Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 09:42:03 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Ferry Neck Talbot County Feb. 8-9 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Pocomoke River SAV (submerged aquatic vegetation). Michael Haramis at Patuxent W.R.C. is looking for information on the historical SAV situation on the Pocomoke River. He is at: michael_haramis@usgs.gov. Mike recently sent a message saying he and others trapped over 1,000 Redheads on the Choptank River in the mid 70s "on the north side of the river across from Castle Haven". He says this was the last time there were "any significant numbers of Redheads in the upper bay". Feb. 8-9, 2003: Routes 301, 213 and 50 had 7 or so sizeable flocks of birds both days desperately feeding on the shoulders or even sitting on the roads, mostly White-throated Sparrows but also some Songs and juncos and a few Horned Larks. On Sunday I saw a flock of 9 Horned Larks at milepost c. 106.5 on Rt. 301. Quite a few roadkills as a result of all of this. Hard times for ground feeders. A miserable-looking Great Blue Heron was next to the culvert of Rt. 33 at Easton near the "headwaters", such as they are, of the Tred Avon River "Rigby's Folly", Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near Bellevue. Feb. 8, 2003, Sat. Clear, winds calm to 5 m.p.h. southwest, 33-30 degrees F. 5-8 inches of fresh snow on the ground. 3:45 P.M. - 6:15 P.M. 24 species. 2 adult Bald Eagles (on pilings at the mouth of Irish Creek). 1 Great Horned Owl (calling off and on the entire time). Jupiter rising at dusk with 3 moons visible through binocs above and to the right of it. At 6:15 it was dark enough so the half moon cast my dim shadow on the snow. In spite of the moon's brightness the Pleaides and all the stars of Orion's dagger were easy to see even though these were near the moon. 11 does, 2 Gray Squirrels. Feb. 9, Sunday. Fair to clear, 25 - 41 degrees F., winds calm to SW 20 mph. 7 A.M. - 4 P.M. 48 species. Lovely winter day, almost makes me wish winter would not end. Walked 4 miles in the snow. 2,750 Canada Geese including a great look at a diminutive Richardson's Goose feeding in a field (14th property record). 2 Gadwall (only the 3rd property record). 6 American Wigeon (consorting with feeding Tundra Swans just as they used to in the old days). 325 Canvasbacks (In mid-winter Irish Creek often has a respectable flock of cans; today's were very actively feeding). 57 Redheads (with the cans, naturally; a new high count, the previous being 45 on Feb. 16, 1975). 55 Common Goldeneye (feeding and courting much closer to shore than usual). 22 Buffleheads (really low; the harsh weather must have cleared them out). A pair of Hooded Mergansers (hauled out on the ice; first winter record here & 10th record overall). 1 ad. male Northern Harrier. 1 ad. male Sharp-shinned Hawk (in the distance, before I approached it closely, I initially thought it was a bluebird - bluish upperparts, reddish underneath, and real small). 1 Red-shouldered Hawk (uncommon here; calling continuously for a half hour, perched in an oak with a crow in attendance). 1 Brown Creeper (great, very close view as it hitched up the bark of a Loblolly Pine; one of George Miksch Sutton's favorite birds, I can understand why). 1 Brown Thrasher. 185 Cedar Waxwings (10th highest). 375 starlings (6th highest). 2 Fox Sparrows. 22 male Red-winged Blackbirds (the vanguard?; much singing). 1 Eastern Meadowlark (out of place 30 feet up in a Sweet Gum surveying the snow laden fields, dreaming of food stamps). Pathetic numbers of some birds attest to this harsh winter: 5 Song & 9 White-throated Sparrows and all of 2 juncos. I saw a male cardinal apparently trying to glean pine seeds from cones high up in a loblolly (and with a schnoz like that). Deer footprints lace the area and one set measured 18 feet between footprints, would have been an inspiration for Chairman Mao's Great Leap Forward. 16 species of waterfowl was very good for here. Today was notable for the great Red Cedar berry pig-out of 2003. The waxwings, starlings, robins, bluebirds and a few Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers were gobbling them down like there was no tomorrow. For some birds there may not be. A couple of weeks ago after the big snow at Cape Hatteras Bob Anderson saw several RING-BILLED GULLS eating Red Cedar berries there up in the trees! Found a Raccoon resting in a big Red Cedar tree cavity. Initially all I saw was fur rising up and down as it breathed so I gave it a gentle poke with a stick and a Raccoon's face looked out at me. The only patches of bare ground were small areas underneath the south or southwest side of some dense cedar and piney areas. At one mile north of the junction of Routes 301 and 213 several hundred Snow Geese were seen each day east of the road near some strips of unharvested corn. Titmice began singing earlier this week in Philadelphia. 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 ======================================================================= =========================================================================