Date: 4/30/13 12:58 pm
From: Harry Armistead <harryarmistead...>
Subject: [MDBirding] Ferry Neck & Dorchester islands, April 24-28, 2013.
FERRY NECK & DORCHESTER ISLANDS, APRIL 24-28, 2013. Liz & Harry Armistead. A time of Loblolly Pine pollen.

APRIL 25, THURSDAY. At the Routes 309 X 481 small wetland: 1 Greater & 2 Lesser yellowlegs, 1 Killdeer. 72 Turkey Vultures on the way down. Arrive 3:45 P.M.: clear, SW 10-5, 60-53°F., 1“ in the rain gauge since last visit.

An ad Bald Eagle, 12 White-throated Sparrows, 2 Common Loons, 2 Buffleheads, and a record late Common Goldeneye, a ♂, previous late date April 22. 9 deer in Field 4. 2 Gray Squirrels, 1 Eastern Cottontail.

Neighbors in Bellevue, Megan Greene and Chris Berg, have Black Vultures breeding in the 2nd floor of their barn as they did in 2012..

APRIL 26, FRIDAY:

1. Egypt Road, 6:45 A.M. Horned Lark 7, Eastern Meadowlark 1. I didn’t stop to see if the Dickcissels have returned.

2. Blackwater N.W.R. A quick drive thru, 7 A.M. Great Egret 31, Bald Eagle 6, American Coot 13, Greater 9 & 10 Lesser yellowlegs, Semipalmated Plover 1, AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN 1, Dunlin 115, Pileated Woodpecker 1 (eye level, flies across Wildlife Drive c. 200’ away), Forster’s 8 & Least tern 3. Impoundments high, esp. Pool 1. Tidal waters high.

3. Crapo: 1 Painted Turtle.

A 31.4-mile BOAT TRIP, 10:30 A.M. – 5 P.M. Water temperatures: 55-58°F., clear, NE – NW 10-15 m.p.h., air temperatures 50s- c. 60°F., high tide at 2:31 P.M. Good conditions. In all areas today there is a definite small migration of Barn Swallows, all headed unerringly to the north. Full moon.

4. Bloodsworth Island, SE sector: Bald Eagle 6, Great Egret 4, American Black Duck 6, Northern Harrier 2, cormorant 4, Tricolored Heron 1, Barn Swallow 2. Seldom do I make a landing here in this remote area but there is an intriguing, inaccessible little hammock with 3 or 4 cedars where Song Sparrow probably breeds.

5. Spring Island, 11:30 A.M. Brown Pelican 1, American Black Duck 3, Peregrine Falcon 1 ad.♀, American Oystercatcher 2, Herring 8 & Great Black-backed 4 gulls, Osprey 1, Least Sandpiper 1, Barn Swallow 1. Plus one dead oystercatcher, everything eaten away except the wings, head, and some bones, almost certainly by the peregrine. One Winter Jellyfish. 5 Diamondback Terrapin.

I am unable to see into the hacking tower to determine if the peregrine(s) are actually breeding here. The east side of the island on top of the sod bank has 1000s of mussels embedded in it - good oystercatcher food. The Baccharis and Iva have made good recovery here, but the pelicans and cormorants have not taken advantage of this for years. Spring is 11.9 statute miles from the landing at Crocheron.

6. Holland Island, S segment. 12:15-1:40 P.M. Almost always I hit pay dirt here. The pelicans and cormorants are concentrated in the hammock on the N end as last year with 310 pelicans and 290 cormorants the best counts of birds in sight simultaneously. A pair of Bald Eagles flush from the big tree on the N end of the S hammock but then disappear so it’s not certain their nest is active or successful. Their old nest in the isolated Loblolly Pine on the extreme S end may be being used by Ospreys now. In the bushes on the SW end are a few heron types: 3 ad. Black-crowned Night Herons, a Tricolored Heron, Little Blue Heron 2, and 2 Snowy Egrets. In 2012 there were a couple of dozen pelican nests in the central graveyard but none this year to keep the interred Prices, Parkses, Evanses, Dixons, Misters, and Todds company. Mrs. Mister must have been Misses Mister.

