Hello all, Dwight Cargill and I birded a good sized section of the western Champlain Valley yesterday (from Shelburne to Orwell). It was as great a pre-Spring day as one could hope for with temperatures reaching the upper 40's with little to no wind and a clear blue sky. We were hoping for some early migrant arrivals but will have to wait a bit more for them. Some of our highlights: Shelburne Point (west of shipyard) at 8:19 a.m. Common Goldeneye- 50+ Red-breasted Merganser- 26 Meach Cove in Shelburne at 8:40 a.m. Horned Grebe-5 Orchard Rd. in Charlotte at 8:57 a.m. Red-bellied Woodpecker- 1 Charlotte Town Beach at 9:10 a.m. Common Goldeneye- 200+ (scattered) McNeil Cove in Charlotte at 9:24 a.m. Common Loon-1 Canada Goose- 1 Town farm Bay in North Ferrisburgh @ 10:00 a.m. Canada Goose- 2 Bald Eagle- 3 Ferrisburgh Town Beach (on trail that starts at end of park. lot) at 10:56 a.m. Bald Eagle- 3 flying Ruffed Grouse- 1 Song Sparrow- 1 White-throated Sparrow- 1 (white-striped) This bird probably wintered there because I also saw one there on Feb. 10th. Red-winged Blackbird- 25+ (all female) I think these may have wintered there because I also saw 15+ (all female) there on Feb. 10th. Walker Rd. in Ferrisburgh at 11:56 a.m. Eastern Bluebird- 2 Button Bay in Ferrisburgh at 12:26 p.m. Lesser Scaup- 1 Bald Eagle- 1 Oven Bay in West Addison at 1:01 p.m. Bald Eagle- 9 Open water area SE of Chimney Pt. along Rte. 125 in Addison at 1:21 p.m. Mallard- 100+ Canvasback- 2 males (great job by Michael Benjamin Lester spotting these from the ferry on Friday!!) Bald Eagle- 6 Lapham Rd. in Shoreham at 2:00 p.m. Rough-legged Hawk- 1 (dark morph) Rte. 22A in Shoreham at 2:06 p.m. Rough-legged Hawk- 1 (light morph) Dead Creek Wildlife Management Viewing Area (N side of Rte. 17) at 3:15 p.m. Rough-legged hawk- 1 (light morph) Enjoy Birds, Jim Mead