I decided to visit blue mash this morning. Ended up getting an early start and arrived about 30 min before sunup. 2 american woodcocks were peenting when I got there. The landfill pond was quite full of overnighting canada geese, estimated 500. They took off about 5 min later, as soon as they caught sight of me.  I did not see any short-eared owls over the landfill. It was a nice morning until the wind picked up. I ended up with a nice round 50 species. eBird list below. Notable misses were black-capped chickadee (put in some effort at all locations I've had them this winter) and american tree sparrow. 

Also just wanted to post that yesterday I visited some spots along the potomac. On the way out there I had my FOY (MoCo) pine warbler visiting the feeders at Cabin John park. The white-winged scoter and red-necked grebe were still present at Violettes. I walked upstream about a mile, passing riley's, and had a few rusty blackbirds along the canal and 16 tundra swans out on the river. Next I went over to sycamore landing and walked upstream. Northern pintail was the most frequently encountered duck with a nice group of 15 repeatedly flying upstream and then zooming back down in the strong current.  

Location:     Blue Mash Nature Trail
Observation date:     3/13/11
Number of species:     50

Canada Goose     500
Wood Duck     2
American Wigeon     2
American Black Duck     10
Mallard     5
Ring-necked Duck     250
Bufflehead     2
Hooded Merganser     15
Common Merganser     4
Ruddy Duck     3
Pied-billed Grebe     1
Double-crested Cormorant     1
Turkey Vulture     3
Red-shouldered Hawk     1
Killdeer     X
American Woodcock     2
Ring-billed Gull     1
Mourning Dove     3
Barred Owl     1
Red-bellied Woodpecker     1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker     1
Downy Woodpecker   2
Hairy Woodpecker     1
Northern Flicker     12
Pileated Woodpecker     2
Blue Jay     2
American Crow     3
Fish Crow     6
crow sp.     30
Tree Swallow     2
Carolina Chickadee     1
Tufted Titmouse     2
White-breasted Nuthatch     2
Carolina Wren     1
Eastern Bluebird     5
American Robin     100
Northern Mockingbird     3
European Starling     3
Cedar Waxwing     36
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)     3
Eastern Towhee     1
Fox Sparrow     8
Song Sparrow     40
Swamp Sparrow     2
White-throated Sparrow     5
Dark-eyed Junco     50
Northern Cardinal     6
Red-winged Blackbird     1
Common Grackle     20
House Finch     5
American Goldfinch     2

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