Hi all,

I've decided to start a new Life List which will be entitled "Number  
of mornings spent walking around various locales in DC looking for  
Purple Finches without any success whatsoever".  So far, the List is  
up to 12.  Sigh...   The season is young, hopefully the List won't get  
too big.

I did have about 50 House Finches at LBJ Grove, which took a good  
while to sort through just in case. That was the largest number of  
Finches I've seen in one place.  And a Red-breasted Nuthatch yank- 
yanking up a storm at the tip of Haines Point.  Otherwise, nothing of  
note, and certainly no Purple Finches, Pine Siskins, Crossbills,  
Evening Grosbeaks, or any other fun winter birds.

Cheers,
Steve Hersey
Alexandria, VA