Aw, I had to go back to Hammo again today. The Great Egret was at the Swan Pond (aka Chase Pond), and I cruised the field west of the pond - only Savannah sparrows and Myrtle Warblers along the bushes. The West Beach parking lot gulls were R-b, Herring, and two Laughing. I then went to the west end of the paved parking lot, to where the water-filled ditch, Red Cedar, Bayberry, and Groundsel-bush (with the fuzzy white stuff on it) have been the hangout of many sparrows that feed in the grasses. Using the car as a photo blind, I happily burned up electrons, taking photos of Savannah Sparrows in the Groundsel-bush, in the grass, and atop the wooden guardrail. A few of the Savvies were actually too close to focus on with the STS 80 - I should have brought the ATS 65mm scope, but then there would have been too much bird and not enough frame to fit the bird into. A good problem to have, actually. The constant traffic of dog-walkers, bike-riders, rollerbladers, and people simply enjoying the morning would reshuffle the sparrows, but they would always come back to the same spots within a few minutes - staying put in the car works like a charm. About 45 minutes into my Sparrow Shoot, I noticed one in the grass that had no breast streaks, swung the scope around and snapped a few shots of a Clay-colored Sparrow. Sweet! The whole flock flushed a minute later, and while I saw it a few times after that I was not able to get any more photos. However, I'll bet that with these south winds, the bird will stick in the area for a while. While I was in the car I saw a Merlin, and saw or heard flying American Pipits, Horned Larks, Pine Siskins, American Goldfinches, and one Dickcissel. Traveling up to Meigs' Point, as soon as I turned into the parking lot, there was an American Bittern in the grasses behind the large pools to the east of the parking lot. A minute later, a second bittern flew in and landed, at which time the first one flew over and landed about 10 feet from # 2. They stared at each other for a while, but no squabble ensued. As I was standing there looking the bitterns and talking with another birder, we saw a Peregrine Falcon going at top speed, flying at bush-top level from the Meigs' picnic pavilion towards the beach. Something looked funny about it, but my glimpses were brief as it flashed behind the treetops. Huh. Up at the Nature Center, a constant stream of Black-capped Chickadees and Tufted Titmice was hopping from the cedars to the pines next to the butterfly garden, and then over to the beach. I'll bet that at least 200 went by in 15 minutes. A Winter Wren was calling somewhere in the bowels of the butterfly garden, but it never put in an appearance for photos. Stay tuned for Part 2 Clay Taylor Moodus, CT ctaylor@att.net