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     I looked out back at the feeders about 6:30 this morning and was
rewarded with a brief look at a male rose-breasted grosbeak.  My wife got a
look at it too.  When I came home for lunch a female r-b grosbeak was out
there chowing down.  This evening I saw three together--one male and two
females.  Fun!
     Two days in a row I have kicked up sandpipers at local ponds.  Both
times, after reasonably close inspection of the flying bird and then
careful study of my shorebirds guide (Hayman, Marchant and Prater), I was
able to identify the bird as a solitary sandpiper.  I've been expecting
spotted sandpipers but haven't seen one here yet this spring.  Last year my
dates for spotted sandpipers were 4/20, 5/13-5/15, 5/17/99.  My dates for
solitary sandpipers were 5/4-5, 5/14/99.  The pipers appear to be early
this spring.
     I've been seeing what I thought were northern rough-winged swallows
for a few weeks.  Today I ran across a pair sitting in a small tree on the
edge of a golf course.  One was slightly brighter than the other and they
acted like a mated pair.  Fascinating!
     Finally I saw a yellow-rumped warbler and a white-throated sparrow
early this morning.  These are later than any I saw last spring.

Bob

--------------------------------------------------
Robert C. Perkins, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Methodist College, Fayetteville, NC 28311
910-630-7037     rperkins@methodist.edu