Leaving those FBI birdbrains behind, let's get to more worthwhile matters: the Lower Hudson River Mid-Winter Bird Census. Right in the immediate neighborhood of my morning bench, we have: herring gulls, black-backed gulls, a single tern, cormorants, mallards (1 pair), gadwalls (2 pair, 1 pair of which swims with the mallards, making a little mixed flock), canada geese, brant geese, and either 1 male bufflehead with 2 females, or 2 pair, depending on whether the male who can't make up his mind is here that day. And of course we have pigeons, sparrows and grackles like crazy. Not bad for a section of river about as urban as it gets.