Karen and I had not gotten out in a while and we went after several birds  
today. 
 
We saw the Iceland Gull at about 8:45 behind Hemingways Restaurant as has  
been posted previously. It was both in the water and up on the rocks at the  
bottom of the concrete embankment. After watching it for about 10 minutes 
it  flew around the corner toward the bridge. That was a life bird for me and 
a  state bird for Karen.
 
Next, we then went after the Golden-crowned Sparrow. After waiting about  
1.5 hours, the bird came out and started feeding right next to our car. The 
bird  was about 50' up from the break in the hedgerow toward the office on 
the  opposite side of the road from the break. We watched and took photos of 
the bird  for about 30 minutes. Before the bird appeared, my car wouldn't 
start and Ross  Geredien jumped it for us. Thanks Ross. That saved us a lot of 
headache.
 
We then drove to Ft. Armistead and found the Harlequin Duck swimming toward 
 the dock at about 2:30.
 
Finally we drove to Frederick County to try for the White-winged Dove. If  
you saw the post by Tyler Bell with the forward of an email from Esther 
Smith,  we were the two birders that got there a few minutes after it flew. It 
is the  latest addition to the "Missed by Five Minutes" list.
 
Some photos of the Golden-crowned Sparrow and the Harlequin Duck can be  
found at the link below.
 
_http://picasaweb.google.com/aplbirder/RecentBirdPhotos_ 
(http://picasaweb.google.com/aplbirder/RecentBirdPhotos) #
 
 
Kevin Heffernan
 
Ellicott City
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