Hi, All

My husband and I joked as we entered Blackwater on Saturday as to "how 
much" the American white pelicans were costing us. However, on this second 
trip, we found them. With snow blowing in our faces, we found a mound of 
white feathers that fortunately had one very conspicuous orange bill 
protruding!

We missed the ruff, but we found two short-eared owls perched on posts in 
the wetlands areas that gave us some great views.

In the refuge itself we also saw the following:
downy woodpecker
hairy woodpecker
golden-crowned kinglet
ruby-crowned kinglet
brown-headed nuthatch
brown creeper
hermit thrush
Carolina chickadee
swamp sparrow
song sparrow
white-throated sparrow
Carolina wren
northern shoveler
norther pintail
American black duck
tundra swan
dunlin
bald eagle
great blue heron
northern harrier
snow geese
Canada geese

We were also glad to see several groups of wild turkeys in the fields along 
the loop road as well as a male ring-necked phesanat that promendaded in 
front of our car. There were also 3 eastern meadowlarks that flushed from a 
field.

Hooper's Island was a little disappointing with not the usual rafts of 
ducks. However, we did see:
mute swans
surf scoters
buffleheads
lesser scaup
long-tailed duck
common loon
common goldeneye

Joy Peters
Germantown, MD