A post-lunch metro trip and walk on the island revealed the following, in addition to the usual urban avian dwellers: dc cormorant (crests up) gb heron wood duck canada geese (honk if it's mating-ritual time!) sharp-shinned hawk osprey killdeer caspian tern veery yr warbler e. towhee field sparrow the national park service (gremlins? extraterrestrials? perhaps someone can enlighten me) is in the process of installing a wooden walk through the swamp part of the island, which should make birding there less problematic (boots are never out of fashion on this low-lying isle, however). the island is great for urban birding if one doesn't mind the regular roar of planes approaching national airport and cars traversing the Roosevelt bridge. things are greening up fast, redbuds and dogwoods are in bloom, as well as some wildflowers, including a lovely yellow mini-daisy type (sorry, not much for wildflower IDs--bloodroot, maybe?). a couple of red tulips in bloom are perhaps left over from the Mason plantation in the early 19th c.! cheers (boos for dipping on bonaparte's gull, however, one of my target birds for the trip . . .) Robert Weiner (rweiner@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu) George Washington University Washington DC 20052 202 994 5981