MIDDLE ATLANTIC 
erick 19 Apr (DP). A Swainson’s Warbler at 
Weyanoke Sanctuary, Norfolk, VA 11 May 
(BK) acted as if on territory, an unusual loca- 
tion for such behavior. A Mourning Warbler at 
Bridgewater, Rockingham 10 May (BB, RP) was 
a nice find, as was another Mourning Warbler 
at James River Park, Richmond 12 May (AB). 
The populated and well-birded Western Shore 
of Maryland and D.C. had a typical spring for 
Mourning Warblers, with hve reports from 
Maryland and two or three from Rock Creek 
Park in D.C., all of single birds. 
SPARROWS THROUGH FINCHES 
A dozen Vesper Sparrows in Rappahannock, 
VA 9 Apr was an impressive count (TD, IT, 
BJ); 9 were in a mixed sparrow flock at Sky 
Meadows S.P, Fauquier 28 Mar (SB). An Ip- 
swich Sparrow at Hughlett Pt., Northumber- 
land 21-25 Mar (AB, FA) was notable: this en- 
dangered subspecies is rare away from the 
dune line of the immediate coast. A Henslow’s 
Sparrow at Bonnie Branch Middle School, 
Howard 9 May (BO, EH) provided the first 
county record since 1990. It was an above-av- 
erage spring for migrant Saltmarsh Sparrows 
in Baltimore, with single birds noted at Ft. 
McHenry, Baltimore City 28-29 Apr (KEC, 
LN) and at Hart 2 May (RFR et al); 3 were at 
Ft. Howard, Baltimore 22 May (KEC). Two 
Seaside Sparrows at Elkton, Cecil 26 Apr (SM) 
were unusually far up the Bay and likely over- 
shooting migrants. The 60 Song Sparrows 
recorded as nocturnal flyovers at Gaithers- 
burg, Montgomery 19 Mar (AM) provide doc- 
umentation of this species’ migration timing. 
Rarer in the spring than fall, a Lincoln’s Spar- 
row was a notable hnd at White Oak Park, 
Alexandria, VA 7-8 May (PKJ); 3 were at 
Huntley Meadows Park, Fairfax 11 May (KG, 
RR). A Harris’s Sparrow was well observed 
and photographed at Columbia, Howard 19 
Mar-25 Apr (KC et al); another visited a pri- 
vate residence in Rockingham 10-25 Apr (LC 
et al; ph. BTe, KS). An ad. Dark-eyed Junco 
feeding fledged young along the Blue Ridge 
Parkway, Augusta 28 May (AL) provided an 
early breeding record. An alternate-plumaged 
Snow Bunting lingered at Salisbury, Wicomi- 
co, MD 26-27 May (ph. SD et al), well past 
the previous Regional late date of 1 Apr. Two 
Painted Buntings continued from the winter 
at Virginia Beach, VA through 16 Mar (SHu, 
EE, NF); one at Columbia, Howard 11 
Mar-11 Apr (SCI et al.) marked just the 2nd 
county record. A Dickcissel found 27 Feb at 
South Pt., Worcester continued through 8 Mar 
(WB et al). Dickcissel numbers were typical 
elsewhere, with birds arriving and singing in 
reliable locations across the Region: Egypt 
Rcl, Dorchester 10 May OB); Antietam, Wash- 
ington 16 May (m.ob.); Prince William 17 May 
(MR); Grassdale Rd., Fauquier 24 May (GK); 
Cecilton, Cecil 25 May (LJ); and the Wilna 
Unit, Rappahannock River Valley N.WR., Es- 
sex, VA 29 May (SS). Observers reported 
Bobolink flocks in n. Virginia in early May, in- 
cluding 200 near The Plains, Fauquier 1-2 
May (TD, DSw) and 150 near Middletown, 
Frederick 2 May O&BJL). A Yellow-headed 
Blackbird was a one-day wonder yard bird 
near Fredericksburg, VA 15 Mar OO- The 
season’s largest Rusty Blackbirds flocks in- 
cluded 75 birds at Huntley Meadows, Fairfax 
1 1 Mar (BL, SHo) and 200 at Sycamore Land- 
ing, Montgomery 18 Mar QGr ). A Brewer’s 
Blackbird at Stuarts Draft, Augusta 28 Mar 
(AL) and another at Augusta Springs Wet- 
lands 9 Apr (EL) were just the 4th and 5th 
county spring records, respectively. Three 
Boat-tailed Grackles seen flying southward 
across the James R. to Hog L, Surry 24 May 
(BT) were unusual; there are only two other 
records for this species there. 
Late Purple Finches visited feeders in 
Buchanan, VA 9 May (RM), at Springheld, 
Fairfax 17 May (SP), and at Chesapeake Land- 
ing, Kent 21 May (WE, NM). A female Red 
Crossbill was among White-winged Crossbills 
at Lappans, Washington, MD 14 Mar (FS). A 
male Red Crossbill was at Constitution Gar- 
dens, D.C. 23 Apr (JF); and up to 2 Reds vis- 
ited a feeder at Woodlawn, Carroll, VA 30 
Apr-7 May (BPe). The strong winter White- 
winged Crossbill invasion into Maryland and 
D.C. continued into Mar and did not begin to 
subside until mid-Apr. For instance, up to 58 
White-winged Crossbills visited Hagerstown, 
Washington, MD from the winter through 19 
Apr (m.ob.). The latest report was a single 
White-winged Crossbill at a Creswell, Harford 
feeder 20 Apr (DL). A single Common Red- 
poll flew over Chino Farms, Queen Anne’s 6 
Mar (DS); 2 visited a feeder at Reston, Fairfax 
14 Mar (OJ, DSt) among 60 Pine Siskins. Pine 
Siskins continued at feeders and in the held in 
numbers across the Region through the sea- 
son, even into mid-May on the coast, though 
no out-of-range nesting was reported. 
