Derek,

Just to confirm your info:
I visited  lake Artemesia about 2 weeks ago and saw about 20-30 snow geese on a grassy hill by the railroad tracks. But by the time I went back to the car to get my digiscope and came back they had flown off.  This sighting would have been at the visitor's end about 100 yds from the parking lot. This was just as the cold winds hit the area. 

 
-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "Derek C. Richardson" <> 

> A brief visit to Lake Artemesia in Berwyn Heights (PG 
> County, near College Park) revealed a few surprises, 
> including a white-phase SNOW GOOSE, a handful of HOODED 
> MERGANSERS, a male WOOD DUCK, and a PILEATED WOODPECKER. 
> (No, I didn't see a domestic goose: the Snow Goose had pink 
> legs/feet and bill, a large black grin patch, and 
> black-tipped primaries; it was hanging out with the Canada 
> Geese in the smaller pool to the south, which was mostly 
> unfrozen.) Here's the complete report (submitted to eBird): 
> 
> Report Details 
> Location name: Lake Artemesia 
> Observation date: 12/21/05 
> Duration: 0 hour(s) 50 minute(s) 
> # of people in birding party: 1 
> Are you reporting all the species you identified? Yes 
> Total # of species: 27 
> Observation type: Stationary Count 
> Start time: 3:45 PM 
> Distance covered: N/A 
> Area covered: N/A 
> Weather had a negative effect on my ability to collect 
> birding information: No 
> 
> Checklist diary notes: 
> A brief check of the lake yielded a white-phase Snow Goose! 
> Cool, clear, with equal parts ice and open water on the 
> lake. 
> 
> Species Details 
> Species Name/Number Reported 
> Snow Goose 1 
> Canada Goose 250 
> Wood Duck 1 
> Mallard 20 
> Ring-necked Duck 8 
> Hooded Merganser 5 
> Ruddy Duck 15 
> Pied-billed Grebe 3 
> Ring-billed Gull 80 
> Mourning Dove 3 
> Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 
> Downy Woodpecker 1 
> Northern Flicker 1 
> Pileated Woodpecker 1 
> Blue Jay 1 
> American Crow 2 
> Fish Crow 1 
> Carolina Chickadee 1 
> Carolina Wren 2 
> Northern Mockingbird 3 
> European Starling 1 
> Yellow-rumped Warbler 2 
> Eastern Towhee 1 
> Song Sparrow 10 
> White-throated Sparrow 5 
> Northern Cardinal 5 
> American Goldfinch 3 
> 
> -- 
> Derek C. Richardson, Ph.D. (CANTAB) ________ 
> Astronomy, U Maryland, College Park MD 20742 
> Tel: Office 301-405-8786 Fax 301-314-9067 __ 
> Home page: http://www.astro.umd.edu/~dcr/ __