Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 10:24:43 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Blackwater & Hurlock Nov. 18 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Jared W. Sparks and I had an interesting 24 hours or so: Rigby's Folly, Ferry Neck, near Bellevue, Talbot County: Sat. evening, Nov. 17, 2001, Jared flushed a woodcock from our driveway at dusk. When I arrived at 8 P.M. an Opossum ran off the road like some demented reptilian dog, its tail switching from side to side. Sunday, Nov. 18. Clear. 39-65 degrees. Wind calm changing to light from the SW. Leonid Meteor Shower (L.M.S.) at Rigby: "Who bridled dawn with the Pleiades? Who saddled lightning with the half moon?" - Abu I-Salt Umayyah, "the White Stallion" Jared and I watched this impressive show from 4:50 - 5:50 A.M. at Rigby, where there was minimal light pollution. Our L.M.S. list: 1 Great Horned Owl, 1 Wild Turkey, a Snow Goose, lots of CG's, a Mallard, and a Red Fox that called a dozen or so times. The light trail of one meteor lingered for over 10 seconds directly overhead after the meteor had passed. We saw dozens of "shooting stars" in all sectors of the sky, although there were fewer in the SE. "I've seen it raining fire in the sky" line from a John Denver song. The "Philadelphia Inquirer" has a nice article today (p. B1) about this ("It looked like heavenly armies were engaged in a benign form of star wars."), the particles shed by Comet Tempel-Tuttle. One local person counted 951 meteors yesterday. Blackwater N.W.R., 7:45 A.M. - 1:15 P.M. 20 people were on today's refuge bird walk, including Levin Willey. 5000 Canada, 2500 Snow and 500 Blue Geese (I made no effort to make a meaningful estimate of the geese), 1 coot, 20 Bald (15 in sight at one time) and 1 Golden Eagle, 1 sharpie, several of each kinglet, a Brown-headed and a White-breasted Nuthatch, a Common Yellowthroat, 1 Brown Creeper, 4 Hermit Thrushes, a screech owl, a Pileated Woodpecker, 3 harriers, 0 Dunlin, an imm. male sapsucker, 15 cormorants, 2 Great Egrets, and 75 Green-winged Teal. 1 Gray and 1 Fox Squirrel plus a roadkill Fox Squirrel on Egypt Road just s. of Cambridge and 1 Nutria. 2 roadkill does in the area. 1 Red-bellied Turtle. Sure tried hard for a Ross's Goose w/ no luck. I guess we can't really take them for granted yet, although I bet one was there. The tidal areas were nice and low today with extensive mudflats but no shorebirds. Hurlock Wastewater Treatment Plant, Dorchester Co., MD. 2 - 3:30 P.M at the land of the sky-green waters. 43 Tundra Swan, 1575 Canada & 50 Snow Geese, 1280 Ruddy Ducks, 22 Mallards, 177 Northern Shovelers, 21 Lesser Scaup, 7 Ring-necked Ducks, 3 American Wigeon, 18 Green-winged Teal, 680 Laughing & 210 Ring-billed Gulls, 12 Killdeer, 2 American Coots, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, 1 imm. Bald Eagle, and 13 American Pipits. Also 17 medium-sized turtles; whatever the species is that is here they never seem to haul out. By staying on the peripheral dikes, not getting out of the car, and creeping along very slowly we succeeded in not scaring any birds away from this facility. A drive down the central dikes would have caused mayhem. The people who hunt on the surrounding private properties do not like the presence of birders here for this reason. I make no judgements here ... just trying to report what seem to be the facts. Today's Ruddy Duck spectacle was impressive. I thank Levin Willey for letting us know Hurlock was so loaded with fowl at this time. He said Snow Buntings had been seen here recently and he found a dead one at (I think) Cambridge. The Ruddy Duck, like the Gray Squirrel, is one of those creatures of which I am inordinately fond. Along with the Least Tern it belongs to a category of birds that I consider to be Fussy Flyers. Another category consists of Belly Birds, to which bluebirds and juncos belong. If a woodcock was a duck it would be a ruddy and vice versa (i.e., if a ruddy was a shorebird ...). My apologies, but, then, you didn't HAVE to read this. Tommy's Sporting Goods, 4 P.M., Cambridge. A Cooper's Hawk flew by at rooftop level in among the power lines at close range. I bought a backup, full length, Wall camouflage jump suit. Choptank River Fishing Pier, Talbot County side (old Route 50). 4:15-4:45 P.M. A feeding frenzy of 255 Laughing Gulls and 27 Forster's Terns. Many of the terns were catching small minnows. 7 Double-crested Cormorants, 8 American Black Ducks, and 8 Buffleheads. Days Inn s. of Easton, 5:05 P.M. Two adult Bald Eagles flying over Route 50 in the dusk on their way to roost somewhere. "He said he'd be a poor man if he'd never seen an eagle fly" ... my thanks again to the late John Denver. Butterflies today: 3 Orange Sulphurs, 1 Monarch and 3 European Cabbage Whites. Earlier, on Nov. 3, the Olszewski family and Ben Weems saw 7 Wild Turkeys on our driveway, a new property high count. Previous high was a hen and 3 large chicks seen Sept. 23 & 26 and Oct. 2, 1970. Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119-1225. Any off-list (or off-the-wall) replies, please, to: harryarmistead@hotmail.com "But the stars sing an anthem of glory I cannot put into speech." Robert Service, 'The three voices' from "The Spell of the Yukon". The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork. One day tells its tale to another, and one night imparts knowledge to another. Although they have no words or language, and their voices are not heard, Their sound has gone out into all lands, and their message to the ends of the world. In the deep has he set a pavilion for the sun; it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber; it rejoices like a champion to run its course. It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens and runs about to the end of it again; nothing is hidden from its burning heat. from the 19th Psalm. "Our fantastic civilization has fallen out of touch with many aspects of nature, and with none more completely than with night. Primitive folk, gathered at a cave mouth round a fire, do not fear night; they fear, rather, the energies and creatures to whom night gives power; we of the age of the machines, having delivered ourselves of nocturnal enemies, now have a dislike of night itself. With lights and ever more lights, we drive the holiness and beauty of night back to the forests and the sea." Henry Beston, "The Outermost House". ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================