In between errands yesterday I spent about 2 hours at Loch Raven, birding 
and hiking. The highlights were at least 25 pair of redheads, and 4 pair of Ring-
Necked ducks, on the far side of the resevoir very near the trap-shooting 
place. I first saw what I thought were 8-10 Ring-necked ducks far offshore 
from where everyone feeds the ducks.  I could tell there was a nice group of 
ducks gathered on the opposite shore, very close to the shooting range, 
impossible to identify from the duck-feeding area of shore especially without a 
scope. So I traipsed through the woods on a faint, greenbriar-ridden path and 
observed from a reasonably close spot on the opposite shore (The ducks were 
near the shooting range; I wasn't!) As I was counting the Redheads and 
sorting out the mergansers, the Ring-Necked ducks landed pretty much in 
front of me. Sitting still yields better birds! Four coots running at full tilt across 
the ice towards their comrades on the water was the funniest sight of the 
day. 

I'm not nearly as good as Kevin Graff at counting, so these are conservative 
numbers, but here's my duck list for all spots at Loch Raven that I visited 
yesterday:

Am. Widgeon 15
Redhead 50
Ring-necked ducks 8
Coots (hundreds!)
Horned Grebes 5
Bufflehead 15
Hooded Merganser 18
Common Merganser 35
Mallard 4
Red-necked Grebe & Eurasian Widgeon 0! oh well. 

Claudia