With the recent thaw a few ducks seem to be on the move. On my walk in to work today across Patterson Park I noticed a female Hooded Merganser on the lake, my first record of this species here. Other ducks, which have been around for a couple of days now are: 3 Ring-necked Duck, 1 Bufflehead, 1 Wood Duck, 1 Black Duck and the usual gaggle of 40+ mallards.

Another nice sight was a pair of Cooper's hawks doing courtship display flights over the lake. They were both immature birds so they may not be serious yet. Other birds in the park are somewhat few, although we have had a male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker spend the winter here.

Good birding.

Dave

David Curson, PhD
Director of Bird Conservation,
Audubon MD-DC,
2437 Eastern Avenue,
Baltimore  MD  21224
Tel: (410) 558 2473
E-mail: