Ken Board and I took a walk around Centennial Lake in Columbia this 
afternoon. A female COMMON GOLDENEYE was in the open water between the 
concession dock and the boat launching ramp, along with 7 HOODED MERGs 
(4m, 3f). A male GREEN-WINGED TEAL was in the open water just outside 
the WMA, and 6 NORTHERN PINTAILS (3m, 3f) were there also (as was a 
beaver!).

There were dozens of Red-winged Blackbirds in the trees in the WMA, 
especially along the south shore, and we heard a few konk-la-REEs as 
they warmed up their rusty throats. We also heard snatches of song that 
sounded very much like a Catbird, but they were short and we couldn't 
find the bird so we're not certain about that one. We also heard a 
Mourning Dove singing ... spring is coming!

The find we were most excited about was a beautiful first-year 
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. I got a quick glimpse of it at the vernal pool in the 
woods near the dam, but not long enough to get an ID. But as we walked 
further down the path, it flew in and perched cooperatively on a snag 
about 20 feet high and not far off the path, giving us terrific views. 
We watched it for about five minutes, and then had to begin sharing our 
binoculars with interested passers-by who stopped to ask us what we were 
looking at and got excited when we told them it was a hawk! The bird 
continued to sit there for another five minutes, but finally the loud 
conversation of a couple of women who had stopped to talk to us made it 
uncomfortable, so it flew to another snag about 20 yards away and 
perched there. This was a life bird for us, so it really made our day!

Sherry
nightheron =at= despammed =dot= com