dis- covered which was filled with bird skeletons. They surmised it was sort of like the African elephant graveyard, and birds came there from all over the East to die. How’s that for a solution to this puzzle? Now I'll agree this article has no legitimate place in Birdlife. But then how do you rationalize comics in a newspaper? This is only for those MOS'ers who, like myself, really are not shrewd enough birders to appreciate that Mallard's speculum. GOOD BIRDING to you, none-the-less ! "Parade Rest," R.D. 1, Port Deposit 21904 O CALLS FOR HELP 1. Several hundred PURPLE MARTINS have been marked with colored plastic leg bands in Prince Georges and Montgomery Counties. The following infor- mation is needed: a) Observer's name, address, and telephone number; b) Date and exact location of sighting; c) Color of band and which leg carries the color band; d) Are the birds "scouts," summer residents, or migrants? 2. Several hundred AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES will also be marked with colored plastic leg bands. The following information is needed: a) Observer's name, address, and telephone number; b) Date and location of sighting; c) Time of day; d) Color ( s ) of band; e) Number of color banded, plain banded, and unbanded birds seen; f) Food preferred. Please send all observations to M. Kathleen Klimkiewicz, 13117 Larchdale Rd. #2, Laurel, Md. 20811, or call in sightings to 301-776-6737 (evenings after 4 p.m. ) . ☆ SANCTUARY REGISTRATIONS To make reservations for the use of MOS Sanctuaries, or for information about these sanctuaries, please contact the following persons: ADVENTURE: Mrs. M. B. Donnald, 11501 South Glen Rd. , Potomac 299-681*0 CAREY RUN: Mrs. C. Gordon Taylor, 75 Broadway, Frostburg 689-6791 IRISH GROVE: Mr. Sam Cimino, 704 Park Circle, Salisbury 21801 749-7852 MANDERES CREEK: Col. W. Bodenstein, R.D.l, Box 366, Crownsville 987-4658 MILL CREEK: Mr. Dickson Preston, RFD 5» Box 707, Easton 21601 822-4535 PELOT: Mr. A. J. Fletcher, Garland Lake Rd. , Denton 21629 479-1529 ROCK RUN: Mr. Rodney B. Jones, 207 Oak Ave. , Baltimore 21208 486-3442 March 1975 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE hi COMING EVENTS Sept. 4 BALTIMORE Lake Roland walk, 9 a.m. Mrs. William Gerringer. 6 BALTIMORE Trip to Carroll County. Reuben Morningstar. 7 OCEAN CITY PELAGIC TRIP on the TALBOT. Richard A. Rowlett. 7 BALTIMORE Twilight Tunneling of Chimney Swifts on Upland Road. 11 BALTIMORE Lake Roland walk, 9 a.m. Mrs. Raymond Geddes. 13 BALTIMORE Trip to Summit Hall Turf Farm & Hughes Hollow, 9:30. 14 TALBOT Breakfast Hike, 7 a.m. St. Michaels High School. 1 6 BALTIMORE Class on Mosses, Cylburn, 8 p.m. Dr. E. Fisher. 17 TALBOT Monthly Meeting. Film; Reports on Members' Summers. 18 BALTIMORE Lake Roland walk, 9 a.m. Mrs. William Gerringer. 19 CAROLINE Monthly Meeting, Denton. "Beekeeping," Tom Robbins. 19-21 HOWARD Statewide Moon Watch. Dr. Robert Herndon. 20 BALTIMORE Field trip for Sept. l6 class on Mosses. E. Fisher. 19-21 MONTGOMERY Cape May Weekend, 6:30 a.m. at Lily Lake flagpole. 20 BALTIMORE Moon Watch, 8:30 p.m., Dulaney High School. H. Kolb. 20 PATUXENT Banding demonstration at Col. Bodenstein* s , 8 a.m. 21 TALBOT Breakfast Hike, 7 a.m., St. Michaels High School. 21 BALTIMORE Come-As-You-Are Tea. 3-5 p.m., Towson Library. 22 BALTIMORE Leaders' Seminar. 8 p.m., Cylburn. Mrs. J. W. Rowe. 23 PATUXENT Monthly Meeting. Guess-A-Bird by Col. W. Bodenstein 23 WASHINGTON Monthly Meeting. Emily K. Doub School. 25 BALTIMORE Lake Roland walk, 9 a.m. Mrs. Raymond Geddes. 27 MONTGOMERY Trip to Lilypons and Nolands Ferry. Pat Moore. 27 BALTIMORE Trip to Smith Island, $8. Dr. & Mrs. Elmer Worthley. 27 PATUXENT Banding trip to Bodenstein property & Manderes Sane. 28 TALBOT Breakfast Hike, 7 a.m., St. Michaels High School. Oct. 2 BALTIMORE Lake Roland walk, 9 a.m. Lansing Fulford. 