I squeezed in some year birding and photography yesterday since I head back to school in a couple days.  I started at Elliot Island, then headed to Blackwater, Cambridge, Eagle's Nest Campground, and finished up at the OC inlet.  

I got all four AMERICAN WHITE PELICANs at Blackwater with ease but was not so fortunate with the Harlequin.  I spent a good while looking about midday without luck.

When I arrived at the flats at Eagle's Nest, there were none to be found due to the very high tide.  Dipping on my chance at the lingering godwits, I picked up EURASIAN WIGEON on my way out.  Only saw one drake.  The wigeon were hiding behind the little grass hills out of the water so they were hard to see.  There were a fair amount of people at the clubhouse so I didn't wander around too much.  BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCHes were all over the place.  

There were a good number of PURPLE SANDPIPERS and RUDDY TURNSTONES on the jetties at the inlet.  More so than I remember seeing durign the past several trips.  A photogenic AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER was an added bonus.  The same two COMMON EIDERs that have been hanging around for a while were seen about 30 meters northeast from the tip of the South jetty.  One RED-THROATED LOON was present among the several COMMON LOONs.  LONG-TAILED DUCKs, BUFFLEHEAD, and SURF and BLACK SCOTERs were also present.

Overall, I turned out to have a very good day for photography despite crummy light at times.  Thanks to George for continuing to give me advice.  Below is a link to some of yesterday's photographs:

http://www.pbase.com/mbird023

Cheers and good birding!
Mike Burchett
Churchville, MD
Morgantown, WV