ISSN 011+7-9725 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE H3u.tb.tin of tfiz e Mon How Crl_ Har Bal_ Ann Cal_ PrG Cha^ Cec Ker^ Que Ca£ Dor Wic Som Wor Marsh Wren - - - - 3 - - 10 124 16 1 14 1 - 4 6 1 105 - 64 - 349 Sedge Wren - 1 - - - - - - 2 2 - 1 - - - - - 10 - - 16 Northern Mockingbird 5 60 83 48 86 138 8 9 244 154 10 36 25 3 69 44 217 20 20 32 31 1342 Gray Catbird 136 78 162 46 257 422 6 28 473 159 13 88 20 - 93 42 104 29 4 55 86 2301 Brown Thrasher 18 30 132 17 29 46 3 5 47 60 3 11 10 - 48 19 73 9 2 12 9 583 American Robin 498 362 474 301 T68 492 10 50 937 252 18 49 53 10 250 136 463 72 33 69 74 4771 Wood Thrush 120 63 117 69 258 207 5 9 366 188 15 62 61 - 91 75 130 32 15 29 60 1972 Hermit Thrush 5 - 2 - 1 '8 - - 5 - - 3 - - - - - - - - 1 25 \ Swainson's Thrush 1 _ - 2 32 4 _ 2 52 11 - 6 6 - - 2 - 2 - - - 120 Gray-cheeked Thrush - - - - 1 - - - 11 - - 1 - - - - - - - - - 13 Veery 16 2 2 6 18 25 - - 101 21 - 2 3 - 3 - 2 - - - 3 204 Eastern Bluebird 44 28 53 24 35 27 - 2 22 8 - 11 7 - 1 - 23 2 - - 1 288 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 16 24 124 26 127 99 2 7 134 29 3 26 26 - - 2 17 9 2 7 21 701 Golden-crowned Kinglet - - 5 - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 6 Ruby-crowned Kinqlet 23 2 8 - 3 3 - - 11 1 51 Water Pipit - - 1 5 1 - - - 4 - - - - - 3 5 6 1 - - - 26 Cedar Waxwing 3 - 36 15 46 20 3 5 46 26 - 64 21 - - 18 - - - - 2 305 Loggerhead Shrike 1 -1 European Starling 327 440 1127 299 944 852 27 110 5022 410 22 147 57 - 248- 302 1020 146 110 135 255 1200b White- eyed Vireo 12 - 4 2 50 81 - 8 133 90 4 31 44 - 18 12 38 26 10 34 55 652 Yel low-throated Vireo 1 - 25 4 33 17 - - 6 11 3 3 4 - - 3 2 - - 1 9 122 Solitary Vireo 18 1 3 - 2 4 - - 5 1 - 1 - - - - 1 - - - 10 46 Red-eyed Vireo 57 27 106 56 193 121 3 11 315 162 38 80 101 - 42 35 83 16 4 24 27 1501 Philadelphia Vireo - 1 4 - 3 1 - - 1 10 Warblinq Vireo - 1 31 4 32 2 - 2 12 - - ,1 - - 1 2 2 - - - - 90 Black-and-white Warbler 29 1 7 9 22 50 1 1 174 79 - 11 8 - 7 18 24 10 5 2 120 578 Prothonotary Warbler - - 3 1 44 4 - - 7 7 - 8 16 - 3 1 18 4 2 8 47 173 Swainson's Warbler - 1 1 2 Worm-eating Warbler _ 2 26 3 3 10 1 - 13 2 - - - - 1 - 2 3 1 - 10 77 Golden-winqed Warbler 16 10 13 - - 3 - 1 1 - - - - - - - 1 - - - - 45 Blue-winged Warbler 1 4 2 1 8 11 1 - 40 5 - - - - 3 2 2 - - 3 5 88 Tennessee Warbler 7 1 2 13 13 17 _ _ 17 24 _ 1 - 95 Orange-crowned Warbler 1 1 Nashville Warbler 32 2 4 3 2 7 _ _ 9 2 _ 3 _ _ _ _ _ 2 - - - 66 Northern Parula Warbler 17 4 2 21 110 86 2 8 279 100 9 21 51 - 3 21 29 8 2 4 46 823 Yellow Warbler 61 52 62 11 45 42 3 20 243 28 v 19 13 - ~ n~ 18 13 16 - 45 32 741 Magnolia Warbler 4 1 10 _ 10 32 - _ 102 17 _ 4 _ _ 3 1 4 2 _ - 1 191 Cape May Warbler 6 7 _ 8 18 31 _ _ 30 12 _ 3 _ _ _ 5 . _ _ 7 127 Black-thr. Blue Warbler 14 2 3 27 20 26 - - 589 45 i 4 1 - 1 5 9 1 - 4 11 763 Total Gar All Was Fre Mon How Crl Har Bal Ann Cal^ PrG Cha^ Ce£ Ken (Jue^ Car Dor Wic Som Wor Yel 1 ow-rumped Warbler 114 25 48 390 393 270 6 6 3381 413 1 66 11 _ 186 131 70 38 1 9 345 5904 Black-thr. Green Warbler 60 8 11 17 22 20 - - 348 11 1 7 1 _ 1 2 _ _ _ _ 2 511 Cerulean Warbler 1 3 33 1 32 6 _ _ 21 _ _ 1 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 98 Blackburnian Warbler 16 2 7 5 7 - 1 32 7 - 3 _ _ 1 2 5 _ _ _ 1 89 Yel 1 ow- throated Warbler - 5 1 - 10 1 - - 8 1 - - 4 - 1 1 - - - - 39 71 Chestnut-sided Warbler 23 4 5 - 11 18 - - 71 7 1 2 1 - 1 1 - _ _ _ 1 146 Bay-breasted Warbler 19 12 6 ;4 4 - - 24 2 _ _ _ _ _ _ 1 _ _ _ • 72 Blackpoll Warbler 3 2 9 6 22 10 - - 88 55 1 10 5 - - 12 3 - 2 2 10 240 Pine Warbler - 2. 22 - - 2 - - 3 7 1 2 5 - _ 1 12 36 5 21 14 133 Prairie Warbler 58 4 22 1 8 38 6 3 58 34 - 19 39 - 4 1 9 14 2 21 15 356 Palm Warbler 2 - 1 - 1 - - - 1 2 7 Ovenbird 55 5 7 19 22 65 1 8 174 69 5 26 25 _ 2 6 27 28 8 10 84 646 Northern Waterthrush 7 5 5 1 21 3 - 2 17 8 - 2 1 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2 74 Louisiana Waterthrush 5 - 25 16 25 21 - 5 9 1 5 7 16 _ _ 1 10 _ _ 2 24 172 Kentucky Warbler 2 - 7 9 14 16 1 - 24 18 7 3 7 - 3 5 16 1 - 2 7 142 Mourning Warbler 1 1 Common Yellowthroat 309 36 72 21 170 233 11 11 493 195 20 66 68 1 113 72 78 147 6 78 92 2292 Yellow-breasted Chat 8 14 39 8 42 56 _ 3 58 25 _ 21 11 9 1 25 9 _ 19 2 350 Hooded Warbler 5 - 3 6 2 35 _ _ 46 38 8 7 15 _ _ _ _ _ 1 1 25 192 Wilson's Warbler 1 - - - 7 2 - - 8 9 - 1 28 Canada Warbler 31 3 1 - 13 3 - - 23 4 - - 1 - _ 1 3 2 _ _ _ 85 American Redstart 8 4 35 6 72 37 - 7 177 37 4 33 6 _ 2 5 3 1 3 9 25 474 House Sparrow 159 165 582 213 119 189 10 60 818 102 26 47 62 5 115 113 685 88 43 69 56 3726 Bobolink 269 120 100 1 339 728 - 100 2255 1214 260 74 1 150 50 133 154 41 _ 1 5' 5995 Eastern Meadowlark 53 48 99 85 47 64 5 18 92 20 7 38 31 3 22 58 109 81 2 30 50 962 Red-winged Blackbird 790 208 503 491 358 430 43 80 2470 399 97 219 195 35 449 383 1271 1116 26 177 335 10075 Orchard Oriole 1 5 12 1 31 4 _ 1 11 12 6 5 5 2 22 10 46 32 _ 7 3 216 Northern Oriole 76 61 160 34 100 56 3 12 184 40 4 4 2 _ 16. 23 30 6 1 3 19 834 Rusty Blackbird 2 - 1 - 5 - - - 8 - - 1 - - 1 - 1 - - - _ 19 Boat-tailed Crackle 15 1 61 218 295 Common Grackle 352 407 L259 575 574 534 35 35 1386 351 30 211 265 10 485 515 1645 908 121 338 467 10503 Brown-headed Cowbird 122 92 245 57 155 106 2 16 193 113 5 36 27 _ 79 46 147 60 4- 36 106 1647 Scarlet Tanager 39 36 91 29 90 66 4 7 129 85 5 28 25 _ 2 23 32 13 4 10 21 739 Summer Tanager - - - 1 2 3 - - 3 2 - _ 1 _ 1 _ 13 15 _ 1 9 51 Northern Cardinal \ 107 147 344 94 480 415 21 32 590 316 42 106 86 5 196 133 211 109 19 48 79 3580 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 24 l- - 19 47 10 - - 129 27 - 6 1 - 1 2 1 3 . 3 8 282 Blue Grosbeak - - 6 - 1 1 - _ 7 12 2 10 8 _ 9 15 63 16 _ 1 1 152 Indigo Bunting 81 108 107 24 137 76 5 8 135 76 4 49 71 - 14 22 31 23 2 _ 19 992 Evening Grosbeak 10 1 1 10 2 _ 8 32 ON VJ1 June 19TT MARYLAND BTRDLIFE ON Gar All Was Fre Mon How Crl Har Bal Ann Cal PrG Cha Cec Ken Que Car Dor Wic Som Wor Total Purple Finch 24 7 30 1 9 9 - - 9 89 House Finch 4 17 43 2 3 - - - 42 29 _ - _ - _ _ 2 _ _ _ ■ 2 144 American Goldfinch 501 369 322 211 430 328 40 30 803 249 6 66 31 50 80 95 160 45 5 15 26 3862 Red Crossbill 119 1 1 Rufous-sided Towhee 209 91 47 123 145 4 3 581 138 11 23 35 - 54 36 165 42 4 33 92 1955 Savannah Sparrow 4 6 / 6 3 5 34 - 2 31 31 - 3 - - - 4 9 28 - 22 6 194 Grasshopper Sparrow Henslow's Sparrow 1 - 39 4 11 21 3 6 12 15 2 18 4 - 1 12 21 8 - - 2 180 - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15 - - - 17 Sharp- tailed Sparrow - - - - - - - - - 5 - - - - - - - 3 - 8 30 46 Seaside Sparrow - - - - - - - - - 16 - - - - - - - 119 - 134 24 293 Vesper Sparrow 7 - 47 10 - 2 - - 3 2 - - - - - 4 4 - - - - 79 Northern Junco - _ - _ - 2 - - 5 - - - _ - _ _ _ _ _ _ - 7 American Tree Sparrow 3 3 Chipping Sparrow. 634 139 103 44 36 65 1 13 129 35 2 7 20 6 70 30 144 43 1 21 22 1565 Field Sparrow 248 36 72 33 105 85 18 19 88 81 3 32 14 - 29 40 115 2 - 15 14 1049 White-crowned Sparrow 145 25 57 2 16 21 - 2 42 14 - 6 - 2 7 6 3 2 2 - - 352 White- throated Sparrow 59 37 78 60 244 189 6 14 443 108 32 9 1 2 23 33 40 6 1 3 22 1410 Fox Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow 3 1 - - - - - - 2 6 - - - - 4 1 5 Swamp Sparrow 35 7 2 - 14 6 - 4 160 7 1 3 1 - - 1 2 - 2 - 6 251 Song Sparrow 203 133 131 74 168 154 32 6 467 109 12 34 5 2 20 41 42 16 ' 1 40 43 1733 TOTAL SPECIES 151 131 159 135 158 154 71 90 189 174 81 140 119 28 123 119 130 159 76 126 160 252 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS 8544 11001 10180 4547 5553 10337 587 46854 1166 19033 981 3635 3590 5220 10809 351 4860 6059 821 8571 3264 165963 TOTAL PARTY-HOURS 137 80 80*5 59 143 165 5 13 229 92*5 7 53 21*5 3 42 23 118 33 5 30 38 1377*6 Party-hours Walking 75 60 28*5 47 127 140*g 4 7 81*5 75*5 7 37 ■11*5 3 17 12 68 15 4 28 18 866*5 Party-hours Car 61 20 52 12 16 21 1 4 131*5 17 _ 11 10 - 25 11 47 18 1 2 6 466*5 Party-hours Boat 1 _ - - - 3*5 - 2 16 - - 5 - - - - _ _ _ 14 41*6 Party-hours Other 3 _ - _ - 3 TOTAL PARTY-MILES 509 218 614^ 218 254 265 14 36 488 270 5 178*6 179 1*5 149 205 450 202 21 65 143 4485*s Party-miles Walking 41 58 40*5 27 95 84*5 2 5 62. 68 5 38*5 9 1*3 19 10 29 4 1 20 9 629 Party-miles Car 463 160 573 191 159 173 12 30 414 202 - 115 170 - 130 195 409 198 20 45 112 3771 Party-miles Boat 5 _ _ _ _ 8 _ 1 12 _ _ 25 _ - _ - _ _ _ _ 22 73 Party-miles Other 12 _ - - ~ 12 NUMBER OF OBSERVERS 46 34 18 16 45 42 3 6 56 34 1 14 3 1 16 9 39 3 18 7 25 436 NUMBER OF PARTIES _ _ _ _ _ _ 2 2 27 _ 1 9 2 1 7 3 23 2 - 3 _ STARTING TIME 0300 0430 - - 0400 0430 0645 - 0000 - 0700 - 3515 0730 - 0515 - 0001 - 0200 0500 0001 STOPPING TIME 2200 2100 - - 2130 2200 0930 - 2300 1400 2000 1030 - 2100 - 2359 1900 1800 2359 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE June 1977 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 67 Frances Ehlers , Andrew Hauck, Elsie Hauck, Tim Heaps, Robert Herndon, Beverly Hotz, Kathy Klimkievicz, Anu Krishnamoorthy , Marcia Krishnamoorthy , V. Krishnamoorthy, Pat Laitala, Ann Llewellyn, Helen McKennon, Sybil McKennon, Dawn Morris, Don Morris, Marjorie Mount joy, Tom Moyer, Rosamond Munro, Lucille Peters, Dorothy Rauth, Fred Rhinelander, Nan Rhinelander, Sandra Rhinelander, Chandler Robbins, Eleanor Robbins, Stuart Robbins, Evelyn Roberts, Richard Roberts, Jo Solem, Jill Strickland, Mattie Teufel, Mark Wallace, Jack Whyte, Cathy Williamson, Leroy Williamson, Paul Zucker. CARROLL COUNTY (Crl). 3 observers. 6 : U 5 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Elmer and Jean Worthley, Jerry Newton. HARFORD COUNTY (Har). 6 observers. Doug and Linda 'Hackman , Rodney and Eleanor Jones, Ronald Orem, Janice Wisniewski. BALTIMORE COUNTY (Bal) . 56 observers. 12:01 a.m. to 11 p.m. ■ Sam Ake, Rick Blom, Ed Boyd, Martin Brazeau, Gladys H, Cole, Edith Conley, JoAnne S. Dreyer, Lou .and Madeline Ennis, Betsy and Bill Evett , Janet Ganter, Shirley Geddes , Rose Gerringer, William Gerringer, Marion Gl^.ss, Walter Greenhouse, Doug and Linda Hackman, Steve Hardiman, Lee Hoffman, Reid Huppman , Dr. and Mrs. J.D.H. Johnson, Pearce Johnson, Tom Judge, Peter Knight, Barbara Larrabee, Matt LeMotte, Bruce McClary, Bertie McGregor, Margaret Markham, Judy Masare, Midge Nelson, Jim Orgain, Patsy Perlman, Rick Perlman, Carroll and Catherine Pinckard, Ben Poscover, Benjie Poscover, Phyllis Ravesies, Mike Resch, Alan and Barbara Ross, Steve Sapperstein, Joe Schreiber, William S. Seegar, Marge Shipley, Eddie Slaughter, Jim Stasz, Charles Swift, Mrs. Leo J. Vollmer , F. Prescott Ward, Elmer and Jean Worthley, David Williams. ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY (Ann). 3*4 observers. Ron Amoss, William Anderson, Bill Battin, Charles Buchanan, Pat and Dick Chiles, Amelia Cochran, Bob Dwight, Ellen Gizzarelli, John Griener, Sally Henderson, Emily Joyce, Paul Kalka, Wayne Klockner , Bunny Knipp, Pat Lawrence, Sheryl Masiello, Scott Mele, Marg and Gene Morris, Ben Pagac , Helen Passano, Niles Primrose, Bryan Rogers, Bill Sladen, Joe Snyder, H.G. Stevenson, Sally Symington, Marianne, Evalyn and Tony Walch, Bob Walton, Hal Wierenga, Ava Wilbur. CALVERT COUNTY (Cal). 1 observer. 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. John H. Fales. PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY (PrG) . 1*4 observers. Stanley Anderson, Gary Hensler, Sam Lyon and h others, Elwood Martin, Robert M. Patterson, William Patterson, Susan Pearl , Chan Robbins, Noel Snyder, Michael Sorensen. CHARLES COUNTY (Cha). 3 observers. 5:15 a.m. to 8 p.m. Andrew R. Wilmot, George B. Wilmot, Leonard Teuber. CECIL COUNTY ( Cec ) . 1 observer. 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Mrs. Henry E. Roberts. KENT COUNTY (Ken). l6 observers. Arlene Delario, Tony Delario, Margaret Duncan, Chris Durham, Jimmy Gruber, Elizabeth Hudson, Lois Johnson, Dorothea McSorley, Dottie Mendinhall, Eddie Mendinhall , Effie Scheer, Winnie Suydam, Jim Terry, John Wheatley, Tad Wheatley, Pat Wilson. 68 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol . 33, No. 2 QUEEN ANNES COUNTY ( Que ) . 9 observers. 5:15 a.m. to 9 p.m. Doug Barnum, Gary Hambleton , Bill Hayes, Bob Hayes, Floyd Hayes, Robert Hayes, David Holmes, Clark Jeschke, Alan Smith. CAROLINE COUNTY (Car). 39 observers. Catherine Adams, Annabelle Bilbrough, Elsie Bilbrough, Irene Bilbrough, Winifred Bright, Margarethe Butenschoen, Elizabeth Cannon, Marie Dickie, Ethel Engle, Jeanette Eveland, A. J. Fletcher, Roberta Fletcher, Robin Fletcher, Donna Glime, Inez Glime, Marvin Hewitt, Alicia Knotts, Roberta Leggett, Margaret Margrey, Kathleen McKee, Kathy Ann McKee, Marianne Nuttle, Essie Pepper, Douglas Pyle, Elaine Robbins, Mary Robbins, Thomas Robbins, Charlene Schmick, Carol Scudder, Joan Scudder, L. T. Short, Dr. Christian Snyder, Isabel Todd, Michael Todd, Catherine Trice, V.E. Unger, Steve Westre, Irene Wheatley, David Wooters. DORCHESTER COUNTY (Dor). 3 observers. 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Henry T. Armi stead, Floyd L. Parks, Patricia Stagg. WICOMICO COUNTY (Wic). 18 observers. Ruth Devit , Cam Miller, Dave Saveikis, Charles and Gail Vaughn, and 13 members of the Brookline ( Mass . ) Bird Club. SOMERSET COUNTY (Som). 7+ observers. 2 a.m. to 7 p.m. Polly Batchelder, Ralph and Laura French, Charles F. Hills, Don Messersmith and class, Cam Miller, Martha Simpkins. WORCESTER COUNTY (Wor). 25 observers. 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. Peggy Bohanan, Mary 'and Lyman Bryan, Sam Dyke, Charlie and Jimmy Gant, Mary Humphreys, Doug Santoni, Charles and Gail Vaughn, Ann and Richard Wilder and 13 members of the Brookline Bird Club. 3033 Woodside Ave. , Parkville 2123^ * 1977 CONVENTION SUMMARY Charles Vaughn Ocean City and the Fenwick Inn again saw the arrival on May 6, 1977, of experienced as well as beginning birders to the 30th M.O.S. Annual Convention. As people picked up the program the usual indecisions began. How to choose from a selection of thirty-nine field trips? North Pocomoke Swamp, Shad Landing State Park (combined ' with Milburn Landing into new Pocomoke River State Park), canoe trips on the Pocomoke River, Chincoteague Refuge, Wallops Island, Va. — even an all-day boat trip to the Outer Continental shelf! The Friday evening speakers, George Reiger, Washington editor of Audubon , and Dorothy Valentine from Accomac , Virginia enlightened those who attended about the national political problem of oil spills and birds, and the more practical (?) problem of caring for the oiled birds. Later that night beginning birders, new to the Fenwick, puzzled over the strange loud sound emanating from the depths of the pine woods just be- hind the motel. Loud, triple phrased, and endlessly repetitive — even monotonous for those whose room windows opened to the rear. Rumors June 1977 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 69 spread that this vociferous vocalist vaunts his name in onomatopoetic phrases - chuck-will ' s-widow - chuck-will 1 s-widow - ... We turned in early. First trips of the morning started at b:30l After coffee and donuts we were off to the North Pocomoke Swamp to hear the "dawn chorus"; or over to West Ocean City for rails. Others — less adventuresome — waited for 7:15 to head for canoes on the Pocomoke River, or a leisurely trip through the Pocomoke State Forest, Wallops Island, Virginia, or Little Creek, Delaware. By 8:30 a.m. another group of trips was ready to start. Birders from the ; 30 a.m. trip gathered to share experiences, while some down- right casual souls actually slept through the early morning fun and just appeared. A second group was off to Wallops Island, birding along the way. They met the first group at noon and traded places at the island entrance. In this way two groups are able to share the excellent shore- birding on the island. Other 8:30 a.m. trips departed for Chincoteague , Irish Grove Sanc- tuary, or various less distant spots where beginning birders more lei- surely studied birds of the woods or swamps near Ocean City. At noon, most people returned to the Fenwick for lunch. Only the Wallops, Chincoteague, Irish Grove and Little Creek trips stayed away all day. Leaders from the morning trips called out their best finds so everyone could hear. Later, at dinner, we repeated the lists so those on the all-day trips could also hear. Half-day trips for the afternoon covered most of the morning areas again. Two new trips were added: a botany trip to the Pocomoke State Forest and a bird photography trip around Ocean City. By evening every- one was happy to return for dinner and relaxation. Summaries of the trips showed the usual spring parade of migrants heading north. Surprisingly common were Cerulean Warblers; often unrecorded on the convention, this species appeared in several different areas over the weekend. Not to be outdone by the birds, Kathy Klimkiewicz straggled in late with a tale of being stranded on Chincoteague for two hours at the end of her trip while firemen paraded by the bridge. Serendipity saved the day, however, by leading several cars of birders to Tom's Cove Campground where more than fifteen nests with young Yellow-crowned Night Herons were found. This episode onpe again demonstrates that a little extra time spent in a usually well known region can produce an unexpected bonus . Wallops Island produced the usual abundance of shorebirds. Beauti- ful close views of a Northern Phalarope, Stilt Sandpipers and a female Wilson's Plover were unique for the day; while Gull-billed Terns were a regular sight. Far offshore gannets were barely identifiable to those familiar with these graceful sailing and diving birds. A great surprise was a lone female Harlequin Duck puddling somewhat out-of-place near a wooden groin. TO MARYLAND BIRDLI FE Vol . 