Hey everyone-

I was going to be celebrating Christmas on Friday with my family in
Salisbury, so I went down early on Wednesday the 26th so I could scout for
and participate in the Ocean City Christmas Count. 
On Thursday, I joined Jim Rapp for a day of Worcester County and Delaware
birding.  In scouting for the Ocean City Count, we were able to find a pair
of Harlequin Ducks in the marina on Dorchester Street in Ocean City.  These
birds ended up being some of if not the only Harleys found on the count!  We
then went up to Indian River Inlet and Cape Henlopen, where the only really
out-of-place sighting was that of around twenty surfers in the frigid waters
at Indian River!
On Friday, I joined Jim, Dave Wilson, and Carrie Samas for the Count.  Our
territory included some farms near Ocean City in the morning, and South
Point in the afternoon.  About halfway through covering the first farm
(Harrison Farm), we saw a Cooper's Hawk feasting on a goose carcass in the
middle of the field I was able to get within fifteen or twenty feet of this
bird, and watched in wonder and with a little chuckle as, each time I inched
closer, the bird would flare out its wings and cover the carcass as if to
say "This is mine!"  After finishing at Harrison Farm and Purdue Farm, we
met some other birders at the boat ramp for lunch, where Norm Saunders
casually told us that a DOVEKIE was hanging out on the rocks on the Ocean
City jetty.  We hopped in our cars and sped down to the jetty, where we
almost immediately found the little penguin-looking bird gazing up at us
from the rocks about ten feet below the railing.  By laying on my belly on
the rocks so as not to intimidate the bird, I was able to get within five or
six feet of it, a really fascinating experience.  This life bird, in
addition to the fifteen Northern Bobwhite that we found at Purdue Farm (the
onnly ones of the Count), made for a fantastic day of winter birding.  

The photos are at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicobirdphotos/

Nico Sarbanes
Baltimore, MD