A Visit to Washington DC

   Joyce has a very large number of first cousins.  Today we went to Washington DC to get together with those on her father's side.  We left the house early so we could stop at the Bershader's house in Herndon in the hope that the Varied Thrush might show up.  It had been seen on Friday.  But even though Steve and Maggie were hospitable hosts, the bird didn't appear during the hour plus window of time we had to spend.  So it was on to the brunch which was lovely.  Very nice to catch up on the happenings among the cousins.  We also visited Joyce's Aunt Fan in Chevy Chase before we left the area.
   When we got home, there was a phone message from Barbara Mulligan on the Eastern Shore telling that her thirteen year old son Tommy had seen a Prothonotary Warbler today at Pocomoke Swamp (web photo).  He had noticed that I didn't have it checked off on my spreadsheet and wanted to let me know.  So I called him up and congratulated him on having one up on me for the year.  An interesting aside is that he really learned to read from the collection of bird books from  his grandfather.  I told him to call me again if he found a bird I hadn't seen.  Clearly we have an up-and-coming hotshot birder in the making.
   I watched the opening night of Major League Baseball, but fell asleep before the Red Sox came back to beat the Yankees.  Tomorrow the Cards open their season.