Hi Everyone,

I had an exciting surprise while showing my mom around Assateague and Ocean City today (12/26). At about 1:15 p.m., while looking out at the Ocean City Inlet, I suddenly heard a loud "CHIT-CHIT!" and looked up as I gasped. An erratically flying finch came out of nowhere and landed in a small landscaped area right along the water. When I raised my binoculars in disbelief, I confirmed that it was a male COMMON REDPOLL, but unfortunately, it didn't wait for me to raise my camera. It flew off along the west end of the parking lot, and we didn't relocate it despite some searching. After a late lunch, we headed back to Assateague to walk Shell Road and near the dunes in case the bird was part of a large fallout. We found only a couple siskins, but that doesn't mean there weren't more redpolls around. 

A hell of a surprise!  

Like I said, I didn't get any photos of the redpoll, but here are some other recent updates, if interested:

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

Happy holidays,

Bill

Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland

http://www.billhubick.com