After getting off to a somewhat late start, I spent yesterday
afternoon on the lower Eastern Shore.  My first stop in Somerset was
the Messick Road pond, where I relocated the continuing BLUE-WINGED
TEAL (now up to 12) found by Joe Hanfman and Jeff Culler on Monday.
After that, I went to Riley Roberts Road to try for the Eurasian
Wigeon.  By that time, however, the wind was blowing so hard and
shaking my scope so badly that I could not pick out the bird from the
large raft of American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, and pintail.

I ended the afternoon at the East Impoundment at Fairmount WMA, where
I saw most of the good birds found by the Montgomery Bird Club field
trip last Saturday:  several hundred GREEN-WINGED TEAL, a few NORTHERN
PINTAIL, 18 DUNLIN, 9 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, 2 GREATER YELLOWLEGS,
and a WILLET.  Although the numbers of gulls were much less than that
reported on the field trip, I am reasonably confident that I saw both
of the unusual small gulls - the BLACK-HEADED GULL, as well as the
suspected hybrid.


Elaine Hendricks
Greenbelt, MD  (PG County)