I have been birding around the Tidal Basin and the Lincoln Monument
since the first week of the new year, but I have had nothing amazing to
report.  And I still don't.

However, I can say that portions of the Potomac, the Washington Channel,
and most of the Tidal Basin are frozen over!  Of course this is exciting
news for gull fans, since we may get some aggregations on the Tidal
Basin if conditions persist.  Today there were several dozen birds on
the ice, almost all of them adult Ring-billed gulls, with a few Herring
gulls and fewer Greater Black-backed thrown in.  There were no dead fish
floating under the ice in the Tidal Basin (the tantalizing feast that
seems to attract the gulls).  There was a single dead fish under the ice
in the Washington Channel.
   I recommend monitoring this situation while ice is on the water.  I
plan to take some trips down to the Tidal Basin, and will report when I
do so.  
   In other news, both a Cooper's Hawk and a Red-tailed were hunting the
Mall, despite all the cleanup activity and the considerable remaining
crowds.  There was also a Pied-billed Grebe in the open water by the
Tidal Basin boat house.

Jim

Jim Felley
Smithsonian Institution