Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 21:08:36 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Blackwater & Rigby, March 15 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Rigby's Folly, Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD. March 15, 2001. Mostly before the rain started at midday George Armistead and I saw 30 Horned Grebes, 190 Canvasbacks (right in the cove in front of the house, where they are unusual; no other species mixed in with them; very actively feeding and calling), 1100 Surf Scoters, 2 adult Bald Eagles (once more giving us hope the nest will be successful), 465 Ring-billed Gulls (in the big field; 4th highest property count & 1 Laughing Gull with them in not-quite-full breeding plumage), 3 Hermit Thrushes, a thrasher, a Fox and 135 White-throated Sparrows (ties 2nd highest property count). Our place overlooks the mouth of the Choptank River. In the past few years Surf Scoters have been in the ascendancy here, Long-tailed Ducks in decline. The LTD's used to rule, with my all-time high here 9,125 on March 17, 1995, a careful estimate made from my old boat, "the Ibis", on a glassy calm day. Time was we'd hardly ever even see Surf Scoters. Now they are present in big numbers, the high 3,730 on March 18, 1997. In my experience the scoters peak a little later in the March than the Long-tailed Ducks do. Now that gannets are regular here it is a fine experience to be out among these birds - the garrulous, smart-looking Long-tailed Ducks engaging in constant courtship chases, calling incessantly, the Surf Scoters also very active, the strange noise of the males' wings when in flight - half whistling, half bell-like - can be heard for several miles in a dead calm and is reminiscent of large bubbles rapidly rising to the surface and popping, increasing in tempo as it goes along. Blackwater N.W.R., also March 15, 2001. These seen just by me on the way to and from picking up my boat at Gootee's Marine. 2 Glossy Ibis (Egypt Rd.), 30 Rig-necked Ducks (Pool 1), 1100 Snow Geese (very distant, perhaps 2 miles out in the marsh/water south of the Drive), 39 Black Vultures (in one kettle; the biggest group I've ever seen at the refuge), 8 Wild Turkeys (Egypt Rd.), 4 coots, and 2 Fox Sparrows. The southside of the Wildlife Drive dike has been burned off since last Sunday in the vicinity of Stops 7-9 and the passerines seem to be attracted by this, especially Song Sparrows. Saw a few Golden-crowned Kinglets here but in a cursory search missed the Orange-crowned Warbler. Charmed, I'm sure. Close encounters of the furred kind. 3 Fox Squirrels. 1 on Key Wallace Drive near the new HQ. 1 on the dike between Pool 1 and the Little Blackwater River, a conduit for them where they sometimes, as this one did, do a slow scamper right past you, unafraid and at close range. The 3rd furred was on the Drive near the Woods Trail and allowed me to stop right abreast of it at 15 feet or so, when I turned off the engine and watched it forage under the leaves, shredding what appeared to be last year's fall of Sweet Gum seed balls, or whatever they're called. This 3rd one had a small metal tag on its left ear but otherwise was in splendid pelage, not at all shopworn from its tagging. Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119. 215-248-4120. ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================