Hi all,
     My girlfriend Eliza Toomey and I started the morning off in Cambridge
for the waterfowl trio at the High Street Marina.  Thinking we would be the
first to arrive (just after sunrise) we pulled up to see that many birders
were already searching for the birds.  Thankfully the TUFTED DUCK and
BARROW'S GOLDENEYE had already been located and I enjoyed views from my
scope for several minutes.  Also present near the shore mixed in with a few
mallards and American wigeons was the EURASIAN WIGEON. Other birds in the
area were surf scoter, long-tailed duck, common goldeneye, scaup,
buffleheads, and a large flock of canvasbacks said to hold a redhead which I
could not locate.  As I was leaving a large flock (100+) of tundra swans
flew over.
     Our next stop was Assateague island where we were prepared to march
down and see the SNOWY OWL.  We were successful in locating one of the two
reported owls about 3.5 miles down from the ORV entrance.  Along the way we
saw several common loons, sanderlings, and a few bald eagles.  Also a
Northern Gannet flew by as we were headed back.
     Our final stop for the day (the trek down the beach ate up several
hours) was over at Vessy's Orchard to find the LARK SPARROW which I had
twice searched for and struck out.  Today was a different story however and
I found him near the fallen down chicken coop singing away.  He kept
flushing out to the field only to circle back around to the chicken coop
area.  Also present at Vessy's Orchard were savannah and song sparrows,
myrtle warblers, meadowlarks, many bluebirds, and a Red-tailed hawk.  Whew!!
A good day with lots of birds and now I am ready for bed.

Good Birding,
Chris Murray
Annapolis