My son Ben and I birded Sandy Point for about an hour and a half early this afternoon.  The highlight was one flyover, calling Snow Bunting.  We apparently flushed the bird on the beach about 1/4 mile or so north of the lighthouse parking lot.  It flew overhead of us in two or three broad circles, calling as it went.  We got pretty good views of the bird from below and, more briefly, from the side when in came closer to the ground.  We saw the bird for 30 seconds or so before is disappeared from view to the south.  

Other birds present included a large flock of scaup (mostly Greater), smaller numbers of Bufflehead and Common Goldeneye, and one each of Canvasback and Long-tailed Duck.  We had a medium sized group of gulls to sort through consisting of Great Black-backed, Herring, and Ring-billed Gulls.  

The Snow Bunting sighting marked the end of a remarkable streak of lack of success finding those birds at Sandy Point for me.  I haven't had them at Sandy Point since the early 90s in spite of many winter afternoons walking the beaches there, including immediately before, after, and during days when others had spotted them at the park.  It was a life bird for my son, so we were both pretty excited.  Good birding,

Fred Shaffer

Crofton, Anne Arundel

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