Compete list of other birds: Boat-tailed Grackle 20, Red-winged Blackbird 8, Clapper Rail 3, Willet 2, oystercatcher 9, Green-winged Teal 2, Herring 30 & Great Black-backed 6 gulls, Fish Crow 4, Surf Scoter 1 ♂, Osprey 4, Barn Swallow 8, American Black Duck 3, Mallard 1♂ (paired with an AMBD), Song Sparrow 1 (foraging in the intertidal zone), Least Sandpiper 2.

Most of the pelicans are nesting in the bushes on the W side of the N hammock, some in the S edge of it, none on the E side. I checked c. 60 or 70 nests and find a few with eggs: 6 nests with 1 egg, 1 nest with 2, and that’s it so far. The cormorants’ nests are up in the few remaining large trees, most of which still seem to be alive, perhaps just barely. This hammock and most of the bushy areas get more open each year.

Inside the N end of this N hammock I run across Jay Fleming (MD DNR, Fisheries) and David Sikorski and their 2 companions. They are camping here with 2 tents and a small grill. Next to the tents are 2 attractive, life-sized oystercatcher models, presumably just to enter into the spirit of the place. They have caught some trout and rock. In 2011 Jay found a Great Horned Owl nest in this hammock and photographed the young. In 2012 I saw 2 adult owls here.

7. Holland I., middle segment. Where the island’s last house was until 2.5 years ago, when it was destroyed in October. Little vegetation left: Herring 265 & Great Black-backed 10 gulls, Osprey 2, Brown Pelican 15, Royal Tern 5, cormorant 65. No landing made, but I think only the gulls and Osprey are nesting here, perhaps a cormorant nest or 2.

8. Holland I., N segment. Now a tiny sod tump but well-vegetated with grasses and morning glories: 3 Great Black-backed Gulls, 3 American Black Ducks. A few years ago there was a large Forster’s & Common ternery here.

9. Adam Island. There’s a significant heronry on the N end again near the toppled metal tower where I see these numbers: Snowy Egret 41, Black-crowned Night Heron 4, Glossy Ibis 1, Great Blue Heron 1, Little Blue Heron 2, Tricolored Heron 1, and Great Egret 3, but no pelicans or cormorants, which were there in 2012. Other birds: oystercatcher 5, Osprey 6, Boat-tailed Grackle 4, cormorant 25 (flyovers), black duck 4, Herring 30 & Great Black-backed 5 gulls, Fish Crow 1, Willet 1, Gadwall (1♀, 2♂; they breed out here), Common Loon 2, Seaside Sparrow 1, Canada Goose 2, Barn Swallow 3, and AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN (flying off to the S). Two Green-winged Teal are probably the same ones flushed from Holland I.

The central core of Adam I. still has a few cedars, dead and alive, where a few pairs of Great Blue Herons used to nest, for many years. In 2012 there was a Bald Eagle nest there. Approaching the N end on the E side by boat is precarious. Even though I stayed just a few minutes, and the tide had been ebbing perhaps only half an hour it was difficult to get under way. I had to do some semi-frantic poleing and risked getting stuck.

10. Pone Island (a Bloodsworth I. satellite, or, really just SW Bloodsworth). Still are some important sand bars here where birds loaf and rest: Herring 235 & Great Black-baked 20 gulls, Dunlin 45, Great Egret 8 (flyovers), 20 Brown and 2 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS.

11. Northeast Island (where I have never made a landing): Herring 9 & Great Black-backed 1 gulls, 2 black ducks.

Usually at this point I go far offshore from the W side of Bloodsworth (to avoid the 3 submerged Sherman tanks and other military debris). There used to be some small heronries there in two tiny hammocks dominated by Persimmon trees. But today I head E and again skirt the E side of Bloodsworth I. to reach Fin Creek.

