Hi all,
     My brother and I birded a bit along the Potomac River yesterday and had
a few good birds. At Hughes Hollow we saw one adult Red-headed Woodpecker
and several Purple Finches including a couple adult males. 

     Next it was off to Riley's Lock. Between Riley's and Violette's the
only water bird we saw was a single Double-crested Cormorant. Perhaps it was
the abundance of hunters in the area. Near Violette's Lock we saw a couple
immature Red-headed Woodpeckers and a Sharp-shinned Hawk. My brother spotted
a couple Purple Finches I couldn't quite get my binoculars on.

     Then it was off to our parents' in Bowie for dinner. We had three Rusty
Blackbirds foraging in their suburban yard and a Red-breasted Nuthatch made
a brief visit to a feeder. Both were new yard birds.

     We went to Greenbelt Lake twice today. In the morning there was no sign
of the Cackling Goose and the feeders that had Pine Siskins two weeks ago
were now deserted. In the 13 days since I first saw Siskins there my brother
or I have checked the feeders every day except one but have only seen
Siskins twice (including the initial sighting). 

     This afternoon we decided to have another shot at the Cackling Goose
and this time we succeeded. We watched it for about 15 minutes before it
took off with the rest of the geese at about 4:45. I'll try to see it again
tomorrow and/or Sunday. Thanks to Michel Cavigelli for posting about this bird.

Mike Ostrowski
Greenbelt, MD