Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2002 09:50:27 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Hooper's, Hurlock, Rigby Nov. 2-3 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Saturday, November 2, 2002. Blackwater N.W.R. Quick drive through, only 1 stop. 7 Bald Eagles, 530 Dunlin, 1 Ruddy Duck, 21 Tundra Swan, 11 Forster's Terns & 8 Wood Ducks. Levin Willey looked over the shorebirds more carefully than I did and found 1 Western Sandpiper. Levin also saw a Grasshopper Sparrow on Egypt Rd. on Oct. 27 and c. 100 Brown Pelicans on a Bloodsworth Island area to Crisfield boat trip on Oct. 30. Hooper's Island (Swan Harbor Road). clear - fair, wind NW 20-15 m.p.h., 44-48 degrees. This road traverses a 0.2 mi. stretch of open saltmarsh. By positioning one's self midway in the marsh segment of the road this gives a 360 degree panorama for counting hawks but no views of any open water. A good flight although I expected many more red-taileds: 206 Sharp-shinned, 4 Cooper's, 18 Red-tailed & 8 Red-shouldered hawks, 10 Bald Eagles, 9 harriers, 1 Osprey, 7 kestrels,1 Merlin, 123 Turkey & 5 Black Vultures for a total of 392 raptors. All hawks except the Osprey were flying north into the wind (same situation on Sunday also). Also a small flight of Tundra Swans (82), 17 Green-winged Teal, 14 scaup (sp.), 6 Common Loons & 1 Pileated Woodpecker. Levin Willey joined me for the noon - 1 P.M. period, when only 21 raptors were encountered. 2 Orange Sulphurs, 1 unid. anglewing. Hooper's is one of the best fall hawks spots on the Delmarva Peninsula but I only count hawks 2-3 days a year here. On Oct. 8, 1995, I counted 463 sharpies. On Nov. 19, 1994, in only 2 hours 92 Red-taileds passed by. Great, unrealized potential here, I'd say. Hurlock Wastewater Treatment Plant. 2:55 - 3:40 P.M. 1 kingfisher, 2 Great Blue Herons, 40 Tundra Swans, 5 Double-crested Cormorants, 875 Canada, 495 Snow & 20 Blue Geese, 35 Bonaparte's Gulls (actively feeding; this is actually a very good count for Dorchester County), 4 coots, 95 shovelers, 175 Ruddy Ducks, 9 Buffleheads, 2 harriers, 4 Ring-billed Gulls, 85 Mallards, 10 Dunlin and 15 sickly-looking Laughing Gulls. Hunters have a blind almost adjacent to the center of the 2 west cells here (look for the several hundred tire halfs painted Snow Goose white) and are annoyed when birders drive the dike right next to their blind. Probably best to avoid the west dike therefore. However, by driving very slowly along the entire outer periphery of the 4 cells and staying in the car all the time I don't believe I frightened a single bird away from the facility, although many of the ducks flew from one cell to another or else retreated into the far end of the cell I happened to be next to at the time. Sometimes there is hunting on the other side of the cells adjacent to the east dikes. If one goes down the center dikes one is almost certain to flush any geese and some of the ducks and they will probably leave the plant and not return for a while (or perhaps give the hunters the chance they have been waiting for on the way out). Sometimes it is hard to know what is best to do here. I never see anyone at the facility and the sign says it is a sanctuary and not to enter unless accompanied by staff but the gate always seems to be open. "Rigby's Folly", Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near Bellevue. 4:40 P.M. - 5:30 P.M. only. 40 Tundra Swans (in migration), 1 ad. Bald Eagle, 1 kingfisher. 10 deer (8 does, 2 bucks), 1 Gray Squirrel. Sunday, Nov. 3: Cambridge, 6:45 A.M., single Great Black-backed Gulls, all adults, on 13 consecutive lamp posts on the Malkus Bridge. "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines."-Emerson. Hip Roof Rd. (just NE of Hooper's Island), 7:30 A.M.: 10 Wild Turkeys Hooper's Island, 7:45 - 11 A.M. 44-48 degrees, variously fair or mostly cloudy, wind NW 15 m.p.h. 94 Turkey Vultures, 40 Sharp-shinned, 2 Cooper's, 13 Red-tailed & 1 Red-shouldered Hawk, 10 Bald Eagles, 3 harriers, 1 Osprey & 1 Kestrel for a total of 165 raptors. Also: 3 Brown Pelicans, 1 Snowy Egret, 105 House Finches, 6 pintails, 40 goldfinches, 4 Common Loons and 1,180 robins (the landbirds were migrating). Rigby's Folly, 1 - 4:30 P.M. clear. calm. Huge numbers of gulls feeding on the glassy, flat Choptank River mouth. A real spectacle. Herring Gull 1,900 (previous property high count 600 on Jan. 23, 1993), Laughing Gull 400. Also: 3 Bald Eagles (2 adults at dusk roosting in a dead oak near their nest in one of our small logged tracts), 1 Osprey, 3,000 Canada Geese, 215 Buffleheads (none seen all last weekend), 2 Red-breasted Mergansers, 1 Red-shouldered Hawk & only 4 Common Loons. 4 Black and 9 Turkey Vultures sitting in trees in the yard unconcerned as I walked around under them. A small flight of Tundra Swans, 7 flocks totalling 255 birds, some so high they were just white specks but still audible, others tinted a lovely roseate by the setting sun as they uttered their marvelous calls high overhead in majestic flight. 1 swan flock was trailed by a few feet by a group of 4 Snow and 2 Blue Geese. 14 Mourning Doves sitting on a neighbor's roof at dusk. Other creatures: 1 Red Fox, 1 Gray Squirrel, 8 does and 2 bucks, 4 Orange Sulphurs and 2 Buckeyes. The Eastern Shore foliage, always more subtle and understated than what you get on the ridges and in the mountains, is nevertheless quite beautiful and splendid this weekend, especially the Black Gums and Sweet Gums. A glorious time of year, full of abundance and poignant change. Many small areas of frost early this Sunday. I've seen very few waxwings this fall. No big flights of Blue Jays either. At Kiptopeke State Park on Nov. 2 George A., Ned Brinkley, Zach Smith and others saw 2 Golden Eagles and a Swainson's Hawk. One last note on 'Boating and birding on the Eastern Shore' (cf. "Maryland yellowthroat", Nov./Dec. 2002) regarding tides. When the tide is still quite high but falling the tips of submerged aquatic vegetation, if they are still under several inches of water, will point in the direction of the outgoing tide even if there is a 15 or 20 m.p.h. wind coming from the opposite direction. 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 ======================================================================= =========================================================================