I was up in Washington County today and had several highlights.

Along Watery Lane north of Smithsburg there was a male Blue-winged Teal,
several White-crowned Sparrows, a very loud Brown Thrasher and four Wilson's
Snipe.  Also, 3 of the non-wild Wild Turkeys mentioned by Stan Arnold in an earlier
post were present at the beginning of the lane.

Down along the Potomac, there were 22 Bonaparte's Gulls riding the currents
above Dam #3.  This is between Harpers Ferry and Dargan's Landing at Lock 36.
Also, several singing Louisiana Waterthrushes and Yellow-throated Warblers,
one female Common Merg., a pair of Wood Ducks and one Belted Kingfisher.

In Frederick Co., on the way home, I stopped along Lily Pons Road above the
ponds and saw 3 Caspian Terns on one of the dykes.  Also, there were 8
Blue-winged Teal and 2 Lesser Scaup on the ponds.  Kirshner's pond, on the road to
Burkettsville, had one Common Loon and one Double-crested Cormorant present.

Along the C&O canal, I saw 6 species of butterfly including my first Red
Admiral and first Tiger Swallowtail of the year.  Others were Eastern Comma,
Spring Azure, Eastern Tail Blue, and Cabbage White.

There must have been two dozen different varieties of spring wildflowers in
bloom along the canal.  The Virginia Bluebells are spectacular at this time of
year!

Dave Perry
Crofton, MD


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