Date: 1/3/13 2:02 pm
From: Josh Emm <apistopanchax...>
Subject: [MDBirding] Black-headed Gull (Hunt Valley) & Harlequin Duck (Ft. Armistead)


I decided to twitch on the Harly today. On the way I stopped off at the Hunt Valley Towne Centre to get the Black-headed Gull for the year. I found him within a minute of arriving and watched him for at least a half hour. He's a great subject for photography! Afterwards I headed for Armistead. I arrived just prior to Jeff Culler & Joe Hanfman. The group scoped out the river, to no avail. After a short period the Harly popped out from behind the bridge's support pillars. He stayed out pretty far and I didn't get any good pictures. I walked the park a bit, checking out the structures and picking out land birds. I came off of the trail at the road's edge and noticed another trail heading towards the river. I walked to the end and came out on the peninsula's tip (north of the parking area that gives a view of the Key Bridge), much closer to the ducks, but still far out. I ended up getting one picture that is identifyable as HADU.
A special thanks to Jeff Culler for allowing me to view the HADU (which is a life bird for me) through his scope. I had my telescope in my vehicle, but it was in desperate need of some TLC and was unusable at that time. I fixed it as soon as I got home.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/75557613@N08/

Happy birding,
Josh Emm
HdG, MD

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