Spotted a Fox Sparrow today in the scrubby area between the upper lake
and the Needwood golf course.  A Solitary Sandpiper was in the mudflat
area north of Needwood Road.

Yesterday, I added Golden-crowned Kinglet and Blue-headed Vireo to my
yard list.

Also yesterday, horror of horrors, I drove away from my house with my
year-old Swarovski Scope in its case on top of my minivan.  It slid off
the top of the car and onto Rt. 28.  When I looked in the rearview
mirror and realized what I had done, I almost went in to shock!  I
stopped the car and ran back to pick up the case.  Before I got there, a
PEPCO truck pulled up next to the case and man jumped out and picked it
up.  As I got nearer, he looked at me and asked if the case was mine.  I
said "yea, it just slid off the top of my car" then he had the nerve to
say "prove it -- tell me whats inside?"  Now I'm thinking, am I going to
have to "duke" it out with the PEPCO guy for my scope thats probably
smashed into a thousand pieces?  Fortunately, I said it was a spotting
scope before he opened the case and he gave it back to me and
miraculously, both the scope and the eye pieces survived the impact and
optically nothing seems wrong.  What a day!

Andy Martin

Gaithersburg