2 BALTIMORE Soldiers Delight gentian and bird walk, 1 p.m. 3-5 BALTIMORE N.J. Audubon Cape May Weekend. Mrs. Wm. Gerringer. 4 PATUXENT Boat trip, Mt. Calvert Park & Merkle Refuge. 4 BALTIMORE Banding trip to DAMSITE, Chestertown. W. Therien. 5 TALBOT Breakfast Hike, 7 a.m. Mr. & Mrs. Paul Stone. 7 BALTIMORE Lecture, "How Birds Learn - Or Don't Learn," 8 p.m. 9 BALTIMORE Lake Roland walk, 9 a.m. Mrs. Walter Bohan an. 11 MONTGOMERY Hawk and warbler trip. Monument Knob, 7 a.m. 11 BALTIMORE Trip to Lilypons and Monument Knob, 8:30 a.m. 12 TALBOT Breakfast Hike, 7 a.m. Mr. & Mrs. Gunby Reese. 15 TALBOT Monthly Meeting. Bluebirds by Dr. Lawrence Zeleny, Loyola Savings and Loan Assn. , Easton, 8 p.m. 16 BALTIMORE Lake Roland walk, 9 a.m. Jane Daniels, 825-9116. 16 TALBOT Audubon Film, "Scandinavian Saga" by John Bulger, Easton High School, Mecklenburg Ave. , 8 p.m. 17 BALTIMORE Audubon Film, "Florida Cypress Sanctuary" by Richard C. Kern. Dumbarton Junior High School, 8 p.m. 17 CAROLINE Monthly Meeting. "Current News of Endangered Species" by Marvin Hewitt. Denton Library, 7=30 p.m. 18-19 BALTIMORE Wildlife Survey of Claggett Diocesan Center, Freder- ick County. Dr. David Thorndill, 235-5939. 19 BALTIMORE Come-As-You-Are Tea. Douglas Cook, Mexican trip. Towson Branch of County Library, 3-5 p.m. 19 TALBOT Trip to Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, Va. MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 31' No. 1 48 PELAGIC TRIP. Register by sending $20 to Richard A. Rowlett , 715 Main St . , Apt . 5 , Laurel , 20810 . Trip to Pocomoke Swamp by canoe. David Thorndill. Trip to Bear Rocks, Pa. for hawk watching with Dr. Maurice Broun. Mrs. Clarence Hardiman, 922-8689. Monthly Meeting. Purple Martin Project by Paul Jung. St. Philips, 6th & Main, Laurel, 7:45 p.m. Fall Social Evening. Ecology Ecstasy by Maurice Broun. Grace Methodist Church, N. Charles St., 8 pm Irish Grove Weekend. Leaders, Steve Hollens, Ed Gos- nell. Register by Oct. 24 with M. Butler, 592-2479- Meeting. "Life Listers". Information on American Birding Assn. D. Holmes, F. Murdoch. Cylburn, 8 p.m. Trip to Lilypons & South Mt. S. Hollens, 444-7987- Nature Photography Practicum (scenes). Cylburn, 1 pm Trip to Agric. Res. Center. 9th & Montg, Laurel, 8 am CHRISTMAS COUNT DATES: Dec. 20, Catoctin, Denton; Dec. 21, St. Michaels, Garrett County, Seneca; Dec. 27, Baltimore, Triadelphia; Dec. 28, Kent; Annapolis, Salisbury; Dec. 29, Ocean City; Dec. 30, Crisfld; 31, Blackwater Oct. 19 OCEAN CITY 25-26 BALTIMORE 25-26 BALTIMORE 28 PATUXENT 28 BALTIMORE Nov 1-2 BALTIMORE 4 BALTIMORE 8 BALTIMORE 9 BALTIMORE 11. PATUXENT CONTENTS, MARCH 1975 Coded Neck-bands for Swans, Canada Geese Judith C. Johnson and and Snow Geese, 197 !+— 75 J. L. Sladen ,3 Autumn Hawk and Jay Migration Studies David S. Lee and at Towson, 1973 Zenas B. Sykes 5 Diurnal Vocalization by a Wintering Black Rail Jan G. Reese / 13 Results of the MOS Bluebird Project, 197*+ Lawrence Zeleny 15 Le Conte’s Sparrow in Maryland M. Kathleen Klimkiewicz l6 24th Annual Nest Card Summary, 1972 Daniel Boone 17 Changes in Common Names of Maryland Birds Chandler S. Bobbins 24 The Maryland Christmas Counts of 1974 Paul G. Bystdk 27 The President’s Page Barclay E. Tucker 31 Snowy Owl at Fort McHenry, Baltimore D. Girard JeWell 33 The Season — October, November, December, 1974 Chandler S. Robbins 34 Potpourri for Non-sophist icated Birders Leland S . Devore 44 Calls for Help M. Kathleen Klimkiewicz 46 Coming Events 46 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Published Quarterly by the Maryland Ornithological Society, Inc. to Record and Encourage the Study of Birds of Maryland Editor: Chandler'S. Robbins, 7900 Brooklyn Bridge Road, Laurel, Md. 20810 (725-1176) Asst. Editor: C. Douglas Hackman, 3033 Woodside Ave. , Balto. 21234 Art Editor: William N. Schneider Production: Romell Decker Mailing: Barbara Larrabee and committee