Hi Everyone,

I spent the last hour of daylight today (12/2) checking Fort Smallwood. The pond hosted a nice collection of waterfowl, the most unusual of which was a hen AMERICAN WIGEON, a species that is generally tough to find in the county. A small flock of GREATER SCAUP just offshore slowly gained mass until two additional large flocks increased its numbers to over 700 birds. While I scanned the flock, I found a single drake REDHEAD, also a nice find here. Here's the full list:

Canada Goose--135
Gadwall--6
American Wigeon--1 hen
American Black Duck--1
Mallard--16
Redhead--1 drake
Greater Scaup--200
Greater/Lesser Scaup--500; impressive roosting flock was gathering at dusk; all that I noted were Greater, but I didn't have enough daylight to study them
Common Goldeneye--1; flyby female
Hooded Merganser--11
Double-crested Cormorant--65; mostly roosting on White Rocks
Great Blue Heron--2
Ring-billed Gull--3
Herring Gull--1
Great Black-backed Gull--2
Belted Kingfisher--1
Red-bellied Woodpecker--1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)--1
Tufted Titmouse--1
Carolina Wren--2
White-throated Sparrow--5
Ranger Matt Grey--the one and only

A handful of photos from the last three days:

http://www.billhubick.com/new_set.html

Good birding,

Bill

Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland

http://www.billhubick.com