33, No. 2 After dinner came the only business event of the weekend — the Annual Convention. This’ lasted about an hour. At 9:00 p.m. the Board of Directors met to iron out overall Society problems and plan for the coming year. Sunday morning trips duplicate much of Saturday except that all trips, save one, end by lunch. The one exception is the boat trip to the Baltimore Canyon to search for pelagic species. At lunch, trip leaders gave highlights of their trips. The Sunday trip to Wallops is hectic. We leave at 7:15 a.m., travel 50 miles and come back by noon. Only special birds from the day before can be sought: first the Northern Phalarope and Stilt Sandpipers; then the Gull-billed Terns and the large pool of shorebirds including many knots, Whimbrel, yellowlegs, turnstones and various peeps; then on to the south end of the island where a Wilson's Plover and Harlequin Duck were seen. The birds were quickly found; then we returned for a quick stop at the large pool because one person wanted a better look at the Whimbrel. Everyone got out of the cars, and 'some set up scopes for a quick peek. But we must hurry; everyone jumped back in his cars except the leader and one couple. "Please confirm for my wife that this bird is a knot." O.K. A quick peek through the scope — a second peek — and disbelief. It's not a knot. A loud call from the leader "BREEDING PLUMAGE CURLEW SANDPIPER." A must Tor everyone. The cars emptied quickly and scopes were opened again. How could this bird have been overlooked before? Two groups yesterday and once earlier today. (The Curlew Sandpiper was seen several times for at least another week within 20 meters of where it was discov- ered.) Saturday groups must have missed it in their rush. Or perhaps we should applaud the independent wife who failed to acquiesce to male authority. After ten minutes of looking we were back in the cars with that feeling of fulfillment that leads one to the next trip with raised hopes . We arrived at the Fenwick barely in time for lunch. When trip leaders stood to give their trip highlights the Wallops trip once again held the limelight. The Curlew Sandpiper is a new species for any M.O.S. Convention — the only new one seen this year. After the trip highlights Chan Robbins read the checklist of species. If a species was seen someone called out. For the first time in many years we missed the American Bittern. The Red-headed Woodpecker also was missed — a real oversight in view of the fact that they are common in Virginia near Chincoteague . But many species often missed were seen. After the list was completed Chan counted a total of 22b species that had been seen, more than one species for each person registered. The Sunday morning count showed 190 people registered for the Convention. Although we anticipated the boat trip would add five or so new spe- cies, we found out later that the boat encountered rough weather and had to return before reaching the most productive waters for birds. Our list thus stood at 22b. 1306 Frederick Ave., Salisbury 2l801 June 1977 ' MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 71 MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING, MAY 14, 1977 The annual membership meeting of the Maryland Ornithological Society was held at the Fenwick Inn, Ocean City, Maryland on Saturday, May 1^ , 1977- The President, Lt . Col. William G. Bodenstein, called the session to order at 8:10 P.M. Speaking as Parliamentarian, Mr. Tucker pointed out that only 75 persons were present, 25 short of the 100 minimum re- quired for a quorum! It was established that the body could meet, but any official actions must be ratified at a later date in the presence of a quorum. A motion was introduced by Mr. Vaughn, seconded and passed, waiving reading of the Minutes of the last annual meeting. They’ were approved as printed in the June 1976 issue of Maryland Birdlife , distributed to all members. Treasurer's Report . Mr. MacGregor's complete report will be printed in this issue of Maryland Birdlife . At the close of the 1976-1977 season, total of all funds was $i+9 ,*+38.05, in contrast to $1+9,865.16 at the same time last year. However, the Society has completed payment on the Carey Run mortgage and has no debts. A $*+,000 interest-bearing bond was pur- chased from funds in the Helen Miller account; another for $3,000 had been purchased previously. In addition to the funds reported, checks were received from the Baltimore Chapter donating $500 to the Helen Miller Fund, $500 to the Sanctuary Fund, and $500 given in memory of Ono Lescure, a deceased mem- ber. The Anne Arundel Chapter would shortly turn over to the Society the sum of $5,1+00, with the proviso that a special sanctuary trust fund be established, the interest from which might be used for the maintenance of any sanctuary, the capital only for a sanctuary in Anne Arundel County. President Bodenstein accepted the Treasurer's report for the Society, and commended Mr. MacGregor for a job well done. President's Message . This year the Society had slightly more than 2,000 members. Although this represented a five percent drop in total membership,, eight of the fourteen individual chapters increased in numbers. President Bodenstein spoke of the successful effort which gained us tax exemption in all counties but Somerset. He commended those within the M.O.S. who worked so effectively to achieve this, and expressed the appreciation of the Society for others who helped immeasurably — Mrs. Judy Johnson of the Committee to Preserve Assateague Island, and Senators Steny H. Hoyer , James Clark, Jr., Homer White and Porter Hopkins. Standing Committees, Project Reports . Reports of the Bluebird Pro- ject, Auditing, Conservation Easement, Convention, Education, Library, Lon£ Range Planning, Research, Sanctuary and Scholarship Committees were pre- sented. They will be printed in their entireties in Maryland Birdlife . In order that Society members might be kept abreast of conservation issues, a chairman was being sought to fill the vacancy on the Conserva- tion Committee. 72 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol . 73, No. 2 Speaking as Chairman of the Publications Committee, Mr. Robbins re- ported that the next two issues of Maryland Blrdlife would be ready for the printer shortly. Work continued on a revised field list and a four- page checklist, to be available in the near future. Ad Hoc Committees . The brochure has been completed by Mr. Selckmann and printed at no cost to the Society. Mr. Hampe , first President of the M.O.S., asked that any information of value to the Historical Committee be submitted to him, so he may proceed with the task of writing the history of the Society. Election of Officers . Mr. Peters, Chairman of the Nominating Com- mittee, presented the following slate of officers for the 1977-1978 season: President, Lt . Col. William G. Bodenstein; First Vice President, Mr. Charles Vaughn; Second Vice President, Dr. Benjamin Poscover; Treasurer, Mr. W. Gordon MacGregor; Secretary, firs. Helen Ford. A motion was introduced by Mrs. Mendinhall , seconded and passed, re-electing these officers for another term. The names of Miss Kathleen Klimkiewicz. , Miss Nan Livingstone and Mr. Ray Bryan were presented to serve two-year terms on the Nominating Committee. Appointment of these three committee members was later con- firmed by the Board of Directors at their meeting which followed. Election of Trustees . The Secretary read the list of trustees nomi- nated by the individual chapters to serve for the 1977-1978 season (Chapter Presidents are indicated by an asterisk): ALLEGANY : Mr. Robert J. Hiegel*, Mrs. Robert J. Hiegel, Mr. John Willetts; ANNE ARUNDEL : Mr. James W. Cheevers*, Mr. John C. Ford, Jr., Dr. William Battin; BALTIMORE : Mr. John Cullom*, Mrs. C. Lockard Conley, Mrs. Martin G. Larrabee , Mrs. Raymond Geddes, Jr., Mrs. Edward A. Metcalf, Dr. Benjamin F. Poscover, Mr. Chan- dler S. Robbins, Mrs. Joshua Rowe, Dr. Alan Ross; CAROLINE : Mr. Thomas A. Robbins* , Mr. Steven Westre; DORCHESTER : Mr. Dale C. Price*, Mr. Milton Webster; FREDERICK : Mrs. Phyllis Hodge*, Mr. August Selckmann; HARFORD: Mr. Eldred Johnson*, Col. Leland Devore, Mr. John Wortman ; HOWARD : Mrs. Lucille Peters*, Dr, Robert Herndon; KENT : Mr. Floyd Parks*, Mrs. Edward Mendinhall; MONTGOMERY : Miss Claudia P. Wilds*, Mrs. Lola Oberman, Miss M. Kathleen Klimcievicz, Mr. Philip A. DuMont; PATUXENT : Mr. Paul Bystrak*, Mr. Danny Bystrak; TALBOT : Mr. G. Curtis Engel, Dr. Robert W. Trever, Mrs. Marian Delphey ; WASHINGTON : Mrs. Marlin Thurmond*, Mr. Edward Peters; WICOMICO : Mrs. Nancy Strahl* , Mrs. Lee Meinersmann. Following a motion by Mrs. Vaughn, duly seconded, the members approved these Trustees. New Business . Mr. Tucker announced that the new turn Suden Sanctuary was now available to all M.O.S. members. Special invitations were tendered to the Executive Council to hold its July meeting there, to all Eastern Shore members on June 25 and all Western Shore members on July 30. A letter containing detailed instructions was sent to all Chapter Presidents. At 9:10 P.M., the members approved Mr. -Keedy's motion for adjournment. Respectfully submitted, Helen M. Ford , Secretary June 1977 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 73 BLUEBIRD PROJECT ANNUAL REPORT At a recent meeting of the. Executive Council it was recommended that certain activities of MOS be designated as "Projects," each to be under the leadership of a project director. In accordance with this' recommendation ithe former MOS Bluebird Committee has now been redes- ignated as the MOS Bluebird Project. The project continues to be well integrated with the Audubon Naturalist Society’s bluebird project. Interest in the combined MOS-ANS project has continued to expand. For the 1976 nesting sea- son 83 collaborators maintained approximately 2,300 bluebird nesting boxes, nearly all in Maryland and Virginia. An estimated 5 ,065 young Eastern Bluebirds were ‘fledged from these boxes during the season, a new record for the project {Atlantic^ Naturalist 31: 160-162). The record-breaking severity of the past winter throughout most of the Eastern Bluebird's range may have substantially reduced the population of the species. A survey is being conducted by asking all bluebird trail operators to report how many of their nesting boxes were occupied by bluebirds for first broods this year compared with last year. This should provide some objective indication of the extent of bluebird losses during the winter in various areas. The Prince George's Beautification Committee has been active in promoting bluebird conservation throughout Prince George's County in recognition of the Eastern Bluebird as the official county bird. This recognition was based in part on the success of our project. Believing that widespread public participation is necessary to accomplish our goal of restoring the bluebird population, much of our effort has been devoted to publicizing the plight of the bluebird and offering nation-wide assistance and advice in bluebird conservation efforts. Articles on the subject have appeared in numerous newspapers during the year, including the ' New York Times . Monthly articles have been written for the Purple Martin News as well as several articles for the Audubon Naturalist News . Articles referring to our project have also appeared during the year in such diverse national distrib- uted periodicals as Defenders , Dynamic Maturity , Catholic Digest , and Science World. This publicity resulted in some 2,000 written requests for detailed information on bluebirds and how' they can be helped. A book "The Bluebird - How You Can Help Its Fight for Survival" by the project director was published during the year by Indiana University Press as a volume in the Audubon Naturalist Library. It may be obtained locally from the MOS Bookstore in Baltimore, the Audubon Book Shop in Washington and at various other book stores. An article based in part on our project will appear in the June 1977 issue of National Geographic. It will feature superb bluebird photog- raphy by MOS member Michael L. Smith. Lawrence Zeleny , Project Director MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol . 33, No. 2 74 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TREASURER MARYLAND ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY, INC. Fiscal Year Ending April 30, 1977 OPERATING FUND Fund Balance April 30, 1976 Receipts : Dues $7,499.00 Convention Income 730.85 Sale of Publications 42.14 Sale of Private Sanctuary Signs 348.20 Interest on Savings Acct. 417-96 Interest from Sanctuary Endowment 1,300.57 Amateur Gardeners Club, for Scholarship 325-00 Assistance on Mailing Permit (’Balt. Chapter) 20.00 $ 8,728.03 10,683.72 $19,411.75 Expenditures : MARYLAND BIRDLIFE, Printing & Mailing $1,527-50 Convention Expenses 533-50 Audubon Camp Scholarships 450.00 Exec. Secretary Compensation 3,200-95i Admin. & Office Expenses 729-84 Osprey Project Disbursements 225-00 Research Project 100.00 Affiliation Fees, Nat. Audubon, Md. Con. Cel. 75-00 Insurance, Liability 475*65 Utilities at Sanctuaries 398.09 Private Sanctuary Program . Signs & Postage 385-76 Sanctuary Property Maintenance & Expense 488.26 Property Insurance 348.00 Property Taxes 1,232.85 Legal Fees 100.00 Fund Balance April 30, 1977 10,270-40 $ 9,141.35 HELEN MILLER SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT FUND Fund Balance April 30, 1976 Receipts : Contributions Received Interest Earned, Dayton P. & L. Bonds Interest Earned on Savings Acct. Expenditures : Scholarship 7,124.19 $186.00 240.00 208.98 634.98 $7,759-17 350-00 Fund Balance April 30, 197.7 $7,409-17 June 1977 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 75 SANCTUARY FUND Fund Balance April 30, 1976 Receipts : Contributions, including Life Memberships Unrestricted For Carey Run Addition The turn Suden Sanctuary (Appr. Value) Interest on Savings Acct. $ 1,827.53 i406 . 