Don Jewell and I covered the northeast corner of the county for the Frederick County Winter Count yesterday. Personal highlights were my first Purple Finches of the season, a flock of 21 that included only one adult male, a Barred Owl that we flushed from the ground and sat for some close photos by Don, and a Black-capped Chickadee that came in with a flock of small birds for close examination though it called only once. In this forest-poor teritory we had only 10 Carolina Chickadees for the day. Symptomatic of the mild season were our 57 Carolina Wrens which must be doing well this winter. Other highlights included our four species of ducks in an area where the ponds are usually entirely frozen in late January. We found 43 Black Ducks on one pond, more than were recorded in any other territory, and two Ring-necked Ducks were unusual also; the pair of Common Mergansers on the Monocacy River were not unexpected. Two pairs of Red-shouldered Hawks in sight at one time was a pleasant surprise because that species is usually hard to find here. One Red-headed Woodpecker was a welcome addition to our list as were three Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, three Savannah Sparrows, the only Fox Sparrow for the count, and two Swamp Sparrows.
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Bob Ringler
Eldersburg MD