Just had 2 COMMON RAVENS fly by our property in West Laurel 
(PG County), harassed by AMERICAN CROWS.  There was a TURKEY 
VULTURE up there too, so it was a nice exercise in 
distinguishing these species.  One of the ravens made a 
distinct croaking sound, which grabbed my attention, then I 
got a good look at the unmistakable tail (plus the bird was 
bigger than the crows of course).  That's yard bird #106. 
The one was joined by a second shortly afterward, and they 
did a little aerial dance before flying off.  Ravens have 
been spotted recently at the nearby Rocky Gorge Reservoir, 
so it was only a matter of time before they came by here I 
suppose (I thought I had one last year, but didn't get a 
good enough look at it).

Otherwise today's FeederWatch has been unremarkable, maybe 
because of the winds.  Did have a COOPER'S HAWK fly in 
though and make a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD freeze on one of the 
feeders for five minutes, before the raptor flew off.  Other 
birds of interest include a female HAIRY WOODPECKER at the 
suet, and a RED-TAILED HAWK flying over (again harassed by 
crows).

-Derek

-- 
Derek C. Richardson, Laurel, PG County, MD
http://www.astro.umd.edu/~dcr/Archives/Photos/birds.html