Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2001 09:04:01 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Tilghman Island Aug. 25 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii August 25, 2001, Tilghman's Island, Talbot County. 23.5 mile boat trip from Rigby which circumnavigated Tilghman's. Water temp.: 79-80.5. Wind east, refreshing, 10 mph. Temp.: 77-83. Fair. Liz and Harry Armistead. Following seen from boat only. 2 female, 1 male Surf Scoter. Other birds: Brown Pelican 0 (We looked at all the pound nets), 215 D.C. Cormorants, 6 great blues, 2 Snowy Egrets, 9 Turkey and 1 Black Vulture, 21 Ospreys (incl. 2 of the biggest blind nests I've ever seen), 2 ad. & 1 imm. Bald Eagle (last year's nest near Black Walnut Point was not used this year), 165 Herring, 3 Ring-billed, 35 Great Black-backed and 190 Laughing Gulls, 60 Common/Forster's and 7 Royal Terns (put me in mind of the 30 I counted on pilings here on August 31, 1956, my first birding record to appear in a book [Stewart & Robbins 1958]). 55 Barn Swallows, 25 Chimney Swifts, and 6 martins, mostly concentrated at B.W. Point. Seething mass of "snapper" Bluefish just NW of the point with 55 juvenile Laughing Gulls hovering over them; I caught and released two blues. Several Monarchs and Red Admirals seen from the boat. The Spartina alterniflora on the north side of Knapps Narrows seems especially lush; got to be some clappers in there. I like to think of Tilghman's as Talbot's answer to Cape May. That's one reason Jan Reese birds there nearly every week. August 26 at Rigby's Folly, Ferry Neck, Talbot County near Royal Oak. Mostly did chores in the house and yard work. 70 Mute Swans, 3 Black Vultures, 80 Canada Geese, 1 Great Egret, and 2 migrants: 1 Red-eyed Vireo and an Ovenbird. 1 American Lady, several Monarchs, Red-spotted Purples, Common Wood Nymphs, and Pearl Crescents. Mammals: 1 Red Fox, 1 cottontail, a doe and 2 fawns, 3 Gray Squirrels. Hurlock W.W.T.P. revisited and turtle tales. Last week Bob Ringler answered my query about turtles here, saying he had seen Snapping Turtles, predating on ducklings. I once saw a snapper nail a Lesser Yellowlegs at Pool 1 at Blackwater N.W.R. Marshall Iliff responded off-list, saying he had seen Red-bellied Turtles at Hurlock. It's curious but I don't think I've ever seen a turtle hauled out at Hurlock. Turtles are sometimes called turkles by Eastern Shore folks. Once on Egypt Road Senator Fred Malkus (the fellow the Cambridge bridge is named for) stopped to talk and allowed as how he was running his turkle trap line (for snappers) on the way up to his Cambridge office. Malkus's house is right adjacent to the refuge land. He was often the first person to drive through Wildlife Drive in the morning. Snapper soup, for some reason, is considered a Philadelphia delicacy best served hot and with a small carafe that one uses to add some sherry. In my college days I ate it frequently but my brother, Gordon, who used to have a collection of some 70 (live) turtles, would not eat it out of principle. We used to catch snappers in Wissahickon Creek and Sandy Run, haul them home in damp burlap sacks, keep them for a while, then turn 'em loose. Gordy used to remove leeches from their soft parts. There was one 20 pounder, with distinctive markings on its carapace, that I caught 3 years in a row. Bill Julian, refuge manager of Blackwater in the 1960's and 1970's, once told me of some huge alligator snappers he had seen in the Okeefenokee area that when cut open were revealed to have swallowed ducks and coots whole. Snappers are about as popular with wildlife managers as Raccoons. Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119. Any off-list replies, please, to: harryarmistead@hotmail.com. ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================