Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 09:15:14 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Ferry Neck Aug. 10-11 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline "Rigby's Folly", Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near Bellevue. Spent about a quarter of the time doing brushwork but even the August doldrums harbor things of interest. August 10, 2002, Sat., 6 A.M. - 8:30 P.M. Clear, 73-90, SW 10-15 then E 5-10. 60 species. 1 Little Blue Heron imm. (year bird), 4 Black Vultures, 1 Wild Turkey, 3 Royal, 3 Common & 2 Forster's Terns, 35 Chimney Swifts, 1 Pileated & 6 Downy Woodpeckers (ties 2nd property highest for the 4th time), 5 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (migrants), 2 Cedar Waxwings, 5 White-eyed Vireos (ties property high), 1 ad. female Prothonotary (3rd property record) & 2 Prairie Warblers (migrants), 2 Blue Grosbeaks. Previous Prothonotary records here are one on Sept. 3, 1978, and a singing male on April 26, 1998 (seen by Jan Reese, Lester Coble and others on a Talbot County Bird Club field trip). Aug. 11, Sun., 8 A.M. - 5:15 P.M. Clear, 73-92, SE 10-15. 42 species. 1 Cooper's Hawk (probably an imm. male), 1 Spotted Sandpiper (year bird), 3 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, 1 earlyish Bobolink. An early (?) Cooper's Hawk every so often on the Eastern Shore seems to be something of a syndrome. I have seen them in mid-summer over the years at Elliott I., Deal I., Fisherman's I. in VA, in Caroline County, and at Rigby previously on July 31, 1993 (chased away by a kingbird!) and Aug. 19, 2000, plus George A. saw one there Aug. 22, 1993. Today along Route 481 in Queen Annes County we saw a bat in bright sunlight flying over the fields at 5:45 P.M. (Rts. 481 X 404) and 5 Horned Larks nearby. Also at Rigby this weekend: 12 Diamondback Terrapins on Sunday. 2 Gray Squirrels and a buck, 4 does and 3 fawns on Sat. Buckeyes, Common Wood Nymphs, Tiger Swallowtails, Spice Bush Swallowtails, a Pearl Crescent, an Orange Sulphur and a few others I can't identify. Cannibalism, thievery, inebriation (or was it attempted suicide?), death, affirming life (in that order) and all that good stuff. Who says a weekend in the country is bland and bucolic? I saw a 5' Black Rat Snake on Sunday preying on a young, brown one of its own species about 1.5' long. At a distance of about 100 yards I watched an ad. Bald Eagle dive 6 times at an Osprey, forcing it to drop its fish into one of our fields. One hears a lot about this piracy but I have only seen it perhaps 7 times. This weekend a male cardinal thumped into 3 different windows of our house perhaps 40 times, that we noticed. The windows were stained by Black Cherry fruits this bird was presumably carrying. Perhaps they were fermented. I get a little rammy, too, after a few Coronas. The cardinal did not seem to be fighting its reflection in the window. Saw a dead Woodchuck (roadkill) on Sun. on the outskirts of Cordova where I have not noticed them before. On Sat. I saw juveniles (capable of flight) of: Downy Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse, bluebird & White-eyed Vireo and also saw a kingbird and a House Sparrow carrying food. The Carolina Wren nest mentioned in previous postings that is inside my boat now has 3 young about a week old. Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119-1225. 215-248-4120. Please, any off-list replies 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 ======================================================================= =========================================================================