Hi,

I visited the Cambridge area today from 7:30 to 11:30.  When I arrived I
saw only a few ducks near the marina and the strong wind blowing up the
river along with the resultant chop made it very difficult to get good
looks at the birds offshore.  There was a huge raft of Canvasbacks
between the Marina and Great Marsh Park and I saw American Widgeon,
Greater and lesser Scaup, Ruddy Ducks, Long-tailed Ducks, Tundra Swans,
American Goldeneye, Buffleheads, Surf Scoters and a Black Scoter from
Great Marsh Park - nice birds, but none of the ducks I was hoping for.
When I returned to the Marina I was relived to find the Tufted Duck
where it had been seen previously between the concrete piers at the exit
of the marina.  I hoped that the Barrow's Goldeneye would also reappear
so I hung out for a while and walked around the perimeter of the marina
several times but the only birds I saw in the marina were 3 Scaup, 2
Buffleheads, a Long-tailed Duck and a few Mallard.  

I did not see a sign-in sheet while I was there and figured that the
person responsible had enough sense to stay out of the wind and cold.  I
obviously did not.

When I first arrived there was some ice on the concrete pier (the one
that is generally open to the public).  Folks who will be birding there
in the next few days should be watchful - a slip into the water could be
catastrophic.

I ran into several people over the course of the morning including Cyrus
Vance (spp?), a fellow Howard Countian.  I did not hear any reports of
the Barrow's Goldeneye or Eurasian Widgeon.

I did not see any workers on the docks between 7:30 and 11:30, but it is
a big area and someone could have come through while I was walking the
perimeter.  In fact, I saw no one other than birders.  Since I saw no
nonbirders for us to interact with I saw no bad interactions.  It does
seam to be common sense that we should stay out of the way of any
workers or patrons.  Hopefully we will do better in the future.


I also did not cross the 'Members only' line at the yacht club, nor see
anyone on my side of the line to ask permission, so I did not check
behind the yacht club building where Les saw the Goldeneyes hanging out.
Hopefully the Barrow's will stick around and give me another chance.

Despite the cold it was a great day to get out.  Best of luck to others
in the coming days!

Tom

Tom Feild/599
GOES N-P Mission Systems Engineer
NASA/GSFC
Greenbelt, Md 20771
301.286.6686