Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2000 19:48:48 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Bloodsworth Island 11/4/00 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Bloodsworth Island area (Dorchester County), Sat., Nov. 4, 2000. 6:30 A.M. - 4 P.M. 50.1 mi. by boat. 4:15 A.M. A good start ... a woodcock flushes off our drive at Rigby (our Talbot County 2nd home) in the headlights. Highlights: 1. 3,335 Fish Crows at dawn at Crocheron coming from their island roost. Impressive. The return dusk flight was more compact, a single long blackbird-like flock c. 0.5 mi. long. 2. Passerine flight at Fin Creek Ridge (n.e. Bloodsworth), 7:45-8:30 A.M. all heading north (and coming from where?) towards the mainland, flying low, often landing for a few minutes in the bushes where I was concealed: 2 bluebirds, 365 robins, 95 waxwings, 160 starlings, 235 Myrtle Warblers, a junco, 385 red-wings, 55 grackles, and a cowbird. 3. 405 Brown Pelicans, 365 of these at Spring Island (THIS is Maryland in November ?!). Very few pelicans were seen plunge-diving today. They were resting. Also: 27 loons (low), 0 grebes, 5 gannets (juveniles, several miles offshore), a bittern (Pone I.), 74 Tundra Swans, 16 Green-winged Teal, 83 black ducks, 9 Gadwalls at Spring I., 48 Surf Scoters (very low), 10 hoodies, 1 RB Merg, 5 Bald Eagles (incl. 2 ad. at 3:45 P.M. sitting on the Crocheron rock jetties unconcerned as I motored slowly by at close range), an imm. female sharpie feeding on a thrush-sized bird on Holland I., 2 ad. peregrines, 0 rails (curious), 14 Black-bellied Plovers, 1 Willet (crippled), 10 Sanderlings, 39 Dunlin, 0 Ring-billed Gulls, only 12 Forster's Terns (far offshore), a phoebe at Holland I., 1 Carolina Wren ea. at Fin Creek Ridge and Holland I., 5 Marsh Wrens at Fin Creek Ridge (great views), and 2 Hermit Thrushes on Holland I. Butterflies: 11 unidentified anglewings, 2 Orange Sulphurs, a Mourning Cloak, and a Painted Lady. Also, 1 Green Darner. Lots of fiddler crabs in droves on Holland I. At Okahanikan Cove, Bloodsworth, a big Red Fox, in beautiful, furry pelage, with a juvenile Herring Gull in its jaws. The fox stopped on the sod bank and stared at me as I slowly went past in the boat at a distance of 100 feet. Saw a large, fat vole on Fin Creek Ridge, which I'd guess would taste better. Moon Jelly (Aurelia aurita) washed up on beach on Holland I., almost a foot across. Mosquitos were bothersome on Holland I. Fair becoming increasingly cloudier, NW wind 10 mph becoming calm in P.M. c. 50-70 degrees. Route: Crocheron, Bloodsworth I. (landings and walks done n. of Piney I. Pt., at Fin Creek Ridge, Bloodsworth Pt., and the s. end of Pone I.), Spring I. (no landings made out of consideration to the pelicans), Holland I. (landing and long walk on s. end), to the central Bay 9.2 mi. w. of Holland I. to buoy 72, then north 4.5 mi. to buoy 72A, north another 0.5 mi., then east all the way back (c. 12 mi.) to Crocheron. Water temp. 54-60, warmest in mid-Bay. Maximum water depth was 127' w. of buoy 72. 50 species. A most satisfying trip, except for the curious shortage of diving birds, incl. zero Buffleheads, goldeneyes, Long-tailed Ducks, and grebes. Ran into David Czaplak and Mary Ann Todd at Blackwater at 5 P.M. who had just seen an ad. and a juv. Ross's Goose there. Nov. 5 at Rigby there was a pretty good robin flight, c. 410, along with 140 waxwings. Later in the day a lovely Merlin (probably an ad. female) was harassing shorebirds at Blackwater. It seemed too windy for hawks but from 2:15-2:30 I saw 3 red-tails, 3 eagles, 3 Black and 16 Turkey Vultures at Hooper's I. (Swan Harbor Rd.), nice but not indicative of big doin's. Levin Willey has done it again with dusk counts of herons at Pool 3c at Blackwater on Nov. 3: 80 Great, 8 Snowy and 1 Cattle Egret, 5 Tricolored, and 7 Black-crowned Night Herons. This is, to me, one of the most surprising developments with this relatively new system of dikes and pools. These herons seem to love those willows for roosting. Next up, a 4 day weeked Nov. 11-14 at Kiptopeke. Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119. 215-248-4120. 74077.3176@compuserve.com. ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================