Folks

About the best bird Gwen and I found on the Ft. Belvoir CBC (MD side) were 
four Rusty Blackbirds.  These animals were at the Hard Bargain Farm in a low 
wetland section near the Potomac River.  There were two males and two 
females.  This is a species of concern for me since they seem to be harder 
and harder to find.  The large flock that spent last winter with me at the 
house in Waldorf never returned.  Only a couple fly bys so far.

Other birds of interest were a good collection of ducks on the river along 
the boardwalk at Piscataway Park.  Gwen and I had about 15 species of 
waterfowl which included 32, if I remember correctly, Redhead Ducks.  Other 
waterfowl encountered during the walk to Mockley Point were two Tundra Swan, 
~ 200 Canada Good, lots of Gadwall, good numbers of Mallards, perhaps 30 
Black Duck, maybe 20 Canvasbacks, Am. Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser 
Scaup, Bufflehead, all three mergansers (only one Red-breasted and two 
Hooded), and Ruddy Duck.  Gwen can supplement the accurate numbers if she 
wishes.  We also had six American Coot.  This would be a good spot for the 
all county listers to visit for their waterfowl ticks.  It is in P.G. 
county.

We only had three Bald Eagles the whole day, which is astonishing along this 
stretch of the river.  A possible Merlin was quickly observed but not long 
enough to put to species.  It does not always pay to carry your tripod, 
camera, and binoculars while hiking through the grass looking for sparrows. 
Eye examination of a small, dark raptor, flying low away can leave doubts in 
ones mind.  We did have two Brown Creepers near Mockley Point and a Brown 
Thrasher earlier on the trail.  The sparrow numbers and species were real 
low plus only eight Eastern Meadowlarks were found.  Another species of 
concern.

At the Parris Glendening State Park we encountered all seven species of 
woodpeckers in the late afternoon.  Most of our walk, starting from Rt. 224 
toward the power line, was quiet, but the woodpeckers made the hike worth 
while.

"Scratchy" the Fox Sparrow returned to the yard late last night for his 
first visit of the year.  He and his friends took a couple days off before 
returning at dusk.  A yard year tick.

George