Folks, After leading the Dyke Marsh walk, I met Todd Day near Manasas (1230) and we set out in search of January birds. We watched hawks and vultures as we drove; once passing 20 or more Black Vultures feasting on some road kill near Gilbert's Corner. Our first stop was the sod farm south of Rt 7 where we came upon 3 groups of American Pipits totaling 80 birds. Near the farm a Kingfisher patrolled a stream flying under the bridge we drove over, Am. Robins called from the nearby trees, and a Common Raven croaked down the road towards Leesburg Pike. Then, we headed out to Lucketts to look at sparrows. We first stopped (about 1500) at the field near Limestone School Rd that had the Northern Shrike years ago, finding a couple of Meadowlarks. No shrike, but an odd raptor patrolled the fields giving us a vent-on view for what seemed like eternity. Finally, the bird banked and its pattern and colors at 500 yds were strange to us. Todd quickly brought up the scope and the birds identity became clear - Short-eared Owl. We watched the owl for 10 minutes as it flew over the stubbled field and perched on a telephone pole (a Towhee was calling in the background). Satisfied, we continued on to Hibler Rd finding over 4 dozen White-crowned Sparrows and an equal number of Cardinals near the "piggery". Down the road we saw more White-crowns, many Songs, and a half dozen Tree Sparrows. During our driving, we counted 15 Red-Shoulders, 5 Red-tails, 9 Kestrels, and one No. Harrier. Kurt Gaskill, kurtcapt87@aol.com