25 , 000.00 502.69 Expenditures : Carey Run Mortgage (Final Pmt . ) Interest on Mortgage Capitalization of turn Suden Sanctuary Fund Balance April 30, 1977 $ 3,807.64 144.46 25,000-00 $ 9,512.94 27,736.69 $37,249.63 28 , 952.10 $ 8,297.53 Reconciliation of Accts. & Assets at End of Fiscal Year Fund Balances: Operating Fund Helen Miller Scholarship Endowment Fund Sanctuary Fund Sanctuary Endowment Fund $ 9,141.35 7,409-17 8,297.53 24,500.00 $49,348.05 Fund Assets : Checking Account, Md. Nat. Bank $ 403-90 Savings Account, Loyola Federal 17,338.56 T. Rowe Price Growth Stock Fund 9,500.00* Niagara Mohawk Power Co. Bonds (7.375%) 4,983.15* Gen. Telephone Co., S. E. Bonds (7.750%) 5,129-92* Ohio Bell Telephone Co. Bonds (7-875%) 4,987.81* Dayton Power & Light Co. Bonds (8.000%.) 3,012.67** Virginia Electric & Pwr. Bonds (8.625%) 3,992.04** * Sanctuary Endowment Fund Securities ** Helen Miller Scholarship Endowment Fund Securities (Securities are carried at cost) $49,348.05 SANCTUARY INVESTMENT Carey Run Mill Creek Irish Grove $48,021.95 14,446.86 84,779.20 Pelot Manderes Creek turn Suden $13,019-88 3,544.00 25 , 000.00 Sanctuaries are listed at cost (or at appraised value, if an outright gift) plus the cost of subsequent improvements. AUDITING COMMITTEE REPORT I have examined the financial records of the Maryland Ornithological Society for the year ending April 30, 1977- In my opinion the aforemen- tioned records accurately present the financial position of the Society. (Signed) Rodney B. Jones , Chairman 76 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 33, No. 2 CONSERVATION EASEMENT COMMITTEE REPORT The Conservation Easement Committee's "Guide for Prospective Donors" was printed in the June 1976 Maryland Birdlife. Since the publication of these "Guidelines" the Committee has been inactive as it has received no requests for information relating to Conservation Easements from either Society members or other landowners, nor has it received any referrals from the Maryland Environmental Trust. Julia A. Metcalf , Chairman EDUCATION COMMITTEE REPORT The Education Committee has completed the following activities: 1. Exchange of Chapter programs; 2. State-wide listers trip; 3. The selection of an "Outstanding Achievement in Ornithology." This first MOS award was presented to Edward Davis of Perry Hall Senior High School of Baltimore County, Maryland at the Twenty-second Balti- more Science Fair. Judging of projects, of which there were four, and the presentation of the award was by Joy Wheeler and Ben Poscover. Ed's project was "Weight Fluctuations During Winter Feeding in the Tree Sparrow." The award certificate was printed by Ed Peters and framed by Bix Wheeler. This was an excellent experience for us all and we are looking forward to expanding it. Activity to be completed: The Somerset County Breeding Bird Foray, Saturday, May 28-30. Reference was made to this in our Report of March 5 to the Board of Directors and a letter was sent to all members by Charles Vaughn who will lead and coordinate this effort. Ben Poscover , Chairman LIBRARY COMMITTEE REPORT The committee has continued to work on the following projects: 1. Preparing and sending sets of Maryland Birdlife to the following libraries: Washington College, Salisbury State, U.M.E.S., Mt . St. Marys, Catonsville, Columbia Union, Towson High School, and Franklin High School. 2. Organizing exchange journals at Cylburn. 3. Opening the Cylburn Library on Nov. 28, 1976 for a Library Day to introduce the new location of the journals. 1+ . Publication of a schedule for use of the Cylburn Library. 5. Exploring the idea of placing the MOS books in the Cylburn Hor- ticultural Library, but when finding that the books are Baltimore Chapter books, allowing Baltimore Chapter to take over that project. June 1977 MARYLAND BIRDLTFE 77 6. Requesting funds to carry out that project, bujt revising that request . ' 7. Receiving review copies of books from various publishers, review- ing them, and placing MOS bookplates in them for identification. ! 8. Completing sets of Maryland Birdlife for binding, for Carey Run, Irish Grove, and turn Suden Sanctuaries. 9. Planning to proceed with publishing an accession list of the MOS Library. 10. Receiving from Mr. August Selckmann book plates he designed for books belonging to MOS. Joy Wheeler , Chairman LONG RANGE PLANNING COMMITTEE REPORT As many of you will recall at last year's annual meeting the Long Range Planning Committee submitted a lengthy report containing 32 specific proposals for consideration as future goals of the MOS. This report was distributed to the new 1976-77 Board of Directors, and at the Board's fall meeting in October was accepted as a report to allow the President and Executive Council the option to recommend appropriate actions to fulfill those proposals which meet the Society's needs. Several of the points have been adopted through actions of the By-Laws Committee, i.e., those concerning the voting privileges of the officers and the status of ad hoc committees. Because of the load of regular business at the January Executive Council meeting there was not sufficient time to get involved in a general discussion of the specific long range proposals. At the March Board of Directors meeting the President requested that the various committee chairmen concerned with the various areas of the proposals report to the upcoming Executive Council in July. And this is the current status' of the future objectives put forth in 1976. We have no new proposals at this time. However, as Chairman I will continue to see that those proposals already before the Society remain in view for consideration. I also continue to solicit from any member of the Society ideas that might be appropriate for inclusion in the long range plan . s ■ James Cheepers , Chairman RESEARCH COMMITTEE REPORT In its first funded year of operation the Research Committee received three grant proposals and funded all three. Jan Reese (St. Michaels, Md. ) requested and received $225 to support his 1976 Osprey activities in Chesapeake Bay. His excellent work on behalf of the Osprey are well documented in the April 1977 issue of the Auk , with appropriate credit to MOS. 78 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE ■ Vol . 33, No. 2 Dan Boone (Funkstown, Md. ) requested and received $50 to continue field work on the Breeding Bird Atlas in Washington County, Maryland. Dr. Claudia Parker { Parsonburg , Md. ) is approved for a total 1977 expenditure of $225 to develop a Breeding Bird Atlas Project on a state- wide basis. Dr. Parker has received $50 to first investigate and recom- mend to the Research Committee a statewide grid system for use by all M.O.S. chapters in producing county atlases in their areas. She will receive the remaining $175 for work on producing maps and explanatory information to be sent to all chapters. A budget of $750 has been requested for 1978. We intend this year to expand advertizing grant availability to various ornithological jour- nals in addition to Maryland Birdlife . Charles. Vaughn , Chairman SANCTUARY COMMITTEE REPORT The Sanctuary Committee is pleased to report that during the year just ended title to the turn Suden property passed to our Society, and that with possession we are placing emphasis on its use as a teaching area. We are especially fortunate in the fact that it abuts a sizeable and most unusual natural area belonging to the School Board of Harford County. We have been able to work out an arrangement with that body whereby we utilize both properties for nature-study classes we conduct there for Harford County School children. The committee is glad to report progress toward the reinstatement of our property-tax exemption status. At the recent Legislative session, we received favorable action for all our sanctuaries except Irish Grove. This was achieved through the efforts of many members from the several chapters. We now must concentrate our efforts upon the job of convinc- ing the Somerset delegation of our right to tax exemption. Finally, our mortgage on the Carey Run property has been completely liquidated, and, with a hefty gift of funds from the Anne Arundel Chap- ter, our Sanctuary Fund is in excellent shape, as the Treasurer's report will show. V. E. Unger , Chairman SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE REPORT The Helen Miller Scholarship Committee has chosen the following winners of the three scholarships awarded annually for attendance at National Audubon Summer Workshops. Miss Robin L. Wightman, Director of Programs at the Neighborhood Service Center in Easton, Maryland, is winner of the Helen Miller Schol- arship and will be attending the Audubon Workshop in Maine. Mrs. Carole A. Keister, teacher at the Timonium Elementary School, is winnter of the scholarship sponsored by the Amateur Gardeners' Club of Baltimore’. She will be attending the Audubon Workshop in the West: June 1977 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 79 Mrs. Madeline C. Ennis, teacher at the Kenwood Senior High School in Baltimore, is winner of the MOS Scholarship. She will he attending the Audubon Ecology Workshop in ■ Connecticut . The winners were chosen from eleven very fine candidates sponsored by six different chapters of MOS. The committee wishes to express its appreciation to the various chapters for their efforts in finding candi- dates for these scholarships. We feel sure the winners will make excel- lent use of the knowledge they gain in attending the various Audubon Summer Workshops they have selected. Mildred E. Gebhard , Chairman ANNUAL REPORTS OF LOCAL CHAPTERS ALLEGANY CHAPTER Our chapter had a full year of activities including picnics, hikes and programs. Work days at Carey Run Sanctuary were most productive with many showing up to help. Grass was mowed and repairs made as needed. Mr. John Workmeister worked hard at getting Carey Run exempted .from taxes and as a recent letter states, we were successful! We featured speakers such -as Chan Robbins, Kathy Klimkiewicz, Danny Bystrak, Dr. Richard Johnson, and Paul Smith on birds, flowers and hawk migration. We participated in the Christmas Bird Count on December l8, 1976. One of our highlights was sponsorship of the Audubon Wildlife Film Series — five shows, to help us financially. A.C.C. has agreed to co- sponsor and we are using their auditorium for the programs. Our Nature Camp was most successful, thanks to Mr. 'Robert Hiegel and John Willet'ts and a staff consisting of Helen Brake, Harriett Williams, Mel Garland and Elyse Harmon. Part-time crew consisted of Rick Rando of the Allegany Soil Conservation Office, Mr. & Mrs. Dan Folk, Bill Richmond, Irene Kuykendall, Miss Alberta Dillon, Paul Nazelrod, Ann Smith, Dorothea Malec , Joy Wilner,'Earl Dennison and Deborah Layton. We had over 90 students from the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grades from our county and out of county who studied a variety of natural subjects, including birds , flowers, insects, archery, soils /"ecology , ferns, amphib- ians, etc. All left.^the camp tired, but happy and 'wanting to come back! Our counselors were recruited from colleges and high schools. With- out them, and our adult volunteer help, we couldn't have functioned. For Carey Run reservations contact Mr. or Mrs. Daniel Folk, 179 Pleasant St., Frostburg ( 689 - 6587 ) or Mr. or Mrs. Robert S. Heigel, 208 Forest Drive, LaVale (722-7^7). Kendrick Y. Hodgdon , President- 80 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol . 33, No. 2 ANNE ARUNDEL CHAPTER Our Chapter enjoyed a very full and active year. The program planning committee set to work early and had the 1976-77 program to the members by July. Field trips were held in the summer to catch the shorebird migration. The regular year was kicked off on August 28 with a potluck supper at the home of Captain and Mrs. J.E.M. Wood. Several charter members of the Chapter attended to reminisce. We were honored by having as our guests Mr. and Mrs. Duke Hampe, the first President of MOS; Mrs. Gladys Cole; and Mr. and Mrs. Chan Robbins. Commander Ed Wilson, the first President of Anne Arundel, was awarded the first chap- ter life membership at this affair. Seven monthly meetings were held from October to April with a total attendance of 3^3. The speakers to whom we are deeply indebted and their subjects were: Richard A. Rowlett "Sea Birds and Marine Mammals," Dr. Donald Lear "Environmental Study on Ocean Dumping," Paul Bystrak "MOS Sanctuaries," Dr. Lawrence Zeleny "Bluebirds," and Dr. Aelred Geis "Wild- life in an Urban Environment." Other meetings featured films from the Department of Natural Resources and members' favorite wildlife slides. The meeting at which Dr. Geis gave us an excellent talk on how man has affected birdlife in his developments enabled the Chapter to donate $101. each to the Sanctuary Fund and the Helen Miller Scholarship Fund. Chapter business was conducted at each meeting. The major resolution of the year was voted favorably in February. It transferred to the MOS a total of $5, ^72. U 5 , known as the Anne Arundel Sanctuary Fund. The re- solve enables the MOS to use the income from this endowment for the opera- tion, maintenance and expansion of all MOS sanctuaries while the principle remains reserved for exclusive use for such properties in Anne Arundel County. The resolution was accepted by the MOS Board of Directors in March and the funds were transferred in May. The most persistent item at meetings was keeping the members informed about various legislative bills to regain MOS tax exemption. House Bill 991 sponsored by Delegates Aiken, Neall and Smith and referring exclusively to our county passed easily. Senate Bill 200 granted the MOS statewide exemption except for local taxes in Somerset County. All Arundelites who helped in this effort are hereby thanked for their time and energy. Work was begun on Mandares Creek Sanctuary. Ellen Gizzarelli, Sanctuary Chairman, received, reviewed and implemented a plan for trails, bird observation blind, birdhouses and a sign. The plan and work were done by Steven T. Joyce, Boy Scout Troop 731, as an Eagle Scout project. Steve is a junior member of the Chapter. Field trips were the major portion of Anne Arundel activities. Thirty- one trips were scheduled. A- cumulative total of 329 persons spent about 250 hours, traveled 3,780 miles by car and 102 on foot, and saw 2^0 species of birds. Examining the individual reports, the most popular outings were the fall trip to Mandares Creek Sanctuary with sixteen observers led by Carol Swartz, and Sandy Point with Hal Wierenga and fifteen birders. The June 1977 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 81 best birding totals for half day, local trips were Ellen's Goodie in late May with 6h and 62 with Hal at Sandy Point in November. The best full day list of 85 species was reported by the Fords for Bombay Hook/ Port Mahon in late July, and the greatest weekend total was 107 at Brigantine/Cape May in early October. Under the excellent coordination of Professor Harold and Hal Wierenga the Anne Arundel Christmas Count had 6l observers. Totals of 1+5,837 birds of 105 species were recorded. Compilation of the May Count has not yet been completed. Twenty-seven Chapter members attended the MOS convention in Ocean City later in May. Press coverage of the Chapter was gratifying during the year. The local newspaper carried announcements of all Chapter events, and Fran Jaques covered two field trips and the Christmas Count in feature stories The December '76 issue of Annapolitan magazine contained a lengthy arti- cle on the history and purposes of the Chapter. In April a California condor named Duffy carried off Pat Flory, our Vice President-elect, to feed hummingbirds in Solona Beach. We shall all miss Pat very much. She was among our most active and loyal members and a good friend. ^ Thanks to my follow officers, our speakers, hostesses and field trip leaders we had a most successful and enjoyable year. James W. Cheevers , President BALTIMORE CHARTER This year we have been interested in statistics to^help provide justification for the sanctuary tax exemption problems. 