Thanks to Rick for getting the word out on the White-winged Scoter at
Triadelphia.  I found the bird about 09:15.  It was out the pipeline road at
Greenbridge, and a VERY distant view.  It was snoozing at the time, all I
saw was a black duck with just a little white on the head.  Luckily (for me,
not the duck) an adult Bald Eagle thought it might like a change of pace for
 breakfast, and swooped down on the bird.  Mr. Scoter woke up, gave me a
clear look at the head, and made a crash dive to safety.

Also present at that time were one Oldsqu... oops, Long-tailed Duck, one
Common Loon, and two Bonaparte's Gulls, plus the previously mentioned Bald
Eagle.

Pigtail had 21 Black Ducks and one Ring-neck at about 08:45.

Centennial at 07:30 had four Canvasback and 44 Ring-Necked Ducks.  The
Canvasbacks departed before I left at 08:30.

Then onto MontCo for the rarities. I got to the rt. 121 Bridge some time in
late morning, but not an Eared Grebe to seen.  Just lots of Bufflehead,
Ruddy Ducks, and Coots, with a few Pied-Billed Grebes to confuse things.
So I headed Poolseville way, and was rewarded with a distant, but otherwise
in plain sight preening Lapland Longspur.  It was on the Polo grounds, with
several Horned Larks.  I could not find the Sandhill Crane near the golf
course on West I-Forget Rd.

I swung by Black Hills on the way home, for a last look.  And the Eared
Grebe magically appeared.  It swam out of sight, I moved to hopefully find
it again, but no luck.  I enlisted the aid of another birder present, whose
name I've already managed to forget.   He had been unaware of the presence
of the grebe, but relocated it, and we had excellent views.  At one point,
the bird was in a flotilla of Ruddies, moving at quit a clip, eventually
assuming the lead.  In any case, it was on the south side, in that little
cove that extends south along rt. 121 towards rt. 117.

Kurt Schwarz
HowCo