Hi Everybody: 

     I started and ended my day in Carroll County. My first destination was Cranberry Reservoir; I arrived shortly after 10 AM and there was not alot there. There were 48 Canada Geese, 2 male Bufflehead and 2 male Ring-necked Ducks. The ring-necked Ducks were my first of the year. 

     On my way to Hashawa I had a lucky spotting of a N. Harrier on Rt 97 about 1/2 mile north of Magna Way. There was an open field on the east and that is where I first saw the bird. I did a quick U-turn, safely pulled over and refound the Harrier. He dropped to the field and then came up with a mouselike rodent. It then flew to my side of the road, again dropped to the ground and after a minute flew off to the west with his newly acquired next meal. This was my closeout #105. Once I turned onto John Owings Road I saw a second N. Harrier flying along the top of the steep field on the left just before you reach the roadside pond at Hashawa. Both of the N. Harriers were males and I feel confident that they were two different birds. (I later talked to Bob Ringler and he mentioned that they had 5 N. Harriers on last weekend's Carroll County Winter Count).

I spent about 1 hour at Hashawa looking for Black-capped Chickadees but had no luck. I then drove over to Ft. Armistead and was there from 12:20 to 2:45 but the Harlequin Duck failed to make an appearance. Glad to read that David Yeaney had it earlier in the day. While I was there a sizable ice flow went by with the current with the usual common gulls expected on it. The far left gull was an adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED.

I then worked my way back west into Carroll County and ended the day at Piney Run County Park (I was there from 4:20 to 5:10 PM). As I approached the lake from outside the entrance I heard a Barred Owl call several times. The vast majority of the lake is frozen. The area that is open was filled with Canada Geese. The entire time I was there small groups were dropping out of the sky and onto the lake. The highlight was on my second scan with the scope when I found a RED-THROATED LOON. It was slowly swimming in the opposite direction of the geese and was diving every 3-4 minutes. As 5 PM approached and alot more geese constantly moved in and congregated on the ice in front of the open water making it increasingly difficult to follow. At one point it flew about 40 feet, landed and the moved back to where I originally saw it. Other waterfowl present were 48 Black Ducks, 2 Bufflehead, 11 Ruddy Ducks 3 American Coots and 2 Northern Pintail. It was difficult to count the Canada Geese but I feel that 2500-3000 was a conservative estimate.

Jim Green
Gaithersburg, MD

work in moderation, BIRD IN EXCESS!!!