Pine Siskins finally made it to Cabin John - or at least to my feeder - when two showed up this afternoon amongst the hordes of goldfinch that have been around for a week now.  Nice to have them here but despite this being an irruption year I've not had more Siskin or Purple Finch than usual so far.
   
  I took my 2 youngest kids out birding early this afternoon.  At Violette's Lock we had great views of a Red-shouldered Hawk catching and then devouring a small snake.  The fuss kicked up some sparrows including two very cooperative Fox Sparrows.
   
  At Hughes Hollow we saw four Common Ravens fly over fairly low.  For the 45 mins we were there one or more Ravens were calling regularly.  We also had several Purple Finch and a Yellow Palm Warbler.
   
  Regards
   
  Clive Harris
  Cabin John, MD