Thursday, Fiona and I walked down to Calvert Cliffs and spotted a RED-HEADED
WOODPECKER giving a dead tree a concussion. Life bird for me...I've only
been doing this for about 8 months...but I thought I'd pass it along. It was
in the swamp about 1/2 of a mile from the cliff end of the trail, and i got
a couple of mediocre snapshots of it (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattyfioner).

Right before we passed the swamp, we saw a Cooper's Hawk grab a rodent on
the "dry side". We flushed it twice before it hauled it off to eat in peace.

Also seen there, but less "whoop-di-doo", downy woodpeckers, flickers, red
bellied, yellow-rumped warblers, cardinals, robins, hears a couple of jays,
buffleheads (in the bay and swamp) and a common loon. 

If you are a mountain biker who enjoys riding on trails closed to cyclists,
it is not necessary to ask two people peering at the tops of trees with
binoculars "Are you birding?" Ok, we might have been a squirrel enthusiasts. 

Happy Holidays, and happy birding!
Matt