John - I'm certainly not the Baltimore County rarities police (I'll reserve that duty for other parts of the state :) ), but I can't pass over your report of a Wood Thrush below.  I'm assuming it's a typo?  Any Wood Thrush at this season would be a major rarity.

Mark Hoffman
Sykesville, MD
wcbirding at adelphia.net
www.pbase.com/wcbirding.


 -----Original Message-----
From: 	John Sherwood [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:	Sun Nov 27 08:19:15 2005
To:	
Subject:	[MDOSPREY] North Point SP/McMillen/Patuxent NWR

26 November Birds

Trying to get as much birding done before the ski
season absorbs my hobby time.

McMillen Reservoir, 	DC
-Redhead (2)
-Ring-necked Duck (numerous)
-Pied-billed Grebe (1)
-Numerous gulls (too far to ID from Michigan Avenue
side)

North Point State Park (near Dundalk, MD)
-Bald Eagle (1 flying)
-White Breasted Nuthatch (1)
-Robin (numerous)
-Northern Cardinal (heard 2)
-Hairy Woodpecker (1)
-Downy Woodpecker (3)
-Red Bellied Woodpecker (2)
-Northern Flicker (1 yellow-shafted form)
-Yellow rumped warbler (1)
-American Goldfinch
-Wood Thrush (1)
-Mute Swan (2 swimming in the Bay)
-Ring-billed gull (numerous)
-Chipping sparrow (1)
-White throated sparrow (10)
-Dark eyed junco (6)

Notes: This was the first time I had birded at North
Point, and both my wife and I loved it. It's only 1
hour from downtown DC, and offers many diverse
habitats ranging from:

--the Chesapeake Bay shore
--various types of wetlands and swamps 
--forested areas
--edge environments along farm fields

We'll definitely be back. It's a good alternative for
the DC based birder who does not want to travel to the
Eastern Shore. It should be very birdy in the Spring.

Patuxent River NWR (Southern Tract near Cash Lake)
-Canada Goose (numerous)
-Blue bird (2)
-Dark Eyed Junco (15)
-Mallard (numerous)
-American Goldfinch (15)
-Swamp Sparrow (10)
-White-throated sparrow (7)
-Hooded Merganzer (2-3 males on Cash Lake far side)
-Ring-necked duck (numerous)
-House Wren
-American Robin (numerous)
-Great Blue Heron (2)
-Tufted Titmous (1)
-Northern Pintail (?-the duck was on the far side of
Cash Lake, which is closed, and we did not have a
scope)

Notes: The NWR volunteer we ran into claims that he
saw Bufflheads, but we did not see them. We did,
however, spot two Beavers swimming. The Beaver Lodge
is on the West Side of Cash Lake and is roped off by
the NWR. The NWR volunteer informed me that everyone
should make an effort to sign the guest books at every
NWR visited because NWR funding depends on these
statistics.