Hi All,

If you don't like the weather just wait...

Suddenly it's more like winter. I finally went back out to look for the 
EURASIAN TEAL with Nancy today. Although Great Oak Pond is trying to 
freeze up there's sufficient open water to host nine waterfowl species 
including the celebrity teal. The light was a bit better today than on 
Tuesday afternoon and we both could see the bird's broader pale facial 
stripes bordering the green mask as well as its white scapular blaze. 
The big goose flocks were elsewhere while we were at the pond, so 
nothing unusual on that front. It's just as well, the big birds might 
have hidden the little guys.

I took a landing walk today amid a pretty scattering of light 
snowflakes. Best finds were a Winter Wren, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and a 
Field Sparrow, feeding with juncos under a canopy of sweet gum, tulip 
poplar, and red maple; thoroughly out of context. The junco count was 
impressive at 80. Combined with over 20 White-throats they made the 
litter whisper with their scratching.

Good birding,

Walter Ellison

23460 Clarissa Rd
Chestertown, MD 21620

phone: 410-778-9568

e-mail: rossgull(AT)baybroadband.net

"Nothing is as easy as you would like it to be, and nothing is as hard 
as you might fear"