Inspired by Ted Murin's lake watch yesterday at Charlotte Town Beach, 
Team Pipit tried one of its own today.  Our methods are a bit different, 
however, with several stops of about 5 minutes each (all conducted from 
the warm comfort of a vehicle) at five or six different locations.  Main 
goal was not to count mallards, but rather to luck upon a wandering Cave 
Swallow.  When odds are 1000-1, we favor relative comfort  to the thrill 
of defying the elements.

Thus brief stops at the Lake Street access in Bridport, McCuen Slang, 
the Champlain Bridge, Tri-town Water District, Elm Point, and Potash Bay 
produced no Cave Swallows, about 25 mallards, about 25 Horned Grebes, 
perhaps 15 Common Goldeneye, 7-8 Common Loons, and a half dozen Common 
Mergansers.  These duty-driven results were sandwiched between some 
rather more productive land-birding efforts:

(5)      Pine Grosbeak    2 while going over Appalachian Gap in Buels 
Gore and 3 in the village of New Haven
(1)      Northern Shrike    an immature along Prunier Road in Weybridge
(35)    Tree Sparrow    Market Road, Bridport
(125)  Bohemian Waxwing   Lake Street, Bridport
(2)      Red-bellied Woodpecker   Tri-town Road, Addison
(1)      Pileated Woodpecker   Tri-town Road, Addison
(2)      Common Redpoll   Atherton Road, Addison
(50)    Horned Larks   Atherton Road, Addison  (great close looks - but 
no longspurs seen or heard)

Raptor totals for the day:  (20) Red-tailed Hawk, (7) Rough-legged Hawk 
(all light morph), and 3 Northern Harrier (2 males)


Pipit.