I spent a couple of hours birding first thing this morning at Hughes Hollow.  As people have been remarking there certainly are a lot of sparrows in our area at the moment.  After walking only 200 yds along the main dike I'd come across 10 species.  Best was a Vesper Sparrow, washed quite buffy underneath.  Also nice was my first Fox Sparrow of the season.  Others were many White-throated and Song, Swamp (less than 2 weeks ago), Chipping, Field, Savannah, White-crowned (around 5 1st year birds), and Dark-eyed Junco.
   
  There was a good flock of Rusty Blackbird present - about 100 in view at one time, but probably 2 or 3 times that and a very vocal Red-headed Woodpecker that I never saw.  Also some good views of Winter Wren (for a change).  Lots of both Kinglets; only warblers were Yellow-rumped, Yellowthroat (one) and several Eastern Palm Warblers.
   
  I checked out a few areas as far as West Offutt Rd to see if there were other sparrows around.  I found a Marsh Wren working a hedgerow which was a bit of a surprise.
   
  Lots of birds around, would've liked to have been out for more than a couple of hrs..
   
  Regards
   
  Clive Harris
  Cabin John, MD