'Since 4 the num- bers provided by chapter statistician Jim Emerson turned out to x be rather interesting I thought a statistical chapter report would be appropriate. The chapter membership as of May 5, 1977 was 715* This is the third year of reduced membership and the fact that the membership is still declining is a concern to all of us. The 76-77 Adult Programs consisted of 62 birding field trips, 5 come-as-you-are-teas , one covered dish supper, one social evening, 3 out of state bus trips, 7 Tuesday evening lectures and a beginners bird- watching class. The 62 field trips required 55 leaders and drew 88l participants. Attendance/ at the other events totaled 6UU . All of these activities were planned and executed by Program Committee Chairman Joy Wheeler and her committee and Diddy Zapf and her hospitality committee. Martha Schaffer, Barbara Ross, Kay Smith and h6 chapter volunteers provided 53 nature classes at Cylburn for approximately 1580 school children. In addition, about 680 junior members attended l4 Saturday programs and nature walks. 82 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol . 33, No. 2 Bob Wood along with -l4 adult and 7 junior leaders conducted a week- end Junior Nature Camp at King's Landing for 66 junior members. Over 8000 children visited the MOS museum at Cylburn. Mounted birds from the chapter's collection were loaned in groups of about 10 on 2h different occasions to schools and nature centers throughout the Baltimore area. Lansing Fulford with his four -man committee organized four Audubon film presentations at Dumbarton Jr. High School that dre,w an audience of 1823 people. The extension service under Don Jewell presented 11 birding lectures to various outside civic and religious groups to a total of 350 people. Barbara Larrabee and 11 other members provided hostesses for 13 "open house" Sundays at Cylburn. Doris Brumback kept the bird feeders at Cylburn filled with hundreds of pounds of bird seed. There were 930 calls to the MOS public information telephone at Shirley Geddes' house and 150 bird information exchange contacts to Rosalee Archer. Peggy Bohanan provided numerous rare bird sightings to the avid birders through her "Rare Bird Alert." There were 8 Audubon Nature Camp scholarship applicants sponsored by the chapter and two winners. Patsy Perlman, as Publicity Chairman, distributed 7800 folders and flyers advertising the Audubon Film series. There were also TV, radio, and newspaper releases about the other chapter activities. Jack Dawson did a feature article on the May Count. Conservation Chairman, Dave Thorndill, represented the chapter at U statewide conservation meetings and served as consultant to 3 Nature Centers . The MOS Bookstore under Bob Hurley provided books and other articles for sale at the four Audubon films, at the Ocean City convention and daily via the telephone and mail. Marion Butler edited 10 chapter news- letters. Marge Shipley printed and published the newsletters as well as junior program material. Rodney Jones, as Sanctuary representative, kept the chapter informed of sanctuary activities, particularly the new turn Suden Sanctuary. As you can see the Baltimore Chapter has had a full year, a lot of people were involved in producing our programs and a lot of other people participated in the activities. It has been a good year and we are looking forward to the next. John Cullom, President June 1977 " MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 83 CAROLINE COUNTY CHAPTER Our chapter's members enjoyed a program of monthly meetings and other activities, including a bird banding demonstration at Damsite, the Christmas Bird Count, a Clean-up Day at Pelot Sanctuary , -and -the State- wide Bird Count in May. Our speakers were Steve Westre, with an illustrated account of a canoe trip in Minnesota; Dr. Larry Zeleny, with a slide show on his work with bluebirds; John Burd, who gave a talk on Natural Population Control; Ed Unger's account of a trip to Alaska; Paul Bystrak, discussing Organic Gardening; and Chandler Robbins, telling about his trip to Africa. Thomas Robbins , President DORCHESTER HERITAGE BIRD CLUB Our chapter, sponsored by Dorchester Heritage, Inc., was organized in February 1975 and affiliated with MOS in April 1975. We meet at 8 p.m. on the second Friday of the month at the Main Building of the University of Maryland's Horn Point laboratory. During the past year we had several bird observation trips on land and by boat. We have had scientists from the University of Maryland and surround- ing areas who have spoken on Broad-winged Hawks in the Adirondacks, Wild Turkeys, Birds of Maryland, and Clear-cutting of Timber and how it affects wildlife of Dorchester County. Constance Unangst , Secretary FREDERICK CHAPTER The Frederick Chapter is pleased to report some increase in member- ship this year, probably due to the excellent programs that we have of- fered at our monthly meetings held from September through May. They are always open to the public and were well publicized in the local newspaper. In September, Dr. Kenneth Bromfield gave an extremely well organized, illustrated talk on the basic principles of ecology. In October, Dr. William Oberman treated us to the experience of a birding trip to the Big Bend area of Texas. We were privileged, in November, to share Carl Carl- son's adventures in "The High Arctic." Following our December annual dinner, served most lavishly by the ladies of the Methodist Church in Araby, we learned more about the exciting "Birds of Prey" from the best of experts, Chan Robbins. In January, a veterinarian member -of our Chapter, Dr. Herbert Amyx, gave us a, very practical talk on "Caring for Injured and Orphaned Wild Creatures." We had scheduled "Show and Tell" slides by members for the February meeting but, as bluebird slides and experiences, were to be a part of it. Dr. Zeleny and Michael Smith, the photographer for his National - . MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol . 33 , No. 2 Geographic article, surprised and pleased us by attending and sharing ' with us. Naturally, it turned into a Bluebird meeting and other slides were postponed until May. A re-activated interest in attracting blue- birds has resulted in many more nesting boxes being constructed and distributed. In March, we traveled far with Dr. Donald Messersmith to see "The Rarest Birds in the World" and in April we were given a very complete and helpful illustrated talk on "Spring Shorebird Identification" by Richard Rowlett. We were happy to share these last two programs with the stu- dents in the Hood College ornithology class. The generosity of our speakers in sharing their time, experiences and expertise with us has been highly appreciated. Birders truly are "the nicest people." Each meeting also included reports of our field trips, unusual bird sightings’ and news from our Conservation Chairman. Frederick County offers such a rich variety of habitats — with its fish ponds, rivers, mountains, cliffs, farmlands and woods — that all our field trips were taken nearby. Two trips a month were held during the fall and spring, with ,a mid-winter morning feeder watch followed by "lunch with the -birds." We participated in the Christmas and May Counts and several of our members were able to go on the Delmarva Listers Trip, which they enthusi- astically endorsed. Our annual family picnic ended a busy and satisfying year . Phyllis Hodge , President HARFORD i COUNTY CHAPTER The Harford Chapter had an enjoyable year. The dinner meetings, programs, field trips and other activities have brought the members closer together resulting in more individual interest and effort. The officers and. committeemen met at the beginning of the year and planned on a long-term basis. Some of the suggestions were implemented “this year and -hopefully the others will be accomplished later. Eleven field trips were taken in different counties, in Maryland and in Pennslyvania. Th^ trips were: Birding and a picnic supper at the Harford Glen, Patapsco River Valley, Hawk Mountain, Lake Aldred, Upper Reaches of the Chesapeake Bay, Bombay Hook, Birding at Brauns', Aberdeen Proving Ground, a'trip to the Devores', and Susquehanna State Park. The outstanding trip -was a three-hour bus trip through the Aberdeen Proving Grounds.: Participants traveled in restricted areas abounding in wildlife. The tour, conducted by the game warden of the area, was a rare treat . . An act ivity that created a lot of interest and made money for the organization was the public auction. Each member was given the opportunity June 1977 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 85 to participate by donating articles for sale and by taking an active part in the project. Many did. It was a success both financially and socially. The acquisition by the State of the tun Suden property as a sanctuary has encouraged the members to become more involved in sanc.tuaries . The location in Harford County, the accessibility of the property to. the mem- bers, the good birding environment, and the improved physical facilities, make it an ideal spot. Many of our members are frequent visitors and have accepted the responsibility for bird feeding and proper maintenance of the property. One individual made a contribution of $200.00 for the purchase of a stove for the building. The Chapter has purchased display cases and plans to make other contributions as needs arise. Some of our members took part in the Christmas Count and May Counts. Our membership is presently 123. the regular meetings. Approximately TO members attend ,s Eldred Johnson , President HOWARD COUNTY CHAPTER Members and friends .of the Howard County Chapter began the season in September with a slide lecture on marshes by President Bodenstein. Many of the subsequent monthly programs were given by 'chapter members. Examples are the "Clegg's Alaskan Adventure" and Steve Simon's "Birds at the Feeder." Steve's l6/mm movies of feeder birds were nothing short of fantastic. Bill Shirey, President of Frederick County Chapter, gave us an interesting lecture demonstration on reptiles. Field trips, usually two per month, were about equally divided be- tween local and more distant trips. Our traditional Washington's Birth- day 3-day trip to the lower Eastern Shore was a great success as usual. Also, we made an October shorebird trip to Brigantine and Cape May, New Jersey. Two new varieties of trips were held this year, a winter tree identification trip planned by 'Colin Munro and a fern walk in southern Howard County led by Jo Solem. This is the 5th year of the chapter's existence and in this time we have developed a'kind of personality or character. Some of the things that have evolved are a stable membership of around TO with at least half of the membership attending each meeting. Our extensive chapter news- letter usually includes several original articles by members as well as quizzes, almanac items, book reviews and the usual news of field trips and meetings. Also, our own slide shows which are given to various groups throughout the county have continued to improve as members have submitted better slides. The slide shows on^Shore Birds, Feeder Birds, and Winter Birds of Howard County and the new show on wild flowers have been very popular. Our annual spring indoor workshop at the Glen Elg Country School sponsored with the Patuxent Chapter was again well attended and included exhibits of wildlife arts and crafts as a new feature . Ben Dawson , President 86 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 33, No. 2 KENT COUNTY CHAPTER The Kent Chapter regretfully accepted the resignation in October, 1976, of Dr. Daniel Z. Gibson from the office of the Presidency because of failing health. An exciting event was the return of the magnificent mounted Bald Eagle to. Mrs. Dorothy Mendinhall's home and Banding Station, Damsite near Tolchester, Md. The eagle was found dead in nearby Quaker Neck last year by the Motter family. It was later determined that the bird had died naturally of pneumonia. The mounted mature eagle Is a spectacle to see! While our membership boasts a list of 80 persons, active partic- ipation is enjoyed by only an interested few. Outdoor activities included two field trips: one in November to Eastern Neck Wildlife Refuge where we surveyed a variety of waterfowl, and one on April 30 to the Millington Wildlife Management Area where we studied migrating warblers under our own capable Floyd Park's leadership. Four "special programs" featured experts from the field of wildlife and ornithology: On a rare visit away from his job as curator of the Museum of Natural History at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Daniel Gibson, Jr. (the fledgling founder of the Kent Chapter in 1957) pre- sented a delightful slide talk on September 22 on "Birds of Southwestern Alaska. Dan Jr. is active as a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, for whom he spends half of his time in the field. Dr. William Sladen of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation captivated the Chapter and guests on November 3 with an evening dinner-program presentation of slides and discussion (prior to his leaving for Siberia) on "Swan and Snow Geese Studies in Alaska, Siberia, and the Chesapeake Bay." Dr. Sladen honored us with a program on a previous occasion, and several of our members have become adoptive "parents" of swans in the Swan Research Program. Dr. Joseph Linduska, former director at the Remington Farms, biol- ogist with the Department of Interior, (presently working to "preserve the last wilderness frontier left in America") presented an outstanding slide-narration to us on March 2 on the proposed "New National Park, Wildlife Refuge and Wild and Scenic River areas in Alaska." Last of our special features were Dr. Heathcote Kimball and his wife Sabra, who presented to us their personally recorded warbler calls on tape together with marvelous slides of warblers. Dr. Kimball who photographs birds and his wife who paints them are exemplary of the hosts of personal talents that have' contributed to the field of ■ ornithology. • Birding on a more informal note was done at three "morning coffee watches" at th.e homes of Mrs.. . Helen Gibson , Mrs'. - Elizabeth- Hudson, and ■-Mrs. Margare£j31air-. These; get-togethers- provided genuine-’ , fellowship June 1977 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 87 for those who came to share tidbits of bird talk over tasty buns and coffee. The Christmas and Spring Counts were pursued by the regular enthusiasts and a few new people. As we continue into a new year and our 20th anniversary, our biggest challenge is to fill our ranks with new persons who might become as dedi- cated as our predecessors. We are hopeful that we can meet the challenge. Pat Wilson , President, pro tern MONTGOMERY COUNTY CHAPTER The Montgomery County Chapter had a lively year marked by increased participation in field trips, a vigorous program in bird banding, and a series of exceptionally interesting speakers at our monthly meetings. As usual the most successful of the field trips was the traditional Cape May weekend in late September, but turnouts were also good for a merry Thanksgiving trip to the Outer Banks and a late February Delmarva ' coastal weekend. One-day and half-day trips were rained out more often than seems fair, but two trips or so a month drew an average of eleven birders to such spots as Point of Rocks, Wagoner's Gap, Sandy Point, the Delaware refuges, and, by no means least, the National Zoo. Planning and promotion by an efficient pair of field trip chairmen, Minette McCul- lough and Lola Oberman, did much to reverse a long decline in attendance. The banding station at Adventure flourished under Margaret Donnald's leadership, with eleven banders and 26 assistants sharing the job of man- ning the nets daily during migration, giving 21 demonstrations to nearly 300 visitors, including a crew from WRC-TV and guests from as far away as Sweden, Holland, and England. Another 200 people dropped in on the banders on a less formal basis, indicating that this is the single organ- ized chapter activity providing pleasure and enlightenment to more members of the birding and general public than any other. Thanks to efforts by Kathy Klimkiewicz, our program chairman, we learned the subtleties of identifying fall warblers from Chan Robbins in September, the pleasures of listing from Dave Holmes and Floyd Murdoch in October, "Peregrines and Pesticides," covering the activities sup- ported by the Peregrine Fund from Prescott Ward in November, and the life history of the Purple Martin from Kathy herself in December. Our January Social was bumped from the usual third Thursday by Inauguration Day, but 88 members enjoyed each other's company and slides and the smooth-running feast chaired by Linda and Ken LaBorde. In February Wayne Klockner told us about the Survey of Areas of Critical Concern in Maryland, and in March Tom Custer discussed the breeding biology of the Lapland Longspur. Our two final programs were presentations by two of the chapter's finest photog- raphers, Bill Oberman on "Fauna and Flora of the Rockies" in April and Rich Rowlett on "Exploring and Birding the North Carolina Outer Banks" in May. Among many members making major contributions to the success of chap- ter activities, special credit is due to Bob Hahn for the latest ^of many... 88 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol . 