Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2002 10:12:29 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Red-cockaded thoughts; Dorchester, Rigby 11/30 &12/1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Weekend of Nov. 30 - Dec. 1. Liz and Harry Armistead. Saturday, November 30, 2002. An hour or so here and there at various places. My main mission today was to transport 'the Mudhen' to Gootees Marine at Golden Hill for winter storage and to vow to do more boating next year than in 2002. Just north of Gootees is the site where six or so pairs of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers nested in the 1950's, with earlier sightings in the early 1930's. I was lucky enough to see one there in September 1958 (as well as all of Maryland's 7 other woodpecker species during the course of the day) after Robert E. Stewart and M. Brooke Meanley had found an active nesting cavity on May 30, 1958 ('Nesting of the Red-cockaded Woodpecker in Maryland', "Maryland Birdlife", Vol. 14, no. 3, September 1958, pp. 63-64). This is the only active nest cavity ever found in Maryland. I still get a little misty every time I drive by there. In its account of the Red-cockaded Woodpecker (p. 444) the "Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Maryland and the District of Columbia" (U. of Pittsburgh Pr., 1996) does not mention this record or cite the ensuing article by Stewart. Although Brooke Meanley mentions the record in some detail in two of his fine books ("Blackwater", Tidewater Publishers, 1978, pp. 48-49, including a photograph of the nest tree and its cavity; "Birds and Marshes of the Chesapeake Bay Country", Tidewater Publishers, 1975, pp. 87-89, 92), he does not cite Stewart's article either. My own copy of that issue of "Maryland Birdlife" is misplaced but if I remember correctly it contained a photograph of the tree (on the cover?) and its nesting cavity and information on the age of the tree. William J. Devlin et al. cite both the record and the article in 'History and present status of the Red-cockaded Woodpecker in Maryland' in "American Birds", May 1980, pp. 314-316, in which the authors conclude that this species is "at best a vagrant in Maryland" and that "The marginal habitat suitability also supports this presumption." Acquaintances of mine have been involved in trying to beef up the tiny remnant population of these woodpeckers in Virginia, which is less than 20, I think. Part of that effort involves importing females from the Carolinas. Perhaps someday attempts could be made to re-establish them in Maryland, although little remains in the way of the mature Loblolly Pine forest that they require in Dorchester county. But, I digress. Back to the present, if not the future. Cambridge - Malkus Bridge. 7 Laughing Gulls still hanging in there. Egypt Road. Such a good raptor road: 4 kestrels (one with a bird it had caught), 2 Northern Harriers and a Red-tailed Hawk. On Nov. 24 I saw 4 kestrels and 4 red-taileds here. These were all birds seen just by driving through. Blackwater N.W.R. 2 Forster's Terns, 9 Bald Eagles, 1100 dabbling ducks (mostly Mallards and pintails but with a few shovelers, Green-winged Teal and black ducks plus a Mallard X American Black Duck hybrid), 160 Dunlin and 1 Snow Goose (all the rest presumably were off feeding in fields to the north and east). Swan Harbor Rd. on Hooper's Island. Did another mini hawkwatch 11:30-12:30: 6 Turkey and 7 Black Vultures, 2 Red-tailed & 1 Red-shouldered Hawk, 4 Bald Eagles & 2 harriers = 22 raptors for this hour. Other migrants: 1 Wilson's Snipe (I think that's what its called, again, and recently split from the Common Snipe of Eurasia), 13 scaup (sp.), 5 flickers, and 17 robins plus 2 non-migrating Brown Pelicans. While scoping the tree line I found a Bald Eagle nest I'd previously been unaware of, in a loblolly. Overcast, 48 degrees F., winds SW @ 20 m.p.h., not great conditions. A clearing sky was coming rapidly from the north and at 1:15 P.M. the line of clouds passed dramatically, preceded by great shafts of light through them, allowing the bright sunshine for a while. Beautiful. Hooper's Island at Fishing Creek (the town): 70 Brown Pelicans (on their tump at the south end of Barren Island), 3 Double-crested Cormorants, 1 Long-tailed Duck, 1 Horned Grebe & 1 Common Loon. "Rigby's Folly", Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near Bellevue. 3 - 5:30 P.M. 2 ad. Bald Eagles, 1 Forster's Tern, 48 Mute Swans, 3 Common Loons, and a lovely flock of 22 Tundra Swans heading south overhead calling. Tremendous but brief squall with rain and winds of 40+ m.p.h. c. 3:15 then clearing with excellent visibility and a beautiful sunset. 3 Gray Squirrels and 12 deer (11 does and a 4 point buck). Last night we saw a Red Fox when we arrived at 10:30 P.M. This year the squirrels seem especially fat and well-furred. "O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms! So haggard and so woe-begone? The squirrel's granary is full, And the harvest's done." - John Keats. Sunday, Dec. 1 @ Rigby's Folly. Fair, 32 - 38 degrees F., winds NW 20-35 m.p.h. Pretty nippy. Noon - 5 P.M. 2 ad. Bald Eagles, a late Osprey (2nd latest property record), 1 Wild Turkey, and an influx of birds with the cold front, such as 7 Northern Flickers, 14 bluebirds, 65 Slate-colored Juncos, and 90 Cedar Waxwings, many of the latter drinking water from a ditch and allowing very close views. Also: 14 Green-winged Teal (22nd property record, ties 3rd highest count), 1 Surf Scoter, 1 Long-tailed Duck (in the cove which is unusual; I suspect it's a wounded bird), migrating flocks of 18, 6, 4, 14 & 6 Tundra Swans, 165 Ring-billed Gulls, 225 scaup (sp., at dusk flying high and south over the Choptank R.), a Killdeer. Some ice today in ditches and the abundant standing water in the woods. A very low tide. The Choptank River was a seething mass of whitecaps. 4 Gray Squirrels and 8 deer (7 does and a small buck). Spent most of the day winterizing the old place. The dining room stayed a constant 44-46 degrees F. all weekend but space heaters raised, tentatively, the bedroom and kitchen temperatures to the low 60's. With the house water turned off and the little boat in storage, my summer's definitely over now. "And this is why I sojourn here Alone and palely loitering, Though the sedge is wither'd from the lake And no birds sing." - John Keats. ...except the Carolina Wren, sassy and full of pizzazz the year round. 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 ======================================================================= =========================================================================