I led a field trip for SMAS to Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum yesterday. Nothing earth shattering there. Best birds were a fly-by Cackling Goose as we stood scanning the river for waterfowl. I heard the goose coming in from the northwest and it flew right in front of us calling the whole time. Quite a distinctive sound compared to the numerous Canada Geese flying around just to the southeast across St. Leonard's Creek.

Our final stop was at the end of Lloyd Bowen Road. There was something hammering on a nearby pine tree and when we tracked it down, assuming it was a woodpecker, it turned out to be a Brown-headed Nuthatch pounding on the underside of a dead branch. It appeared to be excavating a nest cavity. We got great scope views of it until another BHNU came in and they both flew off to the trees to the north.

Sadly, the waterfowl concentrations at JPPM are a ghost of their former selves. At the water intake for the Morgan State research center (where the Tufted Duck and Barrow's Goldeneye were) there used to be a raft of mixed scaup, etc. that numbered easily in the 2-3000 range. There were 6 scaup total with only one Lesser Scaup. Ruddy Duck numbers were still about normal with about 2500 spread out between King's Reach and the southeastern side of the spit of land which is bisected by Lloyd Bowen Road. No Tundra Swans or Canvasbacks which have been a given in the past.

Tyler Bell

California, Maryland

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