FERRY NECK & BLACKWATER N.W.R., JANUARY 5-10, 2013. Mostly sunny, warm, and calm weather. At Rigby’s Folly unless otherwise indicated. Liz & Harry Armistead.
JANUARY 5, SATURDAY. Route 481 just N of Route 309 (the Ruff place) in the flooded field: 100s of Canada Geese and two adult Bald Eagles on a deer carcass nearby.
Rigby’s Folly, 3 P.M. - . 1,090 Canada Geese, 56 Tundra Swans, 38 Ring-billed Gulls in the cove, 6 Surf Scoters, 35 Buffleheads, a Red Fox, and a Gray Squirrel. The Olszewskis left us a cooler of venison and 25 lbs. of corn. The waters of the mouth of the Choptank Ruiver continue to be bleak. Mostly overcast with high haze, calm. Tide halfway out the length of the dock, very low, 43°F. The fields are dry enough so one can easily drive around them w/o 4WD. Geese have made little use of the fields.
JANUARY 6, SUNDAY. 2 Eastern Cottontails in Royal Oak, 6:35 A.M.
Dorchester County:
Cambridge, Oakley St. and environs. About 300 Canvasbacks are there. Perhaps more will appear after the cold weather predicted for Jan. 18. Also, 1♂ Redhead, 65 Lesser Scaup, 30 American Wigeon, 60 Surf Scoters, 95 Ruddy Ducks, 410 Canada Geese, 10 Long-tailed Ducks, a Common Loon, 60 Common Goldeneyes, 22 Buffleheads, and 30 Mallards plus c. 650 Snow Geese over towards the Talbot County side. 1 Gray Squirrel.
I count 119 Double-crested Cormorants, most of them on the old bridge. Not too long ago even one cormorant in winter in this county would have been noteworthy. Perhaps 70 Great Black-backed, 115 Herring, and 45 Ring-billed gulls in the area, most of the former 2 lined up on the old bridge, too.
Egypt Road. an imm. White-crowned Sparrow, and also single Field, Savannah, and White-throated sparrows, 7 Song Sparrows, 4 Red-tailed Hawks, a ♂ House Finch, 2 Northern Harriers, 3 American Kestrels, 7 Wild Turkeys, 4 Red-bellied Woodpeckers, 4 Northern Flickers, a Bald Eagle, 7 Blue Jays, 2 Tundra Swans, 5 American Goldfinches, 3 Northern Cardinals, 465 Canada Geese, 4 Eastern Meadowlarks, 30 Red-winged Blackbirds, 4 Eastern Bluebirds, and a Slate-colored Junco, but no Horned Larks or American Pipits. This winter/fall Egypt Road has been productive enough to justify a trip just to there. 2 Gray Squirrels.
Blackwater N.W.R. Productive visit. A gem with great weather. 39-50°F., dead calm, sunny, impounded waters high, tidal waters very low. 29 American White Pelicans (in the distance on the S side of Blackwater River; maybe 1-3 more present; hard to count exactly because, although huge, they clump together), 166 Ring-necked Ducks (Pool 1), 430 Common Mergansers (far out on the Blackwater River), and 215 Blue Geese (Pool 3, with 2,000± white Snow Geese). Also: 4 Killdeer, 18 Bald Eagles, 60 Northern Shovelers, 6 harriers, 85 Mallards, 4 American Coots, 185 Tundra Swans, 16 Hooded Mergansers, 4 Gadwalls, 8 Great Blue Herons, 3 Black Vultures, 175 Northern Pintails, 9 bluebirds, 6 Fish Crows, and 6 Red-tailed Hawks. No Green-winged Teal or American Black Ducks seen.
We run into George Radcliffe who has encountered a foraging guild on the Observation Spur road with Red-breasted & White-breasted Nuthatch, both kinglets, chickadees, a Hairy Woodpecker, and a sapsucker. He also hears a Virginia Rail and a screech-owl.
Back at Rigby’s Folly in the afternoon: 590 Canada Geese in the cove. 3 Gray Squirrels.
JANUARY 7, MONDAY. A day of peace and relaxation, little activity on our part. 43-48°F., winds NW 15 becoming calm at dusk, clear. White-breasted Nuthatch in the yard, calling and foraging. Not seen every year. A group of 38 American Crows harassing something, probably a Great Horned Owl. A raft of 1,400 Canada Geese out on the Choptank. 54 Tundra Swans. 4 Black Vultures. 5 Gray Squirrels at the feed, 2 more on the driveway. A Great Horned Owl calls.
