Greetings and Happy New Year,

I realize that is a late post and I am sure that these species have been 
noted already for the year's state tally; but, here are my first of the 
year birds...

I only birded for a couple of hours in the late afternoon. I walked a loop 
through the woods on the extreme tip of Hances Point south of North East in 
Cecil County. highlights, for me, included first of the season Hermit 
Thrush and Winter Wren, as well as, Black-capped Chickadee, Red-brested 
Nuthatch and Two owl sp. Great-horned Owl, which is safe now for the 
atlast, was nice to hear. below is my list (37 species).

January 1, 2006:
Great Blue Heron
Canada Goose
Mallard
Common Merg
Red-shouldered Hawk
Bald Eagle (7!)
Ring-billed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Horned Owl
Eastern Schreech Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker (12)
Northern Flicker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 
Winter Wren
Carolina Wren
Red-breasted Nuthatch (1)
White-breasted Nuthatch
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Carolina Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadee (many)
Tufted Titmouse
Northern Mockingbird
Eastern bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Crow
Fish Crow
Starling
Northern Cardinal
Dark-eyed Junco (First bird of the year for me)
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
American Goldfinch

The next day I added Common goldeneye and Mute Swan which were on the North 
East River off of Hances Point. These may be the first Mute Swan I have 
ever seen on the North East River. :(

Good Birding,
Chris Starling
North East, MD