Hello all,

I had to go to Leesburg, VA today for a meeting, so I planned my route to go by Black Hill Regional Park in Montgomery County. I stopped at the still iced over parking area on the south side of the bridge on MD-121. Arriving at about 7:30 AM, I first scanned the various birds on the west side of the bridge. Nothing special there, just the usual suspects, although a good variety of species. I then scanned the east side of the bridge and found the Red-necked Grebe to be in the center of the largest area of open water between the visitor center on the far side of the lake and my viewing point from the parking area. Being in somewhat of a hurry, I did not take an inventory of all the species observed and their numbers.

On my return from Leesburg to Westminster, I dropped through Point of Rocks to New Design Road in hopes of finding a large flock of Horned Larks and maybe a few longspurs. Other than a few larks on the sides of the road, I was unsuccessful in my search. I covered New Design Road, Ballenger Creek Pike, Buckeystown Pike, and many of the connecting roads. Maybe they've moved to Anne Arundel County?    ;^)

Ed Boyd
Westminster, MD