33, No. 2 years' responsibility for the Youth Group and for editorship and produc- tion of the chapter newsletter, and to Helen Meleney for executing the tedious chore of preparing and maintaining the members' directory. Bill Oberman as always organized and compiled the Seneca Christmas Count, which was followed by a splendid Tally Rally provided by Mieke Mehlman. Evan Hannay took over co-ordination of the May Count this year. Both counts continued the tradition of thorough coverage and broad participation by the members that conscientious organization has yielded in the past. Claudia Wilds , President PATUXENT CHAPTER Business continued as usual during the past year. Probably the most significant change was the inauguration of a monthly newsletter, which has stimulated interest and increased attendance. Otherwise, we had eight scheduled meetings with lively speakers and an annual picnic in June. We wish to thank the following speakers who gave freely of their time and efforts: Dr. William Bodenstein, Dr. Bill Oberman, Dr. Donald Messersmith, Wayne Klockner, Luther Goldman, Rich Rowlett, Dr. David Farr and Floyd Murdoch and Dave Holmes. More people came to the February meeting to hear Luther Goldman than we have as members! Several field trips were scheduled and a few, including a stay at Carey Run, were quite successful. In addition, members participated exten- sively in activities such as the Christmas Counts, May Count, and Atlas projects . Paul Bystrak , President TALBOT COUNTY BIRD CLUB We held monthly meetings from September through April. Some of our outstanding programs were: "Birds of Paraquay and Brazil," and "Guate- mala: Land of the Maya and Quetzal" by one of our own members, Dr. Robert Trever; "Guess A Bird" by Dr. William G. Bodenstein, which was a lot of fun and humbled us a bit; "Seabirds and Marine Mammals off Ocean City" by Richard A. Rowlett; and "Fun and Games" which turned out to be a form of "It's Academic" — the two teams scored a tie. A series of five Audubon Wildlife Films was shown. Members participated in five fall and four spring breakfast hikes. We traveled to Hawk Mountain, Ocean City and Brigantine for our field trips. Our Christmas Count was held Dec. 19th with 101 species seen. One of our members, Robin Wightman, was selected for the Helen Miller Scholarship Award. Mrs. John W. Hopes , President WASHINGTON COUNTY CHAPTER The Washington County Chapter entered, its seventh year with member- ship having grown to 78 - June 1977 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 89 Meetings occur monthly, September through May, at the Emma K. Doub School and began this year with a lively program by Mildred Bender of the Conococheague Naturalists. She had a slide/tape program identifying birds by their sounds and this was followed by all the members taking a written quiz. 'Hooper Wolfe, author of "I Drove Mules on the C&O Canal" reminisced with slides about the canal. This was followed by our own Charlie Brightbill's program on his trip to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Maryland State Forester, Ron Ant ill, presented a film program on forestry practices in Maryland. The following month, our members own slide pro- gram, which has become a tradition, was interesting. Next Ken Gabler , Conococheague Naturalist, gave a program on an African Bird Safari. Ken and several friends, including our Genevieve Beck, made a recent trip to Africa. Truman Doyle presented the last program with more of his beauti- ful wildflowers, this time from Hawaii. Attendance at the monthly meet- ings is consistently good. Fourteen field trips were held with small but very enthusiastic turnouts. An auto trip to look for the season's "goodies" was the most successful field trip this year with over 30 birders participating. In October we were honored to host the Fall Trustees Meeting which was held in Hagerstown for the first time. Participation in the Christmas and May Counts is always good and continued to be so this year. A reporter from the local paper joined us this year and gave us a great full page write-up with pictures. Members are kept posted of unusual sightings in the monthly news- letter and, of course, our unofficial hot line is always operating. Some members are participating in the Washington County Breeding Bird Atlas under Daniel Boone's able direction. We have two more years to go on this and hopefully, participation will pick up. The chapter installed two birding displays at the Winch House at Dam tfk on the C&O Canal and at the local electric utility's office building. At least a dozen members maintain bluebird trails with boxes pro- vided by the chapter. Our year terminates in June with a picnic in the delightful back- yard, a beautiful wildlife habitat, of the Don Cutchalls. More accu- rately, we were rained out but had a most enjoyable picnic in the barn. Robert Keedy , President WICOMICO CHAPTER To celebrate our 10th anniversary, a dinner meeting was held for the first time and with such success that the dinner is to be repeated each year in November. Mrs. Ruth Denit, Secretary, did such a marvelous job of organizing the dinner that she was delegated to be in charge of 20 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol . 33, No. 2 this next dinner. To highlight the dinner program, Ed -Unger, who helped organize the chapter ten years ago, presented slides of his trip to the Arctic where he added 3^ birds to his life list. Our three main projects were again very successful with: (l) the sales booth at the Annual Atlantic Flyway Wildlife Carving and Arts Exhibit netting the chapter over $500 thanks to chairman Gail Vaughn and others, (2) the improvements to Irish Grove Sanctuary such as a new gate and painting of the screened picnic area thanks to chairman Bob Reynolds and others, and (3) the construction of 62 bluebird boxes from lumber salvaged from the landfill, thanks to chairman Bill Johnson and others. The chapter's Bluebird Trail in Somerset County consists of over 60 boxes, monitored by Bob Reynolds. Monthly meetings from September through May had a- field trip fol- lowing each meeting. Two of the meetings consisted of films, "Land of the Drowned River" and "Billion Dollar Marsh." In January, an inter- esting slide presentation of the Pocomoke River and Its Environment was given by Joe Fehrer of Snow Hill, Md. He is probably the person most versed on this river, one of Maryland's designated Scenic Rivers. He showed slides of the Oxbow, a section of the river that was cut off when the river was straightened by dragline some years ago. This presentation of the Pocomoke River was in preparation for a spring field trip by canoe and In quest of the Prothonotary Warbler. Our field trip was, of course, begun on the Oxbow near Whiton, Md. There were six canoes and 19 bird watchers including our experienced guide, Joe Fehrer. We canoed around the Oxbow which is a fantastic area for bird watching due to its openness rather than the tree canopy cover of the main river channel. Immediately after entering the area, we were welcomed by many songs of the Prothonotary, and during the trip, we must have heard and sighted hundreds of these beautiful yellow warblers . Recently, tfhat is locally known as the Weir has been opened suffi- ciently to allow small boats to travel to the lower section of the river. By a short portage from the Oxbow to the channel, we then traveled through the opened weir to the natural river channel below and thence to Porter's Crossing where we disembarked, making for a most enjoyable birdwatching trip of 7 hours duration. Mr. Fehrer has a rate schedule for guiding canoe trips down the Pocomoke. For old friends, new friends, environmentalists, artists, authors, teachers, students, clergy and conservationists the fee is "no charge." For oil and power company executives, lumber barons, realtors, speculators, and related types and some politicians the fee is $5000 per day. However, exceptions to the latter are negotiable. In line with our field trip along the chapter's Bluebird Trail in Somerset County, we were fortunate to have Dr. Larry Zeleny present his fascinating close-up slides of the bluebirds that he raised. The subsequent trip on April. 3 along our trail of_ some 60 boxes should have MARYLAND BIRD LIFE June 1977 2L turned up many birds but not one bluebird was sighted, much to the dis- appointment of everyone. It is feared that the cold winter 'may have hurt them. At the time of this writing, May l6, Bob Reynolds, who is in charge of the trail, has seen only one bluebird. During the summer of 1975 , our trail produced 10 fledglings, and in 1976, there were 25 fledglings. 'Unless there is a late migration, we won't have any fledg- lings this summer of ' 77 * A very beautiful slide show was given by our Vice President Randy Stadler of birds that he photographed while visiting Florida. The ex- cellent' composition of his pictures reminded us that Randy at one time was studying to be a wildlife .photographer . For anyone who would like to increase his life list by visiting Mex- ico, the man to see is Dr. Bill Standaert, Professor at Salisbury State. He and his wife, Eleanor, presented the chapter with slides and narration of where and how to birdwatch in Mexico. They spent three summers camp- ing in the three major areas of Mexico: East Coast, Mountains and West Coast. Their main emphasis was on being a healthy birdwatcher while visiting Mexico and that means buying only fresh fruits and eating out of cans they brought with them. They were never sick once. The Charlie Vaughns have been convinced that they must visit Mexico this summer. The chapter also participated in the Delmarva Listers Trip, Wicomico Christmas Count, May Count, M.O.S. Convention in Ocean City and the Irish Grove Breeding Bird Foray. ^ Maurice Davis , President ANNOUNCEMENTS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON COLOR-MARKED PURPLE MARTINS A large scale continent-wide Purple Martin color-marking project was initiated in 1977- Observers are asked to look for and report any color- marked (plastic leg bands and/or wing tags) Purple Martins. Please record the color of the bands or wing tags, which leg they are on, age and/or sex (if either is known), where and when observed, and whether the bird was in a roost, staging flock, migratory flock or at a nest site (scouting or nesting?). We are especially interested in the movements of young birds and their return to the parent colony or nearby colonies. All reports will be acknowledged and should be sent to Ms. Kathleen Klimkiewicz, Bird Banding Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland 20811. ANNOUNCING: FIELD LIST OF THE BIRDS OF MARYLAND by Chandler S. Robbins and Danny Bystrak Published April 1977 by M.O.S. 48 pp, 1 map This is a complete list of the 37 ^ Maryland species, with charts showing period of occurrence, extreme dates, relative abundance, egg dates, sections of the State where found, and preferred habitats. Both regular and casual breeding species are indicated. Space for recording 12 daily, monthly or yearly lists is provided. A map and brief descriptions of 50 choice birding areas are included. There is an index on the back cover. Price 60^ from M.O.S. Bookstore, Cylburn Mansion. 92 MAE Y LAND BIEDLIFE Vol . 33, No. 2 JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH, 1977 Chandler S. Robbins The historic winter of 1977 provided a dramatic change from the mild weather of the five previous years. Some of the more drastic effects of the hard freeze were described by various authors in the March 1977 issue of Maryland Birdlife. Others will be noted in the following pages. Mean January temperatures ranged from 12° below normal in central and eastern Maryland to 1 6 ° below normal in Garrett County. At Savage River Dam, tem- peratures remained below freezing for the entire month of January. Even at Friendship Airport there were only two days when the mercury rose above U0°. At Frostburg there were eleven January mornings with below-zero tem- peratures (extremes, -25° and 21°). The first real thaw of the year oc- curred on Feb. 10, when the temperature rose into the fifties over most of Maryland (but only 33° at Deep Creek Lake). It was not until Feb. 23 and 2h that temperatures stayed above freezing for two nights in a row over much of the State. Then for five successive days the mercury rock- eted into the low seventies in central Maryland and wiped our- the tem- perature deficit for the month. Anyone reviewing monthly mean tempera- tures for Maryland a few decades from now would conclude that February 1977 vas a perfectly normal month. In marked contrast to January and February, March was warm and pleasant, with a mean daily temperature ex- cess of 6° to 8°. Precipitation was decidedly below normal in January and February — for which we are most grateful because it would not have come in the form of rain. March rainfall was close to normal. We had hoped that we would reap a few side benefits from the unusu- ally heavy mortality of wintering birds. For example, with many song- birds failing to survive the winter at the northern fringes of their ranges there was some hope that observers would be able to detect the first arrivals from farther south of such species as the Belted King- fisher, Great Blue Heron, and Golden-crowned Kinglet. Although a few of the more astute observers did comment on the return of these species, most did not. One problem was that the mortality was so drastic that there were very few survivors left alive to be recorded. This was espe- cially true of the kinglets. -John Fales remarked that in his fifty years of birding this was the first time he failed to find kinglets during spring migration. Because this is the last of my 116 consecutive Season reports in Maryland Birdlife I wish to take the opportunity to express my sincere June 1977 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 93 thanks to the hundreds of observers who have contributed their observa- tions to this column over the past 30 years. Some observers and com- pilers must be singled out for the regularity and completeness of their reports, and I shall do this in the course of acknowledging contributions to the spring 'arrival date summary in Table 1: Garre tt County reports are meticulously compiled four times a year by Mrs. Frances Pope, who submits comments on almost every species as well as listing all arrival and departure dates. Alleg any County obser- vations ,come chiefly from Jim Paulus, Dottie Malec , and the banding sta- tions of John Willetts and Ken Hodgdon; most of these same members also report occasionally from Carey Run Sanctuary and elsewhere in eastern Garrett County. Washi ngton County notes come from Dan Boone, and from time to time from the Keedys , Cutchalls, and Mrs. Alice Mallonee. Fred- erick County records have been coming regularly from the pen of Dr. John Richards of Emmitsburg for over 25 years, supplemented from time to time by notes from Bill Shirey, Charley Mullican and a few others. Carro ll County is a newcomer to our table, thanks to a compilation from Eirik Blom, incorporating contributions from Steve Hardiman, James Stasz, Robert Ringler, James Orgain, and David Williams. Balt imore City and County have a small core of diligent reporters plus a large number of active observers who never bother to submit notes. The same few names occur repeatedly in these summaries: Peggy Bohanan, Gladys Cole, Janet Ganter, Haven Kolb, Marion Glass, and Joseph Schreiber some additional observations are gleaned from Baltimore Chapter field trip reports. ' Recent compilations by Rick Blom, including birds seen by the Carroll County crew plus the following members have greatly improved coverage of the Baltimore area: . Robert Augustine, Benton Basham, Eddie Boyd, John Cullom, Chuck Graham, Peter Knight, Mike Resch, Steven Sapper- stein, Ann Wilder, and John Wortman. Harfo rd County has never been a strong source of reports, but re- newed activity since acquisition of turn Suden Sanctuary has inspired coverage by JoeJ3chreiber , John Wortman, and Chuck Graham. Howa rd County receives regular coverage from Joanne Solem, Mark Wallace, Rosamond Munro and Dorothy Rairth, and less frequent correspondence from V. Krishnamoorthy , David Holmes, Stephen Simon, and Chan Robbins. Montg omery is one of the best worked counties, but one that is poorly reported. Mrs. Margaret Donnald, leader of the banding program at Adventure, submits the best compilation of Montgomery records. Robert Warfield of Germantown and Herbert Douglas are the other regular correspondents in that county. Paul Woodward of Reston, Va. , frequently sends in extensive Montgomery County records. Sam Droege, Danny Bystrak, Leonard Teuber , Paul Nistico, Elwood Martin, Herb Douglas, and 'Brooke Meanley are regular Prince Georges correspondents. The most detailed notes for Anne Arundel County come from Hal Wierenga; Danny Bystrak and Ellen Gizzarelli also report regularly from this county, and Mark Hoffman does also when he is not away at college. Table 1. Earliest Spring Arrival Dates, 1977 Median Species 5-yr 1977 Garr All e Wash Fred Carr Bal t Harf Howd Mont Pr.G Anne Chas Cal v Kent Caro Talb LES Red-necked Grebe _ _ 2/22 0 0 3/23 0 3/25 2/18 0 0 0 2/20 2/22 0 0 0 0 0 0 Horned Grebe 3/30 3/12 3/28 3/23 0 0 3/26 2/19 0 3/12 3/20 2/20 2/22 W 3/10 W 0 W W Pied-billed Grebe 3/23 3/18 3/19 3/18 3/21 4/ 1 3/20 2/17 3/19 3/12 3/ 1 2/26 3/17 3/15 4/ 3 3/17 0 -- — Great Blue Heron 3/18 3/15 3/21 -- 3/21 W -- 3/12 3/19 4/ 2 3/20 3/10 3/12 2/10 3/ 7 -- 3/15 -- — Cattle Egret 4/25 4/ 5 0 0 0 5/ 7 0 3/27 0 0 0 4/11 3/22 0 4/ 5 4/ 5 4/27 3/30 3/27 Whistling Swan 3/14 3/ 2 3/18 3/18 2/24 0 3/ 5 3/ 9 2/ 5 3/ 6 2/14 2/27 2/25 W 2/10 W 3/16 W W Canada Goose 3/12 2/27 2/13 3/18 0 3/12 2/27 2/20 W 2/20 2/27 2/12 2/24 2/24 3/ 2 W 3/31 W W Gadwall -- 3/ 3 0 0 0 0 3/ 6 2/11 3/12 2/ 6 0 3/ 1 3/ 5 0 0 0 0 0 W Common Pintail 3/ 8 2/27 0 0 3/12 3/ 9 3/ 3 2/26 2/25 0 3/ 1 -- 2/20 0 0 2/11 0 0 W Green-winqed Teal 3/22 3/ 6 3/19 0 2/24 5/ 3 3/26 3/ 2 3/19 0 3/ 1 3/ 3 2/13 0 0 3/ 8 -- -- W Blue-winged Teal 3/22 3/21 3/20 4/ 5 3/21 3/29 3/26 3/13 3/27 0 3/ 1 3/ 6 3/13 3/15 0 3/25 -- 0 4/ 3 American Wigeon 3/10 2/27 3/16 3/18 0 3/10 2/27 2/26 -- 3/12 2/14 2/27 2/11 W — 2/16 3/14 w W Northern Shoveler -- 3/17 4/13 3/18 0 0 2/27 3/27 0 0 3/16 2/17 0 4/ 7 0 2/14 0 0 — Wood Duck 3/10 2/27 3/11 4/ 4 2/23 3/ 9 3/ 5 2/25 2/27 -- 2/26 2/27 2/26 3/ 8 3/25 3/ 2 3/26 0 4/ 7 Redhead — 3/ 8 3/15 0 3/ 3 0 3/ 6 3/ 4 W 0 0 0 0 0 3/19 3/ 8 3/12 0 0 Ring-necked Duck 3/14 2/27 3/11 3/18 3/12 0 2/27 2/12 3/12 2/27 2/14 2/17 2/13 2/23 0 3/ 4 — 3/ 5 0 Carivasback -- 3/10 3/11 3/18 0 0 3/ 3 3/ 2 0 3/14 0 0 3/10 0 3/ 9 0 3/10 0 0 Lesser Scaup 3/14 3/ 9 3/15 3/23 2/12 n 3/28 2/26 0 0 3/ 3 0 W 0 W 0 — 0 0 Buffi ehead 3/12 3/16 3/14 3/18 0 5/ 7 3/ 7 3/11 W 3/18 0 0 W 0 3/19 0 3/12 0 W Oldsquaw -- 3/14 3/28 3/18 0 0 0 3/10 0 0 3/20 0 3/ 9 0 2/25 0 0 0 w Ruddy Duck -- -- 0 4/ 5 0 0 3/17 3/18 0 3/12 0 0 W 0 0 0 0 0 w Hooded Merganser -- 3/11 3/11 3/18 3/21 0 3/ 5 2/11 3/19 W W 3/ 5 0 — 2/28 2/23 3/23 0 3/26 Common Merganser -- 3/12 3/22 4/ 5 W 3/12 3/ 5 2/26 W -- 2/12 0 0 0 0 3/17 0 0 0 Red-breasted Merganser -- 3/16 3/14 3/18 0 0 3/ 5 3/17 0 0 2/14 4/12 3/14 0 4/ 9 0 0 0 W Sharp-shinned Hawk __ 3/11 — -- 3/21 -- 0 2/25 3/27 2/14 W W 3/11 -- 2/17 3/15 3/ 5 -- 4/ 8 Red- tailed Hawk -- 2/26 — W W W 2/28 3/ 6 W 2/26 W W 2/ 9. w 2/ 7 ' W W w W Northern Harrier w -- 2/12 2/20 2/26 — 0 -- W Osprey 3/27 3/29 4/16 0 0 3/29 0 4/ 4 0 " 4/16 4/ 2 3/11 3/10 3/ 1 4/ 9 3/15 3/ 9 4/ 2 3/26 American Kestrel -- 3/ 1 3/14 -- 3/21 W W 3/ 1 W 2/ 9 W 3/12 2/23 W 2/13 W W W W American Coot -- 3/10 3/17 3/18 3/21 3/29 3/ 5 3/11 3/ 1 0 2/26 3/ 9 2/20 -- 2/25 3/10 -- 3/20 W Killdeer 2/26 2/28 2/21 3/12 3/ 8 -- 2/24 2/12 3/12 3/ 5 2/24 2/27 2/11 -- 2/28 3/ 1 3/30 -- W ro MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Median Species 5-yr 1977 Garr Alle Wash Fred Carr Balt Harf Howd Mont Pr.G Anne Chas Cal v Kent Caro Talb LES American Woodcock 2/29 2/27 2/24 - 2/27 3/30 2/24 3/ 1 2/24 2/25 3/ 8 2/26 2/17 3/ 5 W Common Snipe 3/10 3/ 8 3/29 0 0 3/ 9 3/22 3/ 6 2/28 0 3/ 1 2/22 2/24 0 3/ 9 3/10 -- 0 W Greater Yellowlegs 4/ 1 3/24 5/ 2 -- -- 3/10 — 3/16 3/21 — 3/31 3/27 3/13 — 4/15 3/21 3/26 3/22 3/26 Ring-billed Gull 3/15 2/26 3/19 __ 2/24 3/ 9 2/27 2/17 W 2/13 2/12 2/27 W W 3/ 6 2/25 -- a W W Bonaparte's Gull — 3/19 3/18 3/18 0 0 3/20 3/12 0 3/27 0 3/29 2/22 0 0 0 0 0 3/26 Belted Kingfisher — 3/14 3/17 3/18 -- 3/29 - 3/12 W - 2/26 2/27 3/12 4/ 3 - Common Flicker. 3/18 3/18 3/28 3/18 -- 4/ 2 — 3/20 W 3/ 4 3/29 3/12 W w 3/ 1 2/24 W w w Eastern Phoebe 3/19 3/18 3/17 3/18 3/21 3/24 3/22 3/15 3/27 3/12 2/27 3/ 5 3/10 3/ 8 3/28 3/19 3/11 0 3/26 Tree Swallow 3/31 3/26 3/29 3/19 3/21 3/29 0 4/2 0 3/28 3/11 3/10 3/17 4/ 7 3/26 3/17 4/84/2 3/26 Barn Swallow 4/84/7 4/16 4/ 5 — 4/ 9 - 4/ 2 — — 4/ 2 3/27 4/10 4/ 7 3/29 4/94/74/24/7 Purple Martin 3/27 3/28 4/24 -- — 3/29 - 4/ 8 -- 3/17 4/ 3 3/21 3/30 — 3/28 3/17 3/14 3/29 3/20 Fish Crow 3/14 2/27 0 0 -- -- 2/24 2/27 w 2/21 — 2/27 2/13 3/ 1 3/93/2 -- W American Robin 2/23 2/11 3/ 2 -- 3/ 8 1/29 — 2/11 2/ 3 1/30 2/ 4 2/19 2/24 2/23 1/31 2/11 w w w Eastern Bluebird 2/25 3/ 5 3/12 -- W W 3/13/1 3/ 6 3/ 5 2/27 3/ 6' 2/24 — W 3/ 5 -- — 3/ 6 Golden-crowned Kinglet -- 0 0 0 0 0 3/12 0 3/19 0 3/19 3/31 0 0 0 0 0 0 Water Pipit — 3/ 9 3/19 0 0 4/ 9 0 3/17 0 0 3/63/9 2/11 0 0 2/11 -- 0 — Cedar Waxwing 2/25 2/26 -- -- 3/29 -- 3/ 6 2/25 3/13 2/26 2/19 2/ 5 — 2/23 W — 0 -- Pine Warbler 3/31 3/12 0 0 0 0 0 3/14 0 0 03/9 3/11 3/83/8 - 3/19 4/34/7 Red-winged Blackbird 2/22 2/23 3/ 3 -- 2/22 3/ 3 2/24 2/19 W 2/13 2/16 2/26 2/24 W 2/9 W W w w Rusty Blackbird 3/83/6 3/17 0 3/ 3 3/29 3/ 6 2/25 3/27 2/73/1 3/10 3/12 — 3/ 5 - Common Grackle 2/24 2/24 3/ 3 -- 2/24 2/23 2/27 2/11 W 2/ 2 2/24 2/12 2/24 2/24 2/21 2/15 W w w Brown-headed Cowbird 3/ 4 2/25 3/19 3/22 2/11 W 2/28 2/26 W 2/ 4 2/24 3/12 2/24 -- W 2/ 1 W w w Evening Grosbeak 2/22/7 3/ 2 w W 1/21 0 W W 2/7 W 1/ 8 W 0 0 0 -- 3/ 5 W Purple Finch 2/23 - 1/21 0 2/20 w 3/4 W 2/10 W 0 0 0 -- 0 W House Finch -- 3/ 2 2/23 w W W 0 3/16 w 2/25 2/14 3/27 W 0 0 U 3/ 7 W W Rufous-sided Towhee 3/18 3/24 3/19 3/31 3/31 -- — 3/12 w 3/20 3/15 3/27 — -- 3/30 3/13 W W 4/ 3 Savannah Sparrow 3/28 3/16 4/16 — — 4/ 9 2/28 3/16 4/19 3/15 — 3/27 2/13 -- 3/ 9 2/23 W — 4/ 8 Vesper Sparrow 3/30 4/12 5/ 7 - 4/12 -- - 3/16 0 0 0 4/3 0 -- 0 4/16 Northern Junco — 3/14 w w W W 2/28 w W W 3/12 W w 3/4 W w W W Chippinq Sparrow 3/31 3/26 -- -- 3/ 4 3/15 3/17 4/19 3/18 4/12 4/12 - 4/ 3 3/19 - 4/ 2 Fox Sparrow 3/ 4 2/26 3/63/43/8 2/25 3/ 6 2/24 2/26 2/14 — 2/26 2/13 0 2/28 0 2/25 0 W Song Sparrow 3/ 9 2/25 2/20 -- W W 3/ 5 2/24 w 2/26 W 2/10 W w 3/5 W W W W VO v/i June 1977 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 96 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol . 33, No. 2 Nearly all of the Calve rt County observations are submitted by John Fales of Plum Point. Char les County owes its place in the tables to the regular summaries from George Wilmot and Leonard Teuber, and occasional reports from Karen Miles. There are no regular observers in St. Marys, Cecil, or Queen Annes Counties. On the Eastern Shore, Kent records are gathered and summarized by Dorothy Mendinhall and Floyd Parks; Carol ine records are presently com- piled by Roberta Fletcher, but for many years had been collected by Alicia O'C. Knotts; a bound volume of Caroline quarterly summaries dating back to 1950 is on file in the bird library at Patuxent. Jerry and Roberta Fletcher, Mrs. Knotts, Marvin Hewitt, and Ethel Engle are the most regular contributors from Caroline County. Talbo t records come primarily from Jan Reese of St. Michaels and Henry Armistead of Bellevue. Armistead is the only regular reporter from Dorch ester County, and he also submits records from Some rset County; most of the other Somerset sightings are from visitors to Irish Grove Wildlife Sanctuary. Wicom ico County depends primarily on Charles and Gail Vaughn, Dave Saveikis and Randy Stadler. Worce ster , our only coastal county, is the most exciting birding county in Maryland. Robert Warfield regularly submits careful notes each summer, and Richard Rowlett reports his coastal and off-shore observations in great detail. Mary Humphreys , Peggy Bohanan, Eddie Slaughter, Paul DuMont, and Mark Hoffman contribute notes from time to time, but I fear many of the coastal sightings go unrecorded — except during the MOS Convention weekend each May. Loons and Grebes . Loons as well as other water birds were frozen out of the upper Chesapeake from early January until the last week of February. The first 2 Common Loons that appeared at Rocky Point Park, Baltimore, on Feb. 26 were either wandering birds or individuals return- ing to feed in areas from which the ice had driven them (Rick Blom) . The first true migrants were found at Deep Creek Lake on Mar. 21 (Mrs. Cook), in Dorchester County on Mar. 26 (Harry Armistead), and at Sandy Point State Park on Mar. 27 (Hal Wierenga). The discovery of 2 Red- necked Grebes at Hawkins Point, Baltimore on Feb. l8 by Jim Stasz imme- diately triggered a search in other open-water areas for this elusive species. On Feb. 19 Messrs. Stasz, Blom, Ringler, Resch, and others combed the Baltimore Harbor and Back and Middle River areas and discov- ered 12 different birds; Blom estimated that at least 26 different indi- viduals had been seen in the Baltimore area by the end of March. On the Potomac River between Oxon Hill and Fort Washington Leonard Teuber found up to 5 Red-necked Grebes from Feb. 20 to Mar. lU. In the Annapolis area the first Red-neck was found at Sandy Point on the same day as the first Horned Grebe, Feb. 22 (Wierenga), and the highest Red-neck tally for the county was 3 birds in the South River on Mar. 7 (Tibbie Steven- son, Scott Mele, Danny Bystrak, and Hal Wierenga). There were few re- ports of Red-necked Grebes away from tidewater — probably largely because reservoirs remained frozen so late in the season — but at Piney Run Reser- voir in Carroll County Rick Blom found 2 Red-necks on Mar. 25, one of which remained until the next day. Another was seen at Loch Raven on Mar. 31 (Michael Resch). The origin of midwinter and early spring inva- sions of Red-necked Grebes into our area every 10 or 20 years has not .Tune 1977 MARYLAND BIRDUFE 97 been satisfactorily explained, but I suspect they are birds that normally winter offshore in the Great Lakes and that it is only in exceptionally cold winters that they migrate south. Horned Grebes were among the spe- cies frozen out of their usual winter haunts in the Maryland bays. Re- turning birds were noted in tidewater on Feb. 20 at Oxon Hill (Teuber) and Feb. 22 at Sandy Point (Wierenga), and farther inland at Seneca on Mar. 20 (Robert Warfield), Allegany County on Mar. 23 (Dorothea Malec), Carroll County on Mar. 26 (Mike Resch) , and Broadford Reservoir near Mountain Lake Park on Mar. 28 (8 birds by Fran Pope). A very few Pied- billed Grebes returned to Maryland in February; it was not until mid- March that they became generally distributed. Pelican and Cormorants . A Brown Pelican seen at Assateague Island on Jan. 27 hy Mary Humphreys was the first winter sighting for Maryland. The only cormorants reported from Maryland during the three-month period were 9 Great Cormorants on the Point Lookout Christmas Count, Jan. 2, and a low count of Doubl e-crested Cormorants at Hoopers Island on Mar. 26 (Armistead and Jared Sparks). Herons and Ibis . The last inland heron sighted was a Great Blue in Frederick County on Jan. 21 (Charles Mullican). The only herons of any species reported from anywhere in the State In February were 5 Great Blues flying toward the big Nanjemoy Creek heronry in Charles County on Feb. 10 (Karen Miles). Returning Great Blues in other counties are well documented in Table 1. The general scarcity of Great Blue Herons even after the thaw is reflected in Mike Resch' s comment that he saw only one Great Blue at Loch Raven in the three-month period. Cattle Egrets ar- rived in four Coastal Plain counties in late March, with the earliest arrival at Sandy Point State Park on Mar. 22 (Hal Wierenga). Great Egrets turned up first at their Barren Island nesting colony in Dorches- ter County, where Armistead and Sparks counted 6 birds on Mar. 26. Three days later an early bird reached Frederick County (Charles Mullican), and on the 30th there was one in Talbot County (Kathy Riddle). A Yellow- crowned Night Heron returned to Lake Roland in Baltimore County during the heat wave on Mar . 28 , breaking the State arrival record by three days; Steve SapperStein watched it feeding on earthworms with a flock of robins in the picnic area. Single American Bitterns that attempted to winter in tidewater Maryland were last seen In early January; one in the Chop- tank River marsh at Tanyard in Caroline County was last found on Jan. 5 (Mrs. Ethel Engle), and one at frozen Sandy Point State Park could not be found after Jan. 8 (Wierenga). The first spring arrival noted was at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center on Mar. 30 (Elvood Martin). The only Glossy Ibis for March was one at Sandy Point on the 27th (Wierenga). Swans . Whistling Swans reappeared gradually in their normal win- tering areas in tidewater Maryland as the ice receded; Floyd Parks noted the first birds with numbered North Carolina neck collars in Kent County on Feb. 11. The first inland sightings were at Hughes Hollow near Seneca in Montgomery County on Feb. ll+ (Paul Woodward) and in Washington County on Feb. 2h (Bob and Mary Keedy). Both Whistling and Mute Swans were found on Piney Run Reservoir in Carroll County on Mar. 5 (Rick Blom). 98 MARYLAND BIRDLIFB Vol . 