Bellevue: little on the Tred Avon River: a Horned Grebe, 4 Ruddy Ducks, 14 Buffleheads, 2 Common Goldeneyes, and 5 Long-tailed Ducks. Two oyster dredgers come in with 12 or more bushels of oysters. I pull up under a Black Walnut and glass a Gray Squirrel 20 feet up that regards me, sitting on its haunches, tail curled over its back, spinning a walnut, and rasping away on it. A squirrel and its nut. Nut, indeed. Who, what, is the nut?
JANUARY 8, TUESDAY. Liz hears a Great Horned Owl in the wee small hours sometime. Play the iPod with Great Horned Owl calls but it has little effect on the American Crows attracted to the yard by the deer corn, which has brought in 5 squirrels again. Fair becoming mostly overcast, SW 10-15 then calm, 40-48°F.
The Choptank River continues to be depauperate; NO loons, grebes, Canvasbacks, Red-breasted Mergansers, or, incredibly, Herring Gulls seen on its waters this time, but I do see from Lucy Point over a 2 hour period in the afternoon: 285 Buffleheads, 19 Lesser Scaup, a Ruddy Duck, 74 Tundra Swans, 925 Canada Geese, 4 long-tailed Ducks, 25 Surf Scoters, 40 Ring-billed Gulls, and 20 Common Goldeneyes.
From the dock: an adult Red-shouldered Hawk crosses the cove, 4 Black & 19 Turkey Vultures, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, a Red-tailed Hawk, an immature Bald Eagle, and 5 flickers. At dusk 44 White-throated Sparrows are at the feed. We don’t have feeders, just throw the feed on the ground, and that works. Highs of other species at the feed are 5 American Crows, a ♂ Red-bellied Woodpecker, 4 Blue Jays, 2 cardinals, and 2 flickers.
A workboat is tonging out on the Irish Creek. Don’t see tonging much anymore. The ‘Sallie D,’ has 5 tongs (but only 1 boatman), MD 2655 AA. See him Jan. 9 also.
There is 3.75” in the rain gauge, last checked December 2. I doubt there’s been much evaporation since then because the gauge is in the shade. 5 Gray Squirrels.
JANUARY 9, WEDNESDAY. Mostly overcast but hazy, haze disappearing, SW5 becoming calm, 43-56°F. 50°F. at 11 P.M. 69 Ruddy Ducks on Irish Creek in 4 groups. 14 Eastern Bluebirds. 36 Buffleheads at the mouth of the cove. An adult Bald Eagle. A Hermit Thrush in the hedgerow on the S side of Field 4, where there is a dead doe. 5 Gray Squirrels at the corn plus 3 more on the driveway = a good total of 8.
I walk Woods 1 on our border, drive around Fields 1, 2, 4, 6 & 7 and flush … nothing. Things happen when we are not here that are inexplicable, such as the appearance of an aged lacrosse ball in the middle of Field 4. Three big Eastern Redcedars have been blown over by the strong W winds at the head of the cove, where I find a perfectly serviceable 4.5” X 2.5” X 1” ice pack. Flotsam and jetsam in that area extend 30 yards inland from the edge of the saltmarsh sod bank.
The only live deer we see are 4 in John Swaine’s fields on the way in to see ‘Les Misérables,’ a great story with great music, but, they only sing part of one of my favorite songs, “Drink with me.” Two deer in the same place on the way home plus 1 in Field 1 and 1 around the house c. 11 P.M.
Many local deer have succumbed to Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD). A biting midge, Culicoides, bites deer in the nose, ears, or mouth. Once the deer exhibit symptoms, they die within 8-36 hours. Thanks to Bruce Olszewski for bringing this to my attention.
From Wikipedia:
“Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) is an orbivirus that infects White-tailed Deer in the northeastern and midwestern United States. The virus is transmitted by the Culicoides biting midge. The EHD virus is closely related to the Bluetongue virus and crossreacts with it on many blood tests. The virus has an incubation period of approximately one week, during which the animal may transmit the virus to biting midges. After the development of symptoms (which include internal hemorrhage, weakness, high fever, bruising, and dyspnea) the animal dies within 8 to 36 hours.”
JANUARY 10, THURSDAY. Leave by 10:45 A.M. Fair, NW 10, mid-40s. A Bald Eagle over Cordova. An adult close to the road shoulder at routes 309 X 404. In the flooded field just N of routes 481 X 309 (the Ruff place): 14 Tundra Swans, 6 Ring-billed Gulls, and hundreds of Canada Geese. A d.o.r. Barred Owl on the E shoulder of Route 301 at mile 111.5, just SW of the defunct Howard Johnsons. 12 Red-tailed Hawks between Bellevue and the Route 301 plaza (Middletown, DE), all of them perched in spite of a nice breeze.
Best to all. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.
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