Yesterday, on Monday, April 29, 2004 I spent some time along the Gunpowder River below Pretty Boy Dam. While there I had my first N. Parula, Black-and-White Warbler and L. Waterthrushes. There wasn't much else to speak of and I was a bit surprised at how quiet the area actually was even though I didn't arrive there until about 10:00am. While driving back from area to my home in Westminster, at 4:45pm the intersection of Gorsuch Rd. and Tannery Road, I had a cuckoo fly over the car. I only got a brief look and was not able to see the bill or tail color. However, the lighting was good enough that had the bird had rufous primary wing feathers I should have been able to see them clearly as the bird flew directly over my car and I was able to look up at it through my moon roof. I am about 90% certain that it was a Black-billed Cuckoo but this would miss the record arrival date for Maryland by 1 day. Timing certainly makes Yellow-billed more likely but with the strong southwest winds for the past week, anything is possible.

Edward Boyd
Westminster, MD

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