Dear Friends, Recently, Jim Stasz posted a report on MDOsprey, including two Ross’s Geese near Snow Hill. Although such chases are often a long-shot, I thought I’d give it a try. After all, it would be a life-bird for me. He even said that the birds were in the “traditional location!” On Friday (12/03)I found the intersection Jim mentioned, but there were no geese at all. The field there was littered with white feathers. Four BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS flew in just so I could say that *some* birds were in the field, but no life-bird. (“Fooey,” I said.) I went on to the public landing East of Snow Hill, finding many BUFFLEHEADS, HORNED GREBES, SURF AND BLACK SCOTERS. A trip to Pocomoke State Park yielded a flock of a dozen FOX SPARROWS, two BALD EAGLES, and a brave, even friendly BROWN THRASHER, who followed me closely for a little while. I went to Deal Island WMA. Although I had never birded in any of these locations before, I was especially impressed with Deal Island. I had killer looks at (at least) six hunting SHORT-EARED OWLS, several NORTHERN HARRIERS, three COMMON SNIPES, two TRICOLORED HERONS, an AMERICAN BITTERN, and four AMERICAN EGRETS. (With so many herons/egrets, it felt like Spring!) SPARROWS included SONG, SWAMP and SAVANNAH. Just as I was leaving the wildlife management area, a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK flew over, alternating between gliding and hovering. I mentioned in the title of my posting that there was a little bit of cheating. Why? When I was still driving around Snow Hill, looking for my life-bird, I began to realize that I was literally on a wild-goose-chase. I figured that I needed to use any resource I could. It occured to me that I rarely got this close to Chincoteague. I thought, “Maybe I could just steal South of the Border. No one from MDOsprey will see me.” So I went. Now, I guess, I’m not supposed to tell you what I saw. I’m not supposed to tell you of the OYSTERCATCHER, or the flocks of BOAT-TAILED GRACKLES. I’m not even supposed to tell you whether I found my first-ever ROSS’S GOOSE in amongst tens of thousands of look-alike snow geese. Ah, well. At least I *can* say that, as I write this note, I am wearing a big smile. Don Burggraf Baltimore dburggraf@hotmail.com ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com