I birded a variety of spots in southern Prince George's County this morning and early afternoon.  Nothing too unusual, but there were some neat birds at each stop.  The highlights are noted below.

Wharf Road -  hunters flushed most of the ducks out of this area.  But I was still able to see 126 Buffleheads, 4 Canvasback, 20 scaup sp., and 1 female Common Goldeneye.  There were also several hundred Ring-billed and Herring Gulls loafing on the mudflats.

Mockley Point - walked the open fields and boardwalk.  The highlight was an adult Red-headed Woodpecker.  Waterfowl included several hundred Canada Geese, 79 Mallards, 40+ Bufflehead, both scaup species, 3 American Wigeon, 1 Hooded Merganser, 2 Common Mergansers, 7 Ring-necked Ducks and an adult Bald Eagle.  Other songbirds included a Winter Wren, Swamp Sparrow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and a small group of Cedar Waxwings.

Schoolhouse Pond -  There was a good sized flock of gulls at the pond, which I observed for about 2 hours.  Gulls were constantly coming and going, making it hard to leave.  Total numbers came to 970 Ring-billed Gulls, 26 Herring Gulls and 1 Great Black-backed Gull.  I kept hoping that a white winged gull would drop in due to the high turnover of gulls and relatively large numbers of birds, but it didn't happen today.  Also of note were 44 Wilson's Snipe, 8 Gadwall, 16 Northern Shovelers, 22 Mallards, 2 Pied-billed Grebe, 6 Double-crested Cormorants, 1 immature Bald Eagle, 1 Red-tailed Hawk, and 1 Cooper's Hawk.  There has been a large number of snipe at the pond all month:  typically 20 or more on the mudflats at the rear of the pond every day.  My high count was 51 earlier this month, but today's group was pretty large as well.  Good birding.

Fred Shaffer

Crofton, Anne Arundel

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