33, No. 2 The major migratory movement of Whistling Swans out of Maryland occurred during the period Mar. 10-18, with a final heavy flight over Annapolis (Hal Wierenga) and Bowie (Bob Nalley) on the night of Mar. 27. During the 3-day period of Mar. 10-12, Baltimore observers recorded a total of 1,900 migrants. Geese . Canada Geese were on the move earlier than usual (see Table 1). An extraordinarily early individual that dropped into a motel parking lot near Deep Creek Lake in Garrett County on Feb. 13 was fed and remained in the area as late as Mar. 7 — when, according to Fran Pope, it resisted capture attempts by wildlife officers! The first big flights to go north past Sandy Point State Park were on Feb. 2h (an estimated 1,000 birds) and Feb. 27 (1,500 birds — Hal Wierenga). A flock of 70 over Germantown on Feb. 27 provided Robert Warfield's first February observa- tion for that area of Montgomery County; a large flock passed over down- town Baltimore on the same day (Peggy Bohanan). Snow Goose arrivals were reported as follows: a flock of 11 iflying northwest over Cockeysville on the very early date of Feb. 7 (Blom) ; first arrivals in Kent County on Feb. 11 and large mixed flocks of white and blue phases there on Feb. l8 (Floyd Parks); and 3 white birds at Sandy Point State Park on Mar. 28 (Wierenga) . Ducks . Table 1 contains more waterfowl arrival dates than usual because ice had driven most wintering birds out of their normal Maryland haunts. Many ducks that had attempted to winter met with disaster; Hal Wierenga observed gulls feeding on large numbers of carcases of diving ducks frozen in the ice off Sandy Point. Blom and others found at least 21 species of waterfowl (swans, geese, and ducks) in Baltimore County and 20 at Piney Run Reservoir in Carroll County during the period. Far- ther west, Dorothea Malec reported arrival dates for 15 species of water- fowl in Allegany County; and, if we include a few April birds, Fran Pope found 19 species in Garrett County — primarily on Broadford Reservoir and the nearby Mountain Lake sewage lagoons, at Deep Creek Lake, and at Herrington Manor. Among 23 species of waterfowl seen in Dorchester County on Mar. 26 by Harry Armistead and Jared Sparks were 350 Surf Scoters. At Ocean City inlet King and Common Eiders reached peak counts of 2 each on Feb. 6 (Wierenga) and there were 2 Harlequin Ducks on Jan. 22 (Bob Ringler) and Feb. 6 (Wierenga). Vultures and Hawks . Turkey and Black Vultures vacated most of northern and central Maryland during the deep freeze. Mike Resch ob- served that the Loch Raven roost, which contained 35 Black Vul cures the previous winter, was empty this year until the end of March. The first 3 Turkey Vultures returned to Sandy Point on Feb. 20 (Wierenga), and 1 went over Mountain Lake Park on Mar. 3 (Mrs. Pope). Just before sunset on Mar. 6 Bob and Mary Keedy sighted a "kettle" of Turkey and Black Vultures over the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry; numbers were not giv- en, but Turkeys exceeded Blacks. Resch saw a Northern Goshawk over his Parkville home on Feb. 27. Single Golden Eagles were seen in Talbot Cournty, (Feb. 5, Jan Reese and Kathy Riddle), Kent County (Mar. 28, Parks), and at Blackwater Refuge (Feb. 6, Wierenga). One of the male Peregrine Falcons raised at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology was June 1977 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 99 recognized by its orange wing tag at Sandy Point State Park on Jan. 6 and 27 (Wierenga). An unmarked Peregrine was studied at the South Baltimore Landfill on Jan. 19 (Jim Stasz and Resch) and Feb. 26 (Ringler) First arrival dates for spring migrant hawks were: Sharp-Shinned Hawk in Baltimore County on Feb. 25 and Cooper's Hawk there on Mar. 10 (Blom), Osprey building at Rock Point in Charles County on Mar. 1 (Michael Smith) Red-Shouldered Hawk along Snaggy Mountain Road in Garrett County on Mar. lk (Mrs. Pope), and the following arrival dates at Sandy Point State Park: Red-tailed Hawk on Feb. 9 (^ birds), Red-shouldered on Feb. 19, Rough-legged Hawk on March 29 , Bald Eagle on Mar. 3 (2 birds), Northern Harrier on Feb. 20, and American Kestrel on Feb. 23 (all by Hal Wierenga) Gallinaceous Birds . Maryland Wildlife Administration personnel reported to Fran Pope that Ruffed Grouse in western Maryland fared well despite the severe winter, but Wild Turkey losses were high. Bobwhite mortality was high in all areas west of the Chesapeake; Mike Resch found no Common Bobwhites at all in the Loch Raven area. Rails and Gallinules . Rails were among the birds hardest hit by the brutal winter. Ethel Engle had a Virginia Rail at Tanyard on Jan. 6 and Ranney Bunnell had one feeding along frozen Harris Creek at his home near Wittman in Talbot County through Jan. 13. Even though 13 Virginia Rails and 3 Soras had remained for the Annapolis Christmas Count, Dec. 26, repeated efforts by Hal Wierenga to locate some in January, February, and March failed. Harry Armistead dubbed this the worst railing spring of his experience for all species except possibly the King; 6 Virginias that he found at Hoopers Island on Mar . 26 are considered fresh arrivals , from farther south, establishing an early arrival date for Maryland. A Common Gallinule found at West Ocean City on Jan. 28 by Mary Humphreys would be noteworthy in a normal year and was truly remarkable for the present season. Oystercatchers . On Mar. 18 Hal Wierenga established several records when he discovered an American Oystercatcher at Sandy Point State Park. It was not only "the first of the year for Maryland, but the first ever for Anne Arundel County and for Sandy Point, bringing to 38_ species the number of shorebird species identified at the Park in the past two years! That will be a difficult record to break anywhere. in the State. This sighting also constitutes the northernmost observation for Maryland and probably the farthest from the coast of any North American record. An- other early oystercatcher was seen flying up the east shore of Chesapeake Bay at Hoopers Island on Mar. 26 , the second record for that area and the earliest Dorchester County sighting by about two months (Armistead). Plovers . In a normal year only a few observers are able to detect the first arrivals of Kill deers because of the problem of distinguishing spring migrants from wintering individuals. This year, however, very few Killdeers survived the critical January weather in Maryland and the earliest spring migrants were easily detected. The first birds came in with the first thaw, Feb. 11-12 in Anne Arundel and Baltimore Counties, and on Feb. 21 Sheila Hughes found one near Grant sville in Garrett County. On Mar. 13 Hal Wierenga watched a Lesser Golden Plover while 100 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol . 33, No. 2 it flew around' over Sandy Point State Park for ten minutes, calling loudly; this species is only casual in Maryland in spring, and the date is not only the earliest for Maryland, but one of the earliest for the United States. Bent (USNM Bull. 1 16, 1927 ) cited only one earlier rec- ord east of the Appalachians. Sandpipers . ■ Eight species of sandpipers arrived in non-coastal areas of Maryland in February or March (no Am. Woodcock reached Maryland in January this year). Greater and Lesser YellowlegS were first seen in Frederick County, Mar. 10 (Charles Mullican). The first American Wood- cock noted were in Kent County on Feb. 17 (Floyd Parks), and the first Common Snipe reported were on Feb. 22 at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Prince Georges County near Laurel (Danny Bystrak). The high count for snipe was of 66 birds in Baltimore's Northeast Creek on Mar. 26 (Bob Ringler). Twenty Sanderlings were on Barren Island, off Honga in Dorchester County on Mar. 26 (Armistead and Sparks). The only March Least Sandpiper turned up in Frederick County on the 29th (Mullican). A very early Pectoral Sandpiper arrived in Oxon Hill on Mar. 9 (Leonard Teuber and Claudia Wilds) and 6 were in the Back River area on Mar. 19 (Ringler). Two Dunlins were at Sandy Point State Park on Jan. k and Jan. 6, but were not found subsequently (Wierenga); the next date sub- mitted was Mar. 26 from Dorchester County (Armistead and Sparks). A possible Stilt Sandpiper reported on Mar. 21 is so far out of season for a casual spring transient that the description supplied by a single ob- server is not convincing; Bent (USNM Bull. lU2 , 1927) gives no East Coast arrivals earlier than May except for Florida. Gulls . The January freeze created phenomenal concentrations of gulls in upper Chesapeake Bay. On Jan. L Hal Wierenga estimated 10,000 gulls on the ice off Sandy Point, and the number grew to 20,000, Jan. 8- 9; these were mostly Herring and Ring-billed Gulls. The Sandy Point con- centration declined thereafter and possibly contributed heavily to the February gatherings in the Baltimore Inner Harbor and at Back River. Details of the unprecedented invasion of gulls in the Baltimore area will appear as a separate paper by Jim Stasz and Rick Blom; suffice it to say for now that all rarities reported elsewhere in the State were also seen in Baltimore during this period. Single second-year Glaucous Gulls were seen at Sandy Point on Jan. 9, at Ocean City inlet on Jan. 22 (many ob- servers) and Feb. 6 (Wierenga), and at West Ocean City on Feb. 6 (Wierenga) ; another Glaucous was at Conowingo Dam, Harford County, on Mar. 7 (Chuck Graham). Iceland Gulls were identified at Conowingo Dam on Jan. 8 (Graham and John Wortman) and at Sandy Point on Jan. 8-9 (1st winter plumage) and Mar. 13 (2nd winter — all by Wierenga). Greater Black-backed Gulls reached a peak of 300 at Sandy Point on Jan. 8 (Wierenga). Ring-billed Gulls began moving inland on Feb. 12-13, and by the end of that month had been seen by most observers ; they were not found in Garrett County, however, until Mar. 19 when Fran Pope sighted k at Deep Creek Lake. The first 10 Laughing Gulls reached Sandy Point on Mar. 18 (Wierenga) , immediately followed by others in Baltimore on the 19th (Ringler and others) and Dorchester County on the 20th (Kathy Riddle and Jan Reese). The large numbers of Bonaparte's Gulls in Chesa- peake Bay may reflect the severity of the winter weather 01 the Great June 1977 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 101 Lakes. Hal Wierenga noted his first Bony of the season at Sandy Point on Feh. 22, hut it was not until mid-March that large concentrations moved up the Bay and into inland areas. Hal counted 50U birds flying north at Sandy Point on Mar. -13 and 575 on the l 8 th; on the latter date they also reached Allegany (Dorothea Malec) and Garrett Counties (Mrs. Pope). A Black-headed Gull approaching breeding plumage was found in Baltimore Harbor near South Baltimore General Hospital on Feb. 12 (Graham and Wortman). Owls . A completely white Snowy Owl was approached as close as 50 yards at Churchville on Jan. 31 (Graham); this was the only confirmed sighting of the species in Maryland this winter. A red phase Screech Owl survived until at least Feb. 11 in a barn near Deep Creek Lake, but was found dead on Mar. 19 (Fran Pope). On Jan. 13 Jan Reese flushed a Long- eared Owl from a mature hemlock-spruce thicket on the grounds of the University of Maryland Environmental Center at Horn Point west of Cam- bridge; he reported that it was still there the following week. The two Long-ears that wintered at Sandy Point State Park were last viewed on Mar. 19 and Mar. 27 (Wierenga). According to Mr. Wierenga the northward migration of Barn Owls over Annapolis began on Mar. 3 (2 birds) and reached a peak of 29 birds in 2^ hours (9:30p.m. to midnight) on Mar. 15; the owls, calling in flight, were going over at a fairly constant rate of about 12 per hour. Up in Garrett County Fran Pope heard the first Barn Owl on Mar. 19 at Oakland. Whip-poor-will , Hummingbird . On Mar. 29 Mrs. Ellen Gizzarelli heard a Whip-poor-will calling constantly for 15 minutes at Odenton — one of the few March arrivals for Maryland. Chuck Graham reported that a female hummingbird, presumably Ruby- throated , tried to fly into his greenhouse at Aberdeen on Mar . 27 , six days ahead of the earliest Maryland record. Kingfishers , Woodpeckers . Belted Kingfishers disappeared from most of their normal haunts during the deep freeze of January and early Feb- ruary. In most areas they did not reappear until mid-March, when within less than a week they arrived on breeding grounds throughout central, and western Maryland. Their numbers, however, were noticeably below normal. Two hardy Red-headed Woodpeckers survived the winter near Gortner in Garrett County (Mrs. Pope). An early migrant was at the Patuxent Wild- life Research Center on Mar. 5 (Elwood Martin). Phoebes , Swallows . The Eastern Phoebe was one of the birds hard hit by the prolonged sub-freezing weather. The last one reported in January was seen on the '22nd at Douglas Point in southern Charles County (Calvert Posey, Karen Miles, and others). The only February sighting was on the 27th in Montgomery County (Herbert Douglas). Although there were several early arrivals in the period March 5 (at Seneca by Warfield) to Mar. 12, and one reached Mountain Lake on Mar. 17 (Fran Pope), several contributors remarked on the general scarcity of this species and their inability to find any until the very end of March. Very early Tree Swallows arrived at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center on Mar. 10 (Danny Bystrak) and at Hughes Hollow in Montgomery County on Mar. 11 (3 birds by Paul Woodward). The earliest Barn Swallow of the year was 102 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol . 33, No. 2 sighted in Prince' Georges. County on Mar. 27 {Leonard Teuber); and the first Purple Martins were found at Denton on Mar. lL (C. Adams), at Davis Pond in Kent County on Mar. 17 (Floyd Parks), and in Howard County on Mar. 17 (Stephen Simon). Thrashers , Thrushes . Thrashers became very scarce in January. One Brown Thrasher was observed at Tanyard, Jan. 17-23 (Ethel Engle) and another survived the winter at the East Baltimore feeder of Dot Clark. The first few wandering Am. Robins turned up in the final three days of January, but it was not until after the first little thaw on Feb. 10 that the migration really began. By Mar. 2 the first one reached Moun- tain Lake Park (Mrs,- Pope). Three thousand migrated past Sandy Point on Feb. 2k (Hal Wierenga). A Hermit Thrush seen in Harford County on Mar. 27 was more likely a spring arrival than a winter survivor (John Wortman). Gnatcatchers and Kinglets . The first Blue-gray Gnatcatcher arrived on Mar. 29 at the Back River Sewage Treatment Plant in East Baltimore (Blom and Ringler). Fran Pope in Garrett County and John Fales in Cal- vert County complained over the complete lack of Golden-crowned Kinglets*, note the large number of other counties in Table 1 that had no reports of this species. Pipits , Shrikes . Water Pipits responded to the first warm spell by appearing on Feb. 11 at both Sandy Point State Park (Wierenga) and Gaits (Parks); subsequent migrants flew past Sandy Point on Feb. 2k ( 6 2 birds) and Feb. 27 ( l6 birds, Wierenga). The first flock of 10 arrived at Mountain Lake Park in Garrett County on Mar. 19 (Mrs. Pope). There were several independent reports of Loggerhead Shrikes, but they all condense down into three individual birds: 1 at Davidsonville on Mar. 7 (Ellen Gizzarelli), 1 in Kent County, Mar. 20-21 (Parks), and 1 at the Back River Sewage Treatment Plant on Mar. 26-27 (Resch, Ringler and others). Warblers . Early Pine Warblers were seen in Charles County on Mar. 8 (Leonard Teuber) and on Mar. 9 in Prince Georges County (Douglas), and there were two March 30 observations of Louisiana Waterthrushes : at Douglas Point (Karen Miles and others) and at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (Danny Bystrak). Blackbirds and Orioles . For western stragglers there was a Yellow- headed Blackbird north of Easton on Dec. 30 , 1976 (Mrs. Lee Mainersman) and there were as many as 3 Brewer's Blackbirds at Churchville: a female on Jan. 23 and 2 females and a male on Jan. 31 (Chuck Graham and John Wortman). In most parts of the State it was hard to distinguish early spring migrant blackbirds from the hordes of wintering individuals ; the best efforts, however, are summarized in Table 1. Rick Blom believes that the Rusty Blackbirds that he and Mike Resch saw in Baltimore County on Feb. 25 set a new early arrival date for that county. In Garrett County the first migrating flocks of Red-wingod Blackbirds and Common Grackles were sighted at Mountain Lake Park on Mar. 3 and the first 2 Rusties were found at Mount Nebo Wildlife Management Area on Mar. 17 (Fran Pope). Hal Wierenga witnessed a massive migration of blackbirds crossing Chesapeake Bay- from Sandy- Point to- -the- Eastern- Shore on- Feb.