Hello all.  Yesterday was very enjoyable; I worked from home and went out 
("lunch break!") to North Beach to see the rufous hummer at Jim Stasz's.  
Many thanks to Jim for the invite!!  The hummer took longer than usual 
while I was there, if there is such a thing as a usual time between 
feedings during winter!  I arrived 2-3 minutes after it had just fed and 
fled, and it was close to an hour before it returned.  Meanwhile, the wait 
was very enjoyable, due to conversation from Jim and several nice folks 
that were also waiting, and also due to the sunny and pleasant winter 
weather.  I had never seen a hummer in winter and it was very exciting.

Back at home (Jug Bay area), I enjoyed the increased level of bird 
activity resulting from the previous night's 2-3" snowfall and winter 
weather.  I tallied 46 species from the confines of my house, including 16 
at the various feeders we have out.  The 30 others were seen in the yard 
or behind the house at Jug Bay.  I saw 3 additional species while out 
playing in the snow with the kids.

Notables (based on hopes of seeing them next week for the Christmas count) 
were:

Pied-billed Grebe 1
Northern Pintail 4
Ring-necked Duck 1
Ruddy Duck 34
Mallard 32
Am Black Duck 13
Canada Goose 100+/- (looked for other geese but did not count)
American Coot 1
Wilson's Snipe 5
Bald Eagle 3 (2 ad., 1 im.)
Red-S. Hawk 1 ad.
Red-T. Hawk 2 ad.
No. Harrier 3, incl. 2 juv. and 1 beautiful adult male
Ring-billed Gull 180+/-
Herring Gull 30
Great Black Backed Gull 1 ad.
Myrtle Warbler 1
Eastern Towhee 2
S-C. Junco 17
Wh. Thr. Sparrow 15
Song Sparrow 2
Swamp Sparrow 2

I look forward to Sunday the 18th and the Christmas Count...
Cheers!

Jeff Shenot
Croom MD