Summer lull

One new patch (Meadowside Nature Center) addition: Eastern Kingbird (1 pair was flying across Lake Frank). Total patch tally: 119.

Pair of Tree Swallows with young peeking out.

MDOsprey soap opera and some birding at Montezuma

Lord Almighty! A week of bickering and tossing of insults at each other on the MDOsprey eventually lead to the shut-down of the MDOsprey. Talk about drama and who said birders are boring?? At this point, simply a thanks from me to Norm Saunders who has been organizing the listserv and also thanks to the organizers of the new listserv that have been trying to facilitate a smooth transitioning. Everything should be back to normal and I think an extension on the limit of listserv users will benefit the MD birding community (that is if tedious postings with private conversations between retirees with too much time are kept to a minimum). If you would like to join the new listserv, send an email to mdbirding+subscribe AT googlegroups.com and reply to the confirmation email.

The time for birding has been short at lately. Nonetheless I insisted on some birding time up in Upstate New York at Montezuma. The birding was nice although done under time pressure and in sweltering heat. Highlights of the afternoon were 3 Black Terns that have returned to breed at the Montezuma Marsh. Also a good number of patch birds were added, mainly breeders: Green Heron, Rock Pigeon, Great-Crested Flycatcher, Yellow Warbler, Indigo Bunting and Baltimore Oriole. Also twoTraills Flycatchers were seen, however they kept quiet which made a positive ID impossible. The total patch list for Montezuma stands now at 126.