Ian Davies and I birded in southern Maryland today, mostly in Calvert County.  Overall, the birding seemed a little slow, but we did see a few noteworthy birds.  

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were new for the year and my earliest in Maryland.  We saw the first one in St. Mary's County along Airport Rd.  Then we saw two more at Flag Ponds in Calvert.  Also at Flag Ponds were a flyby Royal Tern and a Black-crowned Night-heron.

Earlier in the day, we found one of the previously reported Red-necked Grebes at Solomons.  The Cypress Swamp Sanctuary was fairly birdy with a Barred Owl, Hermit Thrush, Brown Creeper, Swamp Sparrow and singing Winter Wren.  At the end of the afternoon, we found two Snowy Egrets and a Great Egret at the regularly flooded field north of Rosehaven in Anne Arundel County.

Also new for me was a gate installed at North Beach, blocking access to the usual parking area there.  The gate was far enough back to allow one car to pull completely off the road, but this isn't going to be convenient if you want to spend a lot of time there.

John Hubbell
Washington DC