Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 11:05:52 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Skunkheads on parade April 8 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii April 8, 2001, Sunday, at Rigby's Folly on Ferry Neck, near Royal Oak, Talbot County. Overcast, becoming fair then clear. 47-65 degrees. Calm or close to it all day, what wind there was at 5 m.p.h. or so, NE shifting to NW then SW. 57 species, incl. quite a few firsts for 2001. A minimum of 3,310 Surf Scoters here at the mouth of the Choptank. In contrast to last weekend the scoters were very active, frequently flushing, so the air was full of the musical, bell-like quality their wings make when they fly. A marvelous spectacle, and sound. Year birds for the "yard" (none very surprising): 27 Double-crested Cormorants (5 small flocks), 1 Snowy Egret, 2 male Ruddy Ducks, 1 Greater Yellowlegs, 10 Laughing Gulls, 6 Tree, 2 rough-winged, 1 Bank and 5 Barn Swallows, and 1 Savannah Sparrow. Of these all but the ruddies, the gulls, the snowy, and the Savannah were in actual visible migration, as were a sharpie and a kestrel. This is the first time I have had 4 swallow species in one day this early in the season although we have seen all these 4 species on various earlier dates a few times in past years (Tree, March 18; roughie, March 26; Bank, April 5; Barn March 27). 11 Common Loons, several of them seen at close range feeding - on Hogchokers as usual. 25 Horned Grebes, a pathetic echo of their former abundance here when sometimes under ideal conditions several hundred could be seen at one time from our point (Lucy Point), such as 383 on April 19, 1980, 360 on March 28, 1987, or 350 on April 17, 1966. Notable for their absence: gannets (haven't seen any all spring) and Red-breasted Merganser (an almost unbelievable miss today; scarce all spring here). Only 10 Long-tailed Ducks. For several years they have not been present in the thousands the way they used to be here in late March and early April. 60 Canvasbacks still hanging in on Irish Creek. 6 Gray Squirrels, 13 deer. All 3 of our ponds, which are very small, full of leopard frogs today. Peepers and Chorus Frogs calling last night. Went wading along our shoreline and found a lovely antique bottle with a triangular base that probably held some medicine originally: the base is 1 7/8" X 7/8" X 7/8", it's 2 5/8" long, and the opening is 3/8" inside diameter. On the way back to Philadelphia stopped at the 2 ponds just south of the Rt. 213 X 301 intersection (Queen Annes County). The north pond, favored by Ring-necked Ducks this spring, had 6 plus 4 Gadwall and 4 American Wigeon. This is a new pond that I'd guess came into existence as a borrow pit and source of fill when the new and improved intersection was made at 213 X 301 a few years ago. However, a full clover-leaf would have been a REAL improvement to this intersection. At mile 118.4 on Route 301 (Kent Co.) at the Beaver dam mentioned the past 2 weeks I saw one kit and a large adult, the latter hauled out on top of the dam, plus a Muskrat, the latter a pretty good furball in its own right. Also on April 8 George A. had an excellent view of a "black" Brant at Brigantine (Forsythe) N.W.R., New Jersey, this around 5:40 P.M. This is the race from the Pacific Northwest (which may in the future "become a split"). The European form of the Brant (Brent) is somewhat similar to the black Brant but not nearly as dark underneath and the white collar is also much more distinctive in the black Brant. Earlier this past winter Ned Brinkley did a careful study of a European (hrota) Brant at Cape Charles, Virginia. Best birding to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119. ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================