Greetings,

I had to make a run to Manchester this afternoon, so on my way back to Westminster I swung north on MD route 97 to make a run by the Study Road pond to see what was there. After turning off Bachman Valley Road on 97 I had to drive past the Humane Society pond on the right before Union Mills and found a Mute Swan in with all of the Mallards and Canada Geese on the pond. I can't remember if this is bird was placed here or if it's wondered in on its own. Bob, can you shed some light on this, I just can't remember?

Anyway, the Study Road pond still has a fair amount of open water, I'm sure due to the inflow of fresh water from the pipe on the hill towards the house. The geese were plentiful today, far more than were there last weekend when Jim Stasz and I looked over the area twice on Sunday. Most of the birds were on the grass field and in the corn field up on the hill behind the pond from the road. It was here that I found the two White-fronted Geese today. After about 10 minutes, the geese moved down to the pond and I last saw them mixed in with Canadas in the open water near the water pipe. I also found at least one Cackling Goose and there were many more Lesser Canada Geese here than we observed last week, so I suspect that the White-fronts are mingling with these flocks. In addition to the ducks that were here last week, two Ring-necked Ducks have joined the party. They were not observed last week either. 

Ed Boyd
Westminster, MD