I was at Schoolhouse pond today to look for gulls but my timing was bad.  As I got out of my vehicle and approached the pond, an im. Bald Eagle got the all the gulls up, and then it proceeded to hunt, and I  watched it catch a catfish.  It was about 10:30am, and Anna Urciolo was (sp?) there also.  She had not seen anything unusual there either.  The eagle flew away with the catfish and the gulls returned.  There were less than a hundred, mostly Ring-billeds with only about 3 Herrings.  The eagle (presumable the same) then returned, and got the birds up again, and then it was clear to us that the biting cold wind was going to win today, so we headed back to the car.

However, just as we were getting to our cars, I saw a swan come in, and it turned out to be a Trumpeter.  I can't say if it was #962, because it had no wing tag(s?), and landed on the water so I could not see any bands either.  It proceeded to trumpet (honk!) and called a lot.  The last time I saw #962 (this fall) it had at least one wing tag (yellow), and I can't remember if it had two.

I wonder if it is the same bird - any thoughts?

We also saw a few nice waterfowl at the pond including Mallards, N. Shovelor, A. Black Duck, N. Pintail, Wood Duck, Canada Goose.

Prior to looking at Schoolhouse Pond, I looked at the Western Branch Sewage Treatment Plant for possible Caves Swallows, but found none of course.   I have never looked for any there, but after hearing about the ones on th eeastern shore, I figured what the heck, it's worth a look.  The facility is closed to the public but you can looko through teh chain link fence and see much of the facility.

I also looked for a swallow or winter gulls around Jug Bay but found none.  No surprises there!  I have been seeing a couple Great Black backed gulls lately but that's it for uncommon gulls.  At Jug Bay I saw no unusual birds of any sort, and I must say the weather was truly a test of willpower.  Only the most stubborn birders would put up with that wind - looking at (only) common birds for 30 minutes in gusty arctic (for MD) weather - ugh!  The wind coming across open water was relentless, and almost all of the birds were inactive.  Passerines were nonexistent.

But I tried, and I had fun!

Better luck next time-
Jeff Shenot
Croom MD