I had the day off today and visited a variety of places in southern Prince George's County.  Probably the best birds of the day were 4 Redheads at Wharf Road, 3 Bonaparte's Gulls at Depot Pond, and 1 Cackling Goose at Merkle.  More details for each stop are below:

Wharf Road - 800+ Ruddy Ducks, 300+ Ring-necked Ducks, both species of scaup, 4 Redheads, 31 Canvasback, several dozen Gadwall, 98 Tundra Swan, and 1 Bonaparte's Gull.  There were also lots of Ring-billed and Herring Gulls, plus one Great Black-backed Gull.  A small group of Killdeer was on the distant shore.  Viewing conditions were difficult as the choppy water meant that birds were constantly bobbing in and out of view.

Mockley Point - 95 Gadwall, 15 American Wigeon, 24 Black Ducks, 130 Mallards, 25 Buffleheads, 40 Ruddy Ducks, 1 Tundra Swan, 15 Canada Geese, several Cormorants, and a couple dozen Ring-billed Gulls.  The largest flock of ducks was towards the Virginia shore and beyond the distance where I could do much with them, at least given the strong winds.  The wind was brutal here.

Depot Pond - 224 Ring-billed Gulls, 196 Herring Gulls, 7 Laughing Gulls, 2 Great Black-backed Gulls, and 3 adult Bonaparte's Gulls.  Also present were some Hooded Mergansers and 1 Mute Swan.

Merkle - 1,320 Canada Geese and 1 Cackling Goose.  Also present were a few Mallards, lots of Juncos, 1 White-breasted Nuthatch, 1 Cardinal, and several Jays.  I was unable to find any of the usual sparrows around the feeders.

Good birding,

Fred Shaffer

Crofton, Anne Arundel