Yesterday we had a beautiful pair of purple finches staying around and 
filling up on black sunflower seeds at the tube feeder.  We had about four 
PUFIs here somewhat regularly in December, but they dissapeared and until 
now I had not seen any this year.  Nice to see them again!

The surprise of the day was a lone fox sparrow doing its thing under the 
pines.  Like George J. says, the nickname "Scratchy" is appropriate.  It 
is fun watching their comical repetitive scratching as they hunt for food. 
I report this sighting because we had them here last winter most of the 
winter; not every day but at least 2-3 times a week (most at one time was 
5).  It seems like they favor hunting for food under our pines, but 
interestingly, this is the first FOSP we've had here since last winter.  I 
never saw any during fall migration.  I'm curious to see if it returns 
today or if any more show up.  They seem to be present more often when the 
weather is really wintery - the worse it gets the more they feed here.

Last year I had a great "yard" list (which I just sent in to Norm); it was 
my first ever and I gave it a big effort.  I had a lot of fun but I have 
not decided whether to do it again this year; I didn't get out elsewhere 
as much last year and may wish to do more this year.  So far it has been a 
good start (for both!); I did most of my New Year's Day birding at home 
and it was a really good day with 51 species here.  And, I did venture 
over to Tuscarora this week to see our now famous visitor, and it was very 
rewarding.  Wow!  Given the current typical winter scenery, the TOWA is a 
spectacularly beautiful bird; it was also nice to see some other birders.  
MD is such a beautiful state!

Cheers!
Jeff Shenot
Croom MD