Knowing it was pointless, I nonetheless spent seven hours in Havre de Grace today looking for the Eurasian Collared-Dove. I started at the lighthouse and worked outward on foot in widening circles. I covered every street and alley at least twice for at least ten blocks, returning periodically to the lighthouse. Afterward, I drove the rest of the town, stopping at alternate intersections and scanning. Listening would have been good, but despite seeing 125+ Mourning Doves, I did not hear a single dove call. The experience had its pleasures, however. I was reminded of the benefits of town birding. I found at least eleven active feeders, saw a lot of birds, mostly House Sparrows but also catbirds, towhees, swifts, and two warblers, Magnolia and Black-throated Green. I also had a new experience for me in Maryland: I saw as many Psitaccids as Parulids. I found a blue Budgerigar in a flock of House Sparrows in a back yard behind the hospital, and a Monk Parakeet in the back yards at the east end of Pink Lane, which is one block up from the lighthouse. I have no idea what to make of the species in Maryland. I also spent two hours checking the flats at the marina in 30 minutes doses. The flats were very extensive all day and there were large numbers of gulls and terns, but shorebirds were almost non-existent. Highlights were: Killdeer 6 Lesser Yellowlegs 2 Pectoral Sandpiper 2 peep sp. 9 (I didn't bother trying...) Laughing Gull 8 Ring-billed Gull 275 Herring Gull 20 Great Black-backed Gull 75 Caspian Tern 145 Forster's Tern 400 D.C. Cormorant 60 Great Blue Heron 28 Pied-billed Grebe 26 The doves were hard to find most of the day, but came out onto the wires late, giving me about 20 minutes to race around checking. There is a large roost near the WaWa. If anyone else has lost their mind and is thinking about checking this report, I would suggest the first hour of daylight. Rick "Lack of education is an extraordinary handicap when one is being offensive." Josephine Tey Rick Blom rblom@blazie.com Bel Air, Maryland