Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2002 11:20:08 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Smith Island Feb. 9-10 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Weekend of Feb. 9-10, 2002. Saturday: Maryland at Crisfield and on Smith I., Ewell. Sunday: Virginia at South Point Marsh south to Cheeseman and Shanks Islands area almost to Tangier Island as well as Ewell again in MD. Liz and Harry Armistead. Interesting, perhaps significant, misses for the entire weekend: Elle Macpherson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, egrets, Brant, American Oystercatcher, Western Sandpiper, dowitcher, Forster's Tern and none of the 5 pochards. Saturday, Feb. 9, 2002. Clear, warm, 38-55 F. (but some ice in protected ditches), NE-SE 0-10 m.p.h. A gem. Very hazy early in the day. East of Crisfield at Jenkins and Ape Hole (don't ask; you tell me and we'll both know) Creeks, 6:30-8:30 A.M. 27 Hooded Mergansers, 4 Northern Cardinals (singing), 2 harriers, 1 imm. Bald Eagle, 25 robins, 1 Greater Yellowlegs, 45 black ducks, 6 Killdeer, 70 Boat-tailed Grackles. Also a sub-adult Great Blue Heron, when I stopped 50 feet away it nonchalantly continued to catch small fishes, < 2 in. long, in a ditch filled with old buckets and metal debris. It continued feeding as I slammed the door and started the big, noisy car again and drove off. Crisfield and Janes Island State Park, 10 A.M. - noon. 5 hoodies, 40 Turkey & 3 Black Vultures, 4 Common Loons, 2 Surf Scoters, 1 imm. Bald Eagle. Boat to Ewell aboard the 'Jason', 12:30-1:15, 12+ miles. Pretty bleak, really. 5 Common Loons, 75 Long-tailed Ducks, 290 Tundra Swans (s. part of Glenn L. Martin N.W.R.), 65 Buffleheads, 2 Mute Swans. The Martin refuge used to be the private hunting reserve and recreation spot for Glenn L. Martin, aviation pioneer, builder of the Martin bomber used in WWII, and so on. He was the Martin in Martin Marietta. His house in Ewell, at least the several times when I stayed there in the 1970's and 1980's, still has his personal china inscribed with his name. The house also now belongs to the refuge and has some displays. Ewell, Smith I. 25 species, 1:15-6:30 P.M. Also, somewhat bleak, but not many landbirds are to be expected here. 1 TV, 36 Myrtle Warblers, 1 male downy Woodpecker (same one you saw one recent winter, Marshall?), 1 flicker, 2 pintails, 3 harriers, 1 robin, 11 Clapper Rails (in marsh along road to Rhodes Pt., 2 seen), 1 Seaside Sparrow, 2 Green-winged Teal. Signs of spring: a few dandelions, blooming quince bushes, a bee, a big Pussy Willow bush about fully out, Red Maples well-budded, irises up an inch or more. Many blooming quince in Crisfield also and our Philadelphia quince has had some blossoms now for 2 weeks. 4 skeet shooters on the road to Rhodes Point didn't help our efforts today. Stayed at the Smith I. Motel. Minimalist but fine for us, except for the 3 loud roustabouts we shared it with, who are building, with only slightly more noise than they made in the motel, the new bulkhead on the island at Tylerton. Shared bathrooms. 410-425-4441 or 410-425-3321. The sycamore out front is where birds often like to perch. Within 100 yards are the church, fire hall, school, Ruke's restaurant, the island museum, and Tim Marshall's store with artifacts, decoys, arrowheads, comic books, and other collectibles. Lunched at Ruke's (Liz's sea trout sandwich was good as was my cheeseburger deluxe with crinkle-cut French fries.). Din-dins at the church, prime-ribs, with most of the congregation there. People who run the motel are very nice but sometimes it's like 'Thunder Road', minus Robert Mitchum, since fully functional exhaust/muffler systems are accidental on the island. Motel is on the road to Rhodes Point, near the marsh. No ATM anywhere, credit cards are useless on the island. Any of you who've ever stayed at Frances Kitching's motel, this is the lineal descendant, just across the street. Frances is now in a nursing home on the mainland. Various bed and breakfasts get it cranked up in the warmer months. This was my first winter visit to Smith Island (Liz's first ever at any time), only the 2nd time I've paid for lodging here. Figs and pomegranates grow commonly here in season. Sun., Feb. 10, 2002. Even nicer, clear to fair to overcast with some spotty from rain 1:30 on, when it didn't matter. 