Hi Folks,

The birds seen by Elaine and me in our yard today were not of great
consequence, but our being at home almost all day following last night's
beautiful snowfall made the day special, and we had quite a flurry of
activity.  Our home in Ferndale (northern AA County)  is almost urban--we
have eleven other houses surrounding us, but we have a full acre lot with
about 115 trees on it, and the yard does attract some interesting birds.  We
are indebted to Bill Hubick, who loaned us his squirrel-proof (really!)
feeding station when he moved from his house to an apartment a few months
back; the setup has brought us countless hours of bird-watching enjoyment.
Today's list:

1.  Hawk, sp.--1 (flew behind some trees, prohibiting ID; we've had
Red-tail, Red-shoulder, and Cooper's in the past 3 weeks)
2.  Ring-billed Gull--1 flyover
3.  Rock Pigeon--1 flyby
4.  Mourning Dove--41 (the feed doesn't last long when they're around)
5.  Red-bellied Woodpecker--1 male
6.  Downy Woodpecker--pair
7.  Blue Jay--1
8.  Am. Crow--2
9.  Carolina Chickadee--2 (one was checking out one of our nest boxes a few
days ago)
10.  Tufted Titmouse--2
11.  Red-breasted Nuthatch--1 responded to my RBNU calls (thanks to Walter
Ellison and Nancy Martin for teaching me that this can actually work!)
12.  Carolina Wren--2
13.  Am. Robin--3 flyovers
14.  N. Mockingbird--ate holly berries and an earthworm; hung around feeders
most of day trying, unsuccessfully, to eat some seeds; was an unexpected
ally, chasing the starlings away from the feeders!
15.  Eur. Starling--4 at feeders; about 40 flyovers
16.  Song Sparrow--1
17.  White-throated Sparrow--9 (small number today)
18.  Dark-eyed Junco--31
19.  N. Cardinal--8 (4m 4f)
20.  Common Grackle--2, plus a few flyovers
21.  House Finch--4 (3m 1f)
22.  Am. Goldfinch--3
23.  House Sparrow--pair

No-shows today included sapsucker, flicker, creeper, and White-breasted
Nuthatch.

Too bad the backyard bird count isn't till next weekend, when we won't have
as much opportunity to count.

Stan Arnold
Glen Burnie