It was colder and quieter tonight than it was last weekend but Dameron Marsh was still worth visiting this afternoon. Nearly 300 Canada Geese, 40-some tundra swans and 90 or so ring-billed gulls were roosting in the shallows (abnormally low tides today). Buffleheads were in constant motion. An adult bald eagle was perched on one of the distant duck blinds. Clapper rails called from the needlerush. A pair of great horned owls appears to be setting up housekeeping in the osprey nest in a dead pine on the northern edge of the preserve. Several flocks of robins moved past. Red-winged blackbirds settled into the marsh grasses as darkness descended. The lights of Tangier Island were clear to the northeast. Best of all, American woodcock peented and displayed from near the path and a lone bogsucker landed briefly right beside me before quickly taking off again. Tom Saunders Balls Neck