The message below is provided on behalf of Talbot Bird Club Member
Harry Armistead.
Les Roslund
From: Harry Armistead [mailto:<harryarmistead...>]
Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2012 1:16 PM
To: Les Roslund
Subject: Ferry Neck, June 14-18, 2012.
FERRY NECK/RIGBY’S FOLLY, JUNE 14-18, 2012. The long run of cool, sunny,
frustratingly rainless weather with light breezes continues.
JUNE 14, THURSDAY. 42 Turkey Vultures on the way down. A Wild Turkey and
Broadhead Skink at Rigby’s Folly, where we arrive at 3:45 P.M. We join the
Talbot Bird Club fall planning meeting at the home of Karen & Bill Harris in
Windy Hill, where Liz has a great view of a ♂ Scarlet Tanager. Towards the
end of the meeting we are serenaded by a Wood Thrush.
As we leave Purple Martins pitch in for the night to their nesting houses.
Bill has impressive tales of his fishing exploits nearby, with estimates of
many thousands of Carp present in area waterways, and hundreds of White
Perch caught. Some of the White Perch are served as appetizers tonight.
This is the only gathering I’ve ever been to where the party favors are
various bird feeders up for grabs.
JUNE 15, FRIDAY. Cattle Egret 6, attracted by a neighbor’s steers. The 2
Osprey nests on the neighbors’ Poplar Cove platforms both have fuzzy
youngsters. A flotilla of Canada Geese enters the cove: 19 adults in one
group, 8 adults and 7 large young in another for a total of 34.
Singles of Snowy Egret, Orchard Oriole, White-eyed Vireo, Prairie Warbler,
Bald Eagle, Wild Turkey, Gray Squirrel, and Broadhead Skink. Three
Mallards. Two Great Crested Flycatchers.
Clear, N 5-20 becoming NE 5-0, 68-82°F., low humidity. There are extensive
patches of Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia) in some of our fields.
Butterflies: Hackberry Emperor, Pearlcrescent, American Lady. Returning
from the chamber music concert at the Avalon Theatre we see a Virginia
Opossum on the driveway at 10:20 P.M.
JUNE 16, SATURDAY. Even during the “slack tide” of mid-June, when there
is essentially no migration going on, there is much of interest. A good
day for aerialists. Highest counts for selected species in sight
simultaneously (for the species, that is … not all these species in sight
simultaneously), as seen from the dock: Bald Eagle 2, Red-tailed Hawk 5,
Black Vulture 2, Turkey Vulture 22, Osprey 17, Laughing Gull 4.
The laughers are the first in several weeks, and so is a single Ring-billed
Gull, thus this is a sort of start of the fall migration. One Osprey
disappears completely - total immersion - under the water’s surface during
its dive, then emerges with an 8-9” White Perch, flies to a Black Locust,
and spends a good half hour eating it. The fish continues to wiggle for
several minutes even after it has begun to be eaten. The little that’s
left over then goes to the other adult and the 2 young.
A rare 5 heron day: 7 Cattle, 1 Great & 3 Snowy egrets, a Green and 3 Great
Blue herons. Liz and I find a dead shrew c. 1” long. Two Yellow-billed
Cuckoos. One Pine Warbler in Woods 7. Butterflies: Little Wood Satyr,
American Lady, Cabbage White, Question Mark. Nine Cedar Waxwings, the
sub-adult Common Loon continues out in front of Tranquility, as does a ♂
Surf Scoter. A ♀ Hairy Woodpecker, also in Woods 7. One Orchard Oriole.
In brood parasitism news at 8:15 P.M. a ♀ Brown-headed Cowbird alights on
the lawn right next to a planter that has a fresh (but so far empty)
Carolina Wren nest. I scare her away but it takes some doing. She’s
rather obdurate, or should I say obstinate?
Two half-grown Red Foxes appear in front of the house at 8:30 P.M., then
canter out the driveway. Also in the yard are 2 Wild Turkeys under the big
Willow Oak.
Clear, N - NE 5-10, 67 - 83°F.
JUNE 17, SUNDAY. Visit Chris Berg and Megan Greene at their home, Clay’s
Hope, on the outskirts of Bellevue. Black Vultures have bred this year in
one of their sheds. There’s a mockingbird nest with 3 eggs in a rose bush.
A minor maelstrom of foraging Barn Swallows is constantly aloft, breeders in
their several outbuildings, which have numerous openings. In the distance 2
Pileated Woodpeckers fly by.
LEAPING LIZARDS. Liz hits the lizard jackpot with 6 in sight simultaneously
on the front porch, a record count for here, all apparently Broadhead
Skinks: 3 young, 2 adult ♀, and 1 adult ♂.
An afternoon walk along the Olszewski and Warbler trails is productive.
There is a Fox Squirrel on the driveway at Field 4 X Woods 2. There are <
10 records for the property. Along the Olszewski Trails are a ♀ Box Turtle
and 2 Little Wood Satyrs. Over Field 4 flutter 20 Cabbage Whites. Also, 4
deer there later and a Red Fox on the driveway.
JUNE 18, MONDAY. Overcast, calm or < 5 m.p.h. E, high 60s, cool, with a
slight promise of much-needed rain. 59 Laughing Gulls seen from the dock;
that’s a lotta laughers here for this time of year, most of them in a
kettle in the distance over Deep Neck. Two Cedar Waxwings. A Snowy Egret.
The Prairie Warbler continues to sing. Two Carolina Chickadees. We leave
by 11:15 A.M. A mere 19 Turkey Vultures on the way home.
June 3, RIGBY’S FOLLY. This was such an incredible sight that I am
“running” it again, but somewhat enhanced, and, besides, I didn’t include
it previously for the benefit of all the groups I usual “favor” with my
field notes:
Towering cloud mountains at 7 P.M. ranging across the entire horizon from NW
to NE, looking for all the world as if the Karakoram Range is rising out of
Queen Annes County. The clouds are dark gray suffused somewhat with dark
blue. Purple mountain majesties. The sun is hitting them just right so they
are topped by pure white, as if they are snow-covered peaks. One of the
most arresting skyscapes I’ve ever seen. What really makes it impressive
is that the outline of the cloud tops is jagged, just as a distant high
mountain range would look in silhouette.
Best to all. - Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.
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