- 2L , - a day with unstable skies and strong southerly winds. In about 3 hours .Tune 1977 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 103 he estimated 750,000 Red-wings, 50,000 Common Grackles, 2,000 Brown- headed Cowbirds and 1,000 Starlings. Although Northern Orioles attempted to winter in at _least six Maryland counties, the last birds disappeared in early January (Chestertown by Parks; Sandy Point on Jan. 3 and Annap- olis on Jan. 5 by Wierenga). There were no reports in February, but 3 Northern Orioles turned up in mid-March as follows: Mar. 9 at the Wolfe's farm in Kent County, a male at Loch Raven on Mar. 12 (Resch), and a bird in Harfard County on Mar. l6 (Graham). Finches . This was a poor finch winter, with no reports of cross- bills or redpolls, and only a single Pine Siskin observation (Mar. 2, Baltimore County, Rick Blom). A male House Finch visited Fran Pope's feeder in Mountain Lake Park with Purple Finches on Feb. 23. A winter- ing Rose-breasted Grosbeak discovered on Jan. 2 at Reistertown was seen irregularly through Mar. 2 (Glenn Harris, fide Blom). Evening Grosbeaks were widely but sparcely distributed, with no flocks of more than 25 individuals . Sparrows , Longspurs , Snow Bunting . A very early spring Savannah Sparrow appeared at Sandy Point State Park on Feb . 13 ; by Feb. 27, 10 birds were present (Wierenga). Vesper Sparrows, on the other hand, were late and scarce; none was found until Mar. l6, when Paul Woodward had one at Hughes Hollow. After an absence of a month and a half, a lone Snow Bunting favored Sandy Point with a two-day stop-over, Jan. 26-27 (Wierenga). Across the Bay in Kent County, Floyd Parks found Snow Bun- tings from Feb. 10 to Feb. lL 2 miles south .of Galena at the intersection of Duck Puddle Road and Md. Route 290, with a maximum of U0 on the 12th. On Feb. 10 he found a Lapland Longspur with them, and 2 other Lapland Longspurs in a flock of Horned Larks near Chesterville . One of the longspurs was still present on Feb. 11 (Dorothy Mendinhall). A late Lapland Longspur in a flock of Water Pipits on Mar. 12 was only the sec- ond spring sighting for this species at Sandy Point State Park (Wierenga). I am happy to acknowledge the editorial assistance of Danny Bystrak in this and many previous Season reports. Please send future sightings to Robert F. Ringler , 3501 Melody Lane, Baltimore 21207. 7900 Brooklyn Bridge Road, Laurel 20810 * FINCHES ARE CHARMS . Robert Devereux There are few, if any, languages that possess as extensive a lexicon as English for the simple reason that no otrier language welcomes the ad- dition of new words with such open arms. English speakers happily are free of the taint of linguistic chauvinism, of the ridiculous insistence on so-called linguistic purism, such as afflicts the French, for example. Thus the number of recognized English words constantly grows apace. Unfortunately, while new words are being added to the English lexicon, others- lose their currency and become labeled in dictionaries as "archaic" MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol . 33, No. 2 10U or "obsolete" or "dialectal" or "historical only," until such time as lexicographers no longer even bother to include them in their dictionaries. i This deplorable fate has struck many of those English words known as nouns of multitude (hereafter NOM) , also known variously as collectives, collective nouns, classifiers, numeratives, company terms, group terms, nouns of assemblage and terms of venery, in other words, those singular nouns denoting a plurality. When a person speaks of, for example, a set of dishes, a deck of cards, a circle of friends, a hunch of flowers, a cluster of grapes, a wad of bills, etc., he is using a NOM. While the cited NOM's are still in daily use, many others, including specifically those referring to birds in general and to specific varieties of birds, have long since been consigned to limbo. It is these that the writer wishes to discuss. Most individuals, in speaking of a company of birds, will probably use the term flock or, less often, flight . Both are quite proper and have been for some centuries , but birdlovers also have quite a few alter- natives available if they wish to use them, for example, dissimulation , drift , school , string and troop. Pack is also appropriate if the flock is specifically of wild game birds; and although it is used today almost exclusively in connection with horses, team has been since at least 1688 a proper NOM for birds flying in a line. If the flock is a small one, pod or trip is applicable. A group of young birds (i.e., fledglings or nestlings) constitutes a fry. Some of the ornithological NOM's that have receded into the area of "archaic" or "obsolete" merit wider acquaintance and usage if only be- cause of their beauty and expressiveness. There is an undeniable element of pure poetry in such NOM's as "a charm of finches," "an ascension of larks" or "an exaltation of larks," or "a murmuration of starlings," any of which might well have come from the pen of a Keats or Wordsworth, al- though all date back to the 15th Century. Other NOM's tend to be descrip- tively ironic or pejorative: an ostentation of peacocks (alternatively, peacocks can constitute a muster ), a deceit of lapwings, a murder of crows and an unkindness of ravens (but ravens can also constitute an aerie). And since owls have, become a symbol for wisdom, the applicable NOM — parliament — seems singularly well-chosen and appropriate. Aerie ( aery , eyrie and eyry are recognized variant spellings) is the proper NOM specifically for eagles as well as for birds of prey gen- erally, although hawks and especially hawks in flight form a cast. Jays form a band , woodpeckers a descent , doves a dule (earlier forms, dating back to at least lU86, are dool , doole and dole), turtledoves a pitying , sparrows a host, magpies a tidings , nightingales a watch and rooks a building (or, alternatively, a parliament). A company of larks can properly be termed a bevy, in addition to the aforementioned ascension and exaltation. Swallows rate only the generic flight and terns the generic drift. Many game birds also have their distinctive NOM's, in some cases "several. The best 'endowed are pheasants, - which constitute 'an' eye , nide , .Tune 1977 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 10 5 nye or rye , although pheasants breaking from cover are none of these but rather a bouquet. Game birds in general, when on water, constitute a raft, but specifically ducks and geese on water constitute, respectively, a padding or paddling ( padling is a variant) and a gaggle. ( Gaggle , which has had currency since at least 1407, is of onomatopeic origin, deriving from the syllable gag , often used to imitate the cry of a goose: cf. Danish gaggelen and gagelen , German gackeln and gackem , Middle High German g&gen , English giggle and cackle. It is generally considered to refer more to tame geese of the farmyard than to the wild geese of the hunter's domain, but semantically it is equally appropriate to both. By extension it has come also to mean a company of gossiping women or a group of any noisy individuals. When in flight, ducks and geese form a skein ( skean and skeane are accepted variant spellings) or the already cited team. With respect to ducks, mallards and teals have their own distinctive NOM's, i.e., sord and spring , respectively. As for other game birds, quails and partridges constitute a covey or bevy (the latter is also the proper NOM for a group of young women); a snipe a walk or wisp ; plovers a congregation ; grouse a brood’, woodcocks a fall', herons and bitterns a sedge ( siege is a variant); storks a mus- tering', *and turkeys a rafter. No doubt a careful 'search of the diction- aries would reveal others. Whether they be poetic or prosaic, descriptive or uninspired, obscure or well known, these semantic treasures should be known to every bird- lover, every ornithologist. He may perhaps seldom have occasion to use them; but if he does or if he encounters them in print, he should instantly recognize them for what they are: some of the forgotten/neglected seman- tical contributions that the world of birds has made to the English lexicon. 2042 Peach Orchard Drive, Apt. 6l8 Falls Church, Virginia 22043 * FIRST RECORDS FOR THE THIN-BILLED MURRE IN MARYLAND, WITH A SUMMARY OF ALCID OBSERVATIONS FOR THE WINTER OF 1976-1977 Richard A. Rowlett Three Thin-billed Murres {Uria aalge) were observed in Maryland's Atlantic Ocean waters in December 1976, and January 1977, constituting the first records for the State. The first was discovered on December 29, 1976, in the Ocean City Inlet, Worcester Co., 38°20'N, 75°06'W, by Jay Sheppard and several other participants on the Ocean City Christmas Count, from the north side of the Inlet. Anne Lacy, Malcolm Ross, St eye Whitcomb, and I were simultaneously counting on the north tip of Assateague Island, when through the wind and light falling snow, -I' spotted Jay waving and shout- ing to us from across the Inlet, and pointing franctically to the murre , which -was - then just off the northwest tip . of the island. I photographed 106 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol . 33, No. 2 the bird as it swam within 5 meters of us on its way out of the Inlet and out of sight. \ Paul DuMont presumably observed the same bird in addition to an oiled Razorbill {Alca tovda) late on the following afternoon. His de- scription (Md. Bivdlife 33: 12-13 J matches ours, except that I felt that the thin black streak which projected back from the eye was rather conspicuous . Steve Whitcomb and I saw two other Thin-billed Murres from a sport fishing headboat which was fishing on "Jackspot," a wreck and popular shoal for sport fishermen in l4 meters of water, 35 km SE of Ocean City, 38°05'N, T i +°^6'W, on January l6, 1977. The first was seen on the water at about 5 meters from the boat as we were slowly getting into position to drop anchor. This bird was brown to grayish brown dorsally, and the thin dark streak projecting backward from the eye through the field of white on the rear face was evident, although less obvious than that on the jet black-backed bird at the Ocean City Inlet on December 29. The second Thin-billed Murre was seen in flight at about 350 meters, and was identified by its brownish gray dorsum and small loon-like profile.' Several Razorbills that were also seen flying in the vicinity differed markedly from the murre by their blackish dorsum, and stocky rectangular profile in flight. On January 9, 1977, Steve and I observed and photographed a Thick- billed Murre [Uvia lomvia) in the surf, on Assateague Island, Worcester Co., about 6 km south of the Ocean City Inlet, 38°l6'N, 75°08'W. This murre was studied for about 20 minutes at 30 meters. It was black, tinted slightly with brown above including the sides of the face, and white below. The bill tapered from a thick base to a dull point and appeared somewhat shorter than the long, straight bill of the Thin-billed. A horizontal white streak was present on the lower mandible near the gape. Razorbills were rather numerous in the shallow nearshore waters off Ocean City, from mid-January to mid-February. A total of 106 were counted on 3 short pelagic trips during this period, most in 10 to 30 meters of water, 8 to 32 km from shore. On January l6 and February 5, 28 and 25 were counted respectively in the vicinity of the "Jackspot." Ron Naveen and I counted 53 on a "slick," calm, February 12, l6 to 26 km NE of Ocean City, between 38°22'N, 7^°53'W and 38°25'W, 74°U6 , W. In many instances, the Razorbills were observed in small flocks resting on the water with small complements of Herring Gulls {harms argentatus) and Black-legged Kittiwakes ( Rissa tridactyla ) . Since the fishing was very poor on February 12, the fishermen and the Captain agreed to spend some time "going out of the way" to look at the Razor- bills. In each instance when the boat approached the small flocks, ranging from 6 to 10 individuals, the Razorbills positioned themselves, forming a straight line perpendicular to our approach, and slowly swam away with their heads and tails cocked upward. As the gap between us narrowed to about 30 meters, all of the Razorbills simultaneously dove. About two out of three were winter adults and had large rectangular bills with white vertical marks near the tips. June I97T MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 10? The winter of 1976-1977 witnessed a major erruption of thousands of Thick-billed Murres and Razorbills along the New England coast (Vickery 1977 , Am. Birds 31 : 307 ) . Very few of the murres straggled south from the colder waters off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with the Assateague Island sighting representing the only one for Maryland. The invasion of Razorbills off Maryland is the largest ever recorded for the State. The last observation was of a single bird on March 5, 70 km E of Ocean City, 38°20’N, 7^°10'W. Atlantic Puffin { Fratercula arotiaa) and Dovekie ( Alle atte) were not a feature of the winter’s ale id flight. None of the former were seen, and of the latter, only 6 were observed on February 12, and 1 on March 5 . 715 Main Street # 5, Laurel 20810 * EDWARD G. DAVIS, WINNER OF FIRST MOS SCIENCE AWARD As a new project of the MOS Education Committee, recognition was given to the student who exhibited the best ornithology project in a Maryland Science Fair. Edward G. Davis, a senior at Perry Hall Senior High School, was selected as winner. 108 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol . 33, No. 2 His project, "Observations of Weight Fluctuation as Determined by Winter Feeding Habits in the Tree Sparrow, Spizella arboreal won him the MOS Outstanding Achievement in Ornithology certificate, membership in MOS, and an autographed copy of Birds of North America. His abstract reads: "A flock of backyard American Tree Sparrows ( Spizella arborea) was investigated during the month of February 1977 near Perry Hall, Maryland. The birds were captured and weighed during sampling periods throughout the day, and weight fluctuations of individual birds were noted. It was observed that the Tree Sparrow increased in weight during the day, from their early morning low and reached a maximum weight in the late afternoon." Mr. Davis subsequently responded to requests to display his project at meetings of MOS, Eastern Bird Banding Assn, and Audubon Naturalist Soc . CONTENTS, JUNE 1977 First Nesting of Hooded Merganser on Maryland's Eastern Shore Report of the State-wide Bird Count - May J, 1977 1977 Convention Summary Minutes' of the Annual Meeting, May lL , 1977 Bluebird Project Annual Report Annual Report of the Treasurer Auditing Committee Report Conservation Easement Committee Report Education Committee Report Library Committee Report Long Range Planning Committee Report Research Committee Report Sanctuary Committee Report Scholarship Committee Report Annual Reports of Local Chapters Announcements The Season — January, February, March, 1977 Finches are Charms First Records for the Thin-billed Murre in Maryland Edward G. Davis, Winner of First MOS Science Award Franklin Loughry & Tad IJheatley 55' C. Douglas • Hackman 56 Charles Vaughn 68 Helen M. Ford 71 Lawrence Zeleny 73 W. Gordon MacGregor 7 b Rodney B. Jones 75 Julia A. Metcalf 76 Ben Poscover 76 Joy Wheeler j6 James Cheevers 77 Charles Vaughn 77 V. E. Unger 78 Mildred E. Gebhard 78 Chapter Presidents 79 91 Chandler Robbins 92. Robert Devereux 103 Richard Rowlett 105 107 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. 2123^ Art Editor: William N. Schneider Production : Romell Decker Mailing : Barbara Larrabee and committee