Colliers Mills WMA 5/19--Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Grasshopper Sparrow

Colliers Mills WMA--the power line cut is as green as suburban lawn after the prescribed burn in early spring.

I was moping around the trail on the way to the power line cut at Colliers Mills, not finding much of interest, thinking that at least I was getting in my exercise, when I started to flush birds--2 or 3 Great-crested Flycatchers. That seemed a tad unusual, those birds foraging low. While looking to relocate one of them, my binoculars fell upon a tree trunk at the far edge of the woods and a bird on that tree trunk which brightened up the day--a Red-headed Woodpecker. When it moved into a sunbeam on the tree it was like someone plugged it in to an electric outlet--it's red head glowed. 

After that, having one good bird on the list for the day, things loosened up a bit and I started to find more birds, including my FOY Grasshoppper Sparrow in a field north of the cut. While standing in the field, just looking around, I realized that among all the Gray Catbirds mimicking other birds I was hearing an Eastern Wood-Pewee's plaintive song. I walked backed into the woods and quickly found the bird. Would that I could have done that with the 2 cuckoos I heard. 

35 species
Canada Goose  30     Young were on bog beyond power cut
Turkey Vulture  2
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  2     Heard
Red-headed Woodpecker  1     
Red-bellied Woodpecker  5
Downy Woodpecker  1     Near CM Lake
Northern Flicker  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  2
Great Crested Flycatcher  5
Eastern Kingbird  1
Blue Jay  1
Fish Crow  2     Heard
Tree Swallow  3
Carolina Chickadee  1     Heard
Tufted Titmouse  2     Heard
Carolina Wren  1     Heard
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  4
Eastern Bluebird  1
American Robin  5
Gray Catbird  26
Brown Thrasher  2
Northern Mockingbird  2
European Starling  5
Ovenbird  1     Heard
Common Yellowthroat  7
Yellow Warbler  3     Heard
Eastern Towhee  2     Heard
Chipping Sparrow  5
Grasshopper Sparrow  1
Blue Grosbeak  1     Heard
Red-winged Blackbird  15
Common Grackle  4
Brown-headed Cowbird  3

Baltimore Oriole  2     One on Success Rd, the other on Hawkins Rd