Contributors: Robert L. Ake (RLAk), Terry 
Allen, Gary Allport, Henry T. Armistead, 
Elaine Arnold, Stan Arnold, Fred Atwood, 
Zach Baer, Scott Baron, Ruth Beck, Wayne 
Bell, Bill Benish, Rob Biller (RBi), Jeff Blalock 
QBl), Fred Blystone, Michael Boatwright, 
Arun Bose, Ed Boyd, Dave Brenneman, Jim 
Brighton, Edward S. Brinkley, Carol Broderick, 
Rexanne Bruno, Allen Bryan (ABr), Mike 
Burchett, Mitchell Byrd (MBy), Joe Byrnes 
QBy), Larry Carpenter, J. B. Churchill QBC), 
David Clark, Ken Clark, Steve Claudy (SCI) 
Andrew Clem, Joe Coleman, Steve Collins, 
Cliff Comeau, Barry Cooper, Ben Copeland 
(BCo), Keith Eric Costley, Patty Craig, Jeff 
Culler OCu), Dave Curson (DCu), Dave 
Czaplak (DCz), Thelma Dalmas (TDa), Kent 
Davis, Todd Day, Paul DeAnna, John Dennehy, 
Shirley Devan (SDe), Nicole Dewberry, Adam 
D’Onofrio, Sam Dyke, Rachel Echols, Walter 
Ellison, Bob Elvander, Elisa Enders, Jim Felley, 
Nick Flanders, Gerald Frost, Marcy Fruchter, 
Kurt Gaskill, Kevin Germer (KGe), Paul 
Glass, James Goehring, Kevin Graff (KGr), 
Evan Grant, Adam Green, Jim Green OGr), 
Matt Grey, Ron Gutberlet, Dan Haas, Matt 
Hafner, Keith & Beth Hamilton, Joe Hanfman, 
George & Rosemarie Harris, Gerry Hawkins, 
Tim Hodge (THo), Mark Hoffman (MHo), 
Hans Holbrook, Emy Holdridge, Stacey Hollis 
(SHo), Sandy Holton, Susan Hubbard, Bill Hu- 
bick, David L. Hughes, Bob Hunt (BHu), Tom 
Hunter, Odette James, Mark Johnson, Bruce 
Jones, Tom Jones, Lin Just, Bill Keith, David 
Kidwell, Pam Koger-Jesup, Sybil & Steve 
Kohl, Glenn Koppel & MaryAlice 
Koeneke, Wallace Kornack, Dave Larkin, Allen 
Lamer, Yulee Lamer, Joanne 61 Hal Laskows- 
ki, Ed Lawler, Joanna Leachman, Bev 
Leeuwenberg, Jon & B.J. Little, Mikey Lut- 
merding, Gail Mackiernan, John Maloney, 
Andy Martin, Nancy Martin, David Matson, 
Roger May horn, Sean Me Landless, Larry Mc- 
Daniel (LMc), Jeremy Meintire QMc), Larry 
Meade, Jim Moore QMo)- Tyler Moore, Musa 
Murawith, Lou Nielsen, Paul O’Brien, Matt 
O’Donnell, Peter Osenton (POs), Bonnie Ott, 
Wendy Paulson, Bart Paxton, Bob Perkins 
(BPe), Paul Pisano, Walter Plank (WPl), Dave 
Powell, Phil Powell, Scott Priebe, Robyn 
Puffenbarger, Mike Purdy, Ken Ranck, Jon 
Ranson QRa). Jan Reese, Marc Ribaudo, Sue 
Ricciardi (SRi), Susan Rice, Derek Richardson, 
Rich Rieger, Robert E Ringler, Patricia Rose, 
Roberta Ross (RRo), Will Russell, Gene Sat- 
tler, Tom Saunders, Mark Scarff (MSc), Eu- 
gene J. Scarpulla, Fred Shaffer, Kevin Shank, 
David Shoch (DSh), Dan Small, Fletcher 
Smith (FSm), Mike Smith, Amanda Spears, 
David & Evan Spears, Sandy Spencer, James L. 
Stasz, Dave Stewart (DSt), Donald Sweig 
(DSw), Brian Taber, Brenda Tekin (BTe), Lor- 
raine Titus, Ian Topolsky Tina Trice, Barry 
Truitt (BTr), Chris Vernick, Bryan Watts 
(BWa), Laura Weidner, Mike Welch, Winger 
West, Alex Wilke, Bill Williams, David Yeany, 
Dave Ziolkowski. 
Mark T. Adams, 2300 Rocky Run 
Charlottesville, Virginia 22901 
(markadamsphd@yahoo.com) 
Matt Hafner, 330 Orchis Road 
St. Augustine, Florida 32086, (mh1920@aol.com) 
406 
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 
