Jane Kostenko and I went to Jefferson Patterson Park in Calvert this morning to look for waterfowl. Last year we found a drake Barrow's Goldeneye. We were hoping he would be back. No such luck. In fact, there were virtually no waterfowl on the river at all. There were only 12 Common Goldeneyes, 2 Horned Grebes, 3 Long-tailed Ducks and 5 Buffleheads. That's it. Usually there is a large scaup flock off of the old Academy of Natural Sciences pier. I'm not sure if the blizzard chased the birds away or not.

We drove down Lloyd Bowen Road and found a flock of 9 Horned Larks foraging along the road edge with several Eastern Bluebirds. Further down the road we ran into a cooperative pair of Savannah Sparrows. At the bend in the road in the pine forest, we had a Fox Sparrow in the road but no Brown-headed Nuthathes. There were several hundred Ruddy Ducks in the creek.

An interesting day out, finally, after being fairly snowbound or shoveling. Wish the BAGO had come back!
 
Tyler Bell

California, Maryland