Hi all,
     
    Tired of reading all those great reports from yards  and parks all 
across the state, I grabbed the bins and headed out the back door  with the dog. 
While standing near the deck waiting for him to do his business, I  was 
thinking that maybe I would look for Bobolinks, since the habitat here is so  
good, and almost at the same moment I noticed that a Bobolink song was 
"playing  in my head" . Really eerie, but I looked up and found a male BOBOLINK 
singing  from a tall cherry tree in the side yard near our woodpile. Yard bird 
#  114!!
 
    Then within minutes of it flying off, I began  hearing the call notes 
of a cuckoo from across the field near our "farm"  neighbors house. I 
responded with my impression of a cuckoo and it flew in from  across the field to 
land in a tree in our front-side yard. I called again and in  it flew, to 
land in a tree by the woodpile. It turned out to be a (young)  BLACK-BILLED 
CUCKOO, having a very pale undertail, with very little barring but  a full red 
eye ring and all black bill, and it called back vociferously many  times. It 
actually flew in lower and closer, and sat in a tree right in front of  me 
for a while, calling and picking at tent caterpillars. Yard bird  #115!!!
 
Well, nothing could beat those two great birds, but I did see a single  
Yellow-rumped Warbler, and an adult Red-shouldered Hawk flying towards its nest 
 and carrying prey (mouse/vole) then heading back out again towards the 
power  lines for another hunting expedition. Also the local bluebirds, heard 
only Wood  Thrushes (back on territory),  lots and lots of Blue Jays, which 
seem to be  going through about 8 lbs of sunflower seed every couple of days, 
the local  nesting mocker which is beginning to attack anything near its 
nest (including  me), lots of Chippies, a heard only Baltimore Oriole, and 
loads of Red-winged  Blackbirds and Robins.
 
Enjoying my yard birds in Woodbine,
 
Rick Sussman
Woodbine,MD
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