Hi Everyone,

Rob and Wendy Olsson and I spent a fun day (9:40am-5:10pm) at Eastern Neck NWR, but failed to cross paths with the Western Kingbird.  We did see J.B. Churchill, who had been patrolling the area since the refuge opened.  He didn't find the kingbird either.  We ran into multiple birders who related the same story--no kingbird.  Perhaps the bird is still around, but it certainly didn't seem to be frequenting its recent haunts; we explored other areas too with no luck.  Rob captured the spirit of the day--plenty of donuts, coffee, and 4th grade humor--as follows:  "We're having so much fun looking for the Western Kingbird, I hope we never find it."

The birding was good, with waterfowl diversity (numbers mainly conservative estimates) one of the highlights:

Cackling Goose     1
Canada Goose     5000
Mute Swan     2
Tundra Swan     40
Gadwall     2
American Wigeon     10
American Black Duck     150
Mallard     122
Northern Pintail     1
Ring-necked Duck     1
Greater Scaup     35
Greater/Lesser Scaup     200
Surf Scoter     12
White-winged Scoter     2
Black Scoter     2
Long-tailed Duck     6
Bufflehead     38
Common Goldeneye     25
Common Merganser     1
Red-breasted Merganser     9
Ruddy Duck     23

Have fun,

Ron Gutberlet
Salisbury, MD