I made a try for the grosbeak this morning in Denton. I arrived at 6:50 a.m. and was surprised to find one other birder, John Taylor, already there. No others showed up while we were there (we both left around 8:10 a.m). The bird never came to the feeder, but finally around 7:55 John spotted it in a tall tree (silver maple?) directly across 6th Street behind the white house on the corner. We had distant looks at the bird briefly before it flew west down Market Street. I later relocated it in a tall tree behind the houses on the north side of the street, about a half block west of the feeder site. There is another feeder between houses at this location but the bird never came to that feeder, rather it just hung around way up in the trees in that vicinity. There were a lot of other birds hitting that feeder, however. 

Well before we saw the bird, we were surprised that around 7:30, a woman drove up and asked us if the bird had come by for Christmas yet and when we replied no, she emphatically and rather nastily yelled "good!" So apparently at least some people there are rather miserable and are not pleased with a slew of birders hanging around that neighborhood. On the other hand, the homeowner where the grosbeak has been seen did come out to greet us and was very pleasant! It was very quiet people-wise as you might expect on this morning, but looking at birds up and down the block on regular days might not go over well, so be cautious and courteous.

Russ Ruffing
Woodstock, MD

############################

To unsubscribe from the MDOSPREY list:
write to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
or click the following link:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=MDOSPREY&A=1