40-65 F. E-SE 5-10 at times almost calm. Ewell, 6:30-9 A.M. & 12:15-4 P.M. 35 species (I was shooting for 30 - get out the champagne) incl.: 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch (a flyover at the motel), 1 Greater Yellowlegs, 1 Tricolored Heron, 8 Clapper Rails, 3 cardinals (2 singing), 8 Song Sparrows (4 singing), 21 Fish Crows, 2 flickers, 10 robins, 43 Myrtle Warblers, 1 Red-tailed Hawk, 6 hoodies, 215 Canada Geese, 1 mockingbird. Took a nappypoo in the afternoon. Boat ride, 9 A.M. - 12:15 P.M. Half-tide and rising. 17 foot skiff, the 'Native American', with 60 H.P. Mercury captained by Timothy T(rent) Marshall. He can take 2-3 passengers at $20/hr. to look for artifacts, bird, sightsee. I recommend him but his skiff would not be much fun in a 15 m.p.h. wind or more. 410-968-1291. This boat ride was the highpoint of our weekend. Seldom have I been a little too warm on a boat moving at 20 m.p.h. in February. Swan I. in Martin N.W.R. (west side of island at base of north jetty): 35 Tundra Swan, 3 Canada Geese. Here there are nice flats at low tide. Swan I. seems to be emergent, with marsh building up and an enlarging wooded area. Jetties at west entrance to Smith I. These are long and low. 18 Purple Sandpipers (they are tame AND FAT, allowing us to cruise by at less than 50 feet, scarcely opening their eyes; thanks, Marshall and Jim, for putting us onto these; new for my Somerset County list), 2 Ruddy Turnstones, 9 Sanderlings, 18 Surf Scoters, 22 Long-tailed Ducks, 25 Buffleheads. The purps were on the south jetty, south side at the end. Rhodes Point (one of 3 Smith I. towns, southwest Smith I.; connected to Ewell by a road c. 2 mi. long) by boat: 28 Rock Doves, 3 Tricolored and 1 imm. Little Blue Heron. Round Hammock, a deciduous hammock just north of the MD/VA line. Bald Eagle nest visible but no eagles (I have yet to ever see one at Smith I. in spite of the presence of this nest and one on Cherry I. in the n. part of Martin N.W.R.). VIRGINIA. Boated and/or walked all the way south from South Marsh Point to what is left of Cheeseman and Shanks Islands, which have disappeared as what I suppose are their remaining long, sandy strips (almost mini-barrier islands) have shifted east, anchored somewhat by thick, tall tussocks of some kind of lovely Panicum grass, Sea Rocket, and 'Spartina alterniflora' marsh. This is near wilderness, where the big colonies of Brown Pelicans, Double-crested Cormorants, and Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls are in summer. We got down to c. 2 mi. n. of Tangier Island, at which point the sandy islands peter out. 915 Tundra Swans, 1375 American Wigeon, 56 Sanderlings, 1875 Dunlin, 60 Black-bellied Plovers, 1875 Herring Gulls. The gulls wheeled overhead, calling, as they do in the breeding season. Also, 2 Bald Eagles, 35 Mute Swans, 385 Canada Geese, 4 harriers, 40 black ducks, 5 goldeneye, 65 Ring-billed Gulls, 2 Horned Grebes (only ones all weekend), 1 turnstone, 2 White-winged and 60 Surf Scoters. I looked pretty hard for dows and Westerns to no avail. All the shorebirds were roosting and resting on the sands at high tide. The wigeon and Tundra Swans were really jumpy, even though we tried to be unobtrusive, and I suppose have been shot at most of the winter since Virginia and North Carolina both have a swan gunning season. Back in Maryland. Ride back to the mainland aboard the 'Jason II', 4-4:45 P.M. Choppy, 15-20 m.p.h., roughish, overcast, some rain: a few Long-tailed Ducks, RB Mergs, Buffleheads, skunkheads, 1 loon. Route 413, 4 mi. s. of the junction with Rt. 13, 4 Wild Turkeys east of the highway in a big field at 5:15 P.M. The boat rides to Smith I. cost $10 per person each way. Ruke's and the few stores close down on Sundays. Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119-1225. 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 ======================================================================= =========================================================================