Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 21:19:24 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Ferry Neck & Dorchester Co. Jan. 12-13 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Jan. 12, 2002, Sat. Rigby's Folly, Ferry Neck, near Bellevue, Talbot County. 9 A.M. - 6 P.M. 45 species. clear - fair, 36 - 48 degrees. wind SW - S 5-10. 590 Buffleheads, 1 ad. & 1 imm. Bald Eagle, 2 sharpies, 185 Herring Gulls, 1 Pileated Woodpecker, 3 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, & 1 Brown Thrasher (giving its crepuscular call at 5:23 P.M.). On Jan. 5 Jimmy Olszewski saw 7 Wild Turkeys here: a big tom, a jake, and 5 hens. 5 Gray Squirrels, 13 Deer (does), 2 Red Foxes. Mystery jellyfish. I was surprised to see one right below the end of our dock. About 3 inches long. It seemed healthy and certainly looked like the Sea Walnut illustrated (page 180) in Christopher P. White's "Chesapeake Bay: a field guide: nature of the estuary" (Tidewater Publishers, 1989, 212pp.): "The oval body has two lobes ..." Does anyone know if this is an odd time of year for this? Apparently not ... this book does say they are year-round. Jan. 13, Sun., 9 A.M. - 3 P.M., Dorchester County, clear, windy (WNW @ 25-30 m.p.h.), temp. in 40's. Recovering from nasty cold now in its 9th day & spent most of day in the car. Tidal areas very low today. Cambridge, MD, waterfront. Circa 870 Canvasbacks. You drive right up to them and watch them (and listen to them) at leisure at 20 feet or less. It is a gas. In the same area were 1 male Redhead, 22 American Wigeon, 2 Lesser & 1 Greater Scaup, a male Surf Scoter, 40 Tundra Swan, 165 CG's, a Killdeer, and 355 Mallards. Maybe a big cold snap will bring in more cans. I haven't seen the albino one for a couple of years. Hurlock Wastewater Treatment Plant. 45 Tundra Swans, 40 Snow Geese, 75 Mallards, 2 Am. Wigeon, 1 male Canvasback, 3 male Ring-necked Ducks, 6 Lesser Scaup,1 male Bufflehead, 115 Ruddy Ducks & 2 Savannah Sparrows. In nearby fields, mostly along Rt. 331, were 4 Bald Eagles (2 ad. & 2 imm.), 3 Am. Kestrels, a Killdeer, 570 Tundra Swans, 3300 Snow and 125 Blue Geese, 3 CG's plus one that was of normal proportions but the same size as a Snow Goose. An additional 260 Tundra Swans were nearby at Rhodesdale. 135 Ring-billed Gulls feeding actively in the ponds with 15 Herring and 1 imm. Great Black-backed. Elliott Island Rd. 7 Great Blue Herons, 1 Great Egret, 80 Am. Black Ducks, 2 female Hooded Mergansers, only 2 ruddies on Fishing Bay (which was a seething mass of whitecaps), 5 Bald Eagles, 2 Common Snipe, 2 Savannah Sparrows. 2 Red Foxes, a big one and another not quite fully grown. Transquaking River (Bestpitch Bridge) marshes. A flock of 31 Greater with one Lesser Yellowlegs. 5 Eastern Meadowlarks. 5 Green-winged Teal. Blackwater N.W.R. 1 ad. Ross's Goose, perhaps 3,500 Snow Geese w/ a couple of hundred Blues. Most of these geese were right in front of the Visitor's Center. 410 Northern Pintails in Pool 1 (such elegant, lovely birds). 21 Bald Eagles. 23 Black Vultures in one group off Egypt Rd. The annual winter eagle survey was on Jan. 10. Conducted at 12 points on the refuge, it recorded 158 Bald and 1 Golden Eagle (fide Tom Miller of the refuge staff.); 35 of the Balds were seen by Dick Kleen from Wildlife Drive. Tom also saw a group of at least 30 Wild Turkeys from Key Wallace Drive. A post earlier this year on MDOSPREY talked about how uncommon White-breasted Nuthatches are in Dorchester County. We have recorded them 6 or 7 times (out of 68 counts) on May counts here which leads me to believe there may be a pair or two of breeders on the refuge in Kentuck Swamp. In Talbot County at Rigby I have only seen them between the dates of Sept. 17 and April 17, except for 2 anomalous birds I saw on July 28, 1996, and one on Aug. 10 of that year. Strange but these birds have flight years just as Red-breasteds do. On the Cape Charles, VA, Christmas count we get a few in some years, but there is no breeding area anywhere nearby. I agree that they are a scarce bird most of the time in the immediate tidewater and adjacent areas of the lower Delmarva Peninsula. The preliminary Virginia breeding atlas workbook shows 2 locations as a "possible breeder" on the Virginia Eastern Shore. I've misplaced my copy of the Maryland atlas but I wouldn't be surprised if there is a dot or 2 for them in interior Dorchester. 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 ======================================================================= =========================================================================