Early this afternoon (probably 1:45pm?) I was walking home with a friend
along the Paint Branch Trail.  At the swamp, I saw a small raptor which I'm
confident was a Merlin.  There was a crow harassing it at one point and the
crow was substantially larger.  It was perched a little ways off, but twice
flew toward us over the swamp and made a pass at something near/on the logs
or in the water.  The second time I followed it in my binocs, and my general
impression from the shape told me it was a falcon (long pointed wings,
etc.).  Of 3 previous Merlin sightings on the trail, two were at the swamp.
 I didn't really see it, but my friend who was with me said it caught
something and then dropped it.  When I looked a minute later from a
different vantage point it did appear to be eating something, an insect
(dragonfly?) is my guess.  I was able to see heavy, dark streaking on the
chest, but this was the only distinguishing feature I noted at a fair
distance.  If anyone else has suggestions that it might've been something
else, do let me know... I'm not 100% certain.

On Monday, I also saw my first-ever Pied-billed Grebe along the trail north
of UMD campus (it's hard to visit Lake Artemesia and *not* see them, but
this was the first time north of campus).  A single individual was in the
pond at the entrance to the golf course/driving range.

Also in a brief visit to Greenbelt lake in the morning, had a pair of wood
ducks up in the trees (first time I'd actually seen that, they were 20-30'
up or so).  Was able to point that out to my 3-yr old ;)  Otherwise, nothing
too unusual.

Good birding... (bring on the migrants!)
Ryan Farrell
College Park