12. Bloodsworth Island - Fin Creek. There is still an Osprey nest on top of the faux tank that has been here for several years but only c. 34 Great Blue Heron nests. The S third or so of the nesting platforms erected by the U.S. Navy some years ago is deserted, perhaps because of the presence of an active Bald Eagle nest. But 60 Black-crowd Night Herons almost all adults, flush from the bushes and few trees in this area along Fin Creek Ridge. Fin Creek is a most convenient narrow but deep creek that penetrates Bloodsworth for over 1.5 miles. The ridge has a small graveyard on its N end.

Other birds: 2 Northern Harriers (breeders), an adult Yellow-crowned Night Heron, 4 black ducks, 3 Green-winged Teal, 2 Mallards, 2 Bald Eagles, 8 Boat-tailed Grackles, 1 Tree & 5 Barn swallows, 3 Seaside Sparrows, 3 Tricolored Herons, and 3 Great egrets. Also: a River Otter and 3 Diamondback Terrapin.

13. Crocheron area, back on the mainland: Bald Eagle 2, Canada Goose 2 adults and 2 downy young, a Willet, Great Egret 2, Osprey 6, Greater Yellowlegs 1, Barn Swallow 2.

14. Near the junction of Route 336 & Andrews Roads: Cattle Egret 3 (only ones all day), Eastern Kingbird 1.

15. At Rigby’s Folly today. At 7:27 P.M.: 14 Wild Turkeys and 9 deer in field 4 plus an Eastern Kingbird. Liz has seen a Blue Grosbeak ♂, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, 2 Greater Yellowlegs, 2 Brown Thrashers, an Eastern Cottontail, and 3 Gray Squirrels. The grosbeak represents a new early spring arrival date for here.

ROGUE TITMOUSE. Attacks our windows on both the N & S sides of the house, both floors.

APRIL 27, SATURDAY. A severe nose bleed puts the kabosh on the rest of this visit The doctor advises me to cancel my part in the Blackwater birdwalk tomorrow.

Clear, wind light & variable but often from the E at < 5 m.p.h., or else dead calm, 48-60°F. Liz sees a big c. 8” Broadhead Skink 3 feet up in one of our Black Locusts. I see the year’s first breeding plumage Forster’s Tern over the cove. 3 Chimney Swifts. 2 Black Vultures. 15 Diamondback Terrapin basking in the cove. 5 Wild Turkeys. 4 Gray Squirrels. An Eastern Cottontail likes our tall lawn grass. One Mourning Cloak.

Out at Lucy Point, 7 P.M., the waters of the Choptank River mouth are like glass: 46 lingering Surf Scoters, a record early Least Tern, 28 Common Loons, 9 Buffleheads, 11 cormorants, 2 Great Blue Herons, and 4 Diamondback Terrapin.

APRIL 28, SUNDAY. 7 Chimney Swifts, 1 ad. Bald Eagle, 2 Common Loons, 1 Bufflehead. A small Spotted Turtle in the Field 4 ditch. Leave by 11:40 A.M. Clear, 56-67°F., SW5.

At the little Routes 481 X 309 wetland, which continues to disappoint this spring, a Greater Yellowlegs, a Killdeer, 2 Painted Turtles, and a Tiger Swallowtail with a Horned Lark nearby. Between Ruthsburg and Hope on Route 481 an imm Bald Eagle eating a roadkil Raccoon. At milepost 118, Route 301, another imm. Bald Eagle at very close range.

ADDENDA. Omitted from the previous report covering April 11 at Rigby’s Folly: a record early House Wren. Liz sees a Mud Turtle. Hundreds of Periwinkles on the mud at the high tide mark.

LOCAL BUSINESS NEWS. The one come on in a sign for a local business: “The leader in laser engraved crab mallets.” Good to know. I was having trouble deciding where to go for these, there are SO many businesses to choose from. In this life there is always room for a little sarcasm. A new business on Route 50 “Classic Porsche Restoration.” Just how much news concerning niche markets am I supposed to be able to absorb in one weekend? Phew!

Best to all. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.

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