Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 22:33:48 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Ferry Neck & Blackwater March 29-31 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. Saturday, March 29, 2003. fair - overcast, 54-72 degrees F., winds SE - S - SE, 15-30-15, light rain from 3 PM, some thunder c. 4 P.M. Harry & George Armistead. 7 A.M. - 6:30 P.M. 51 species. Red-necked Grebe 2 (yard bird 200 for George; one of these was present all day, joined in P.M. by a second; I saw the first bird fly in, coming directly at me head on, when I thought it was a female Red-breasted Merganser until it dawned on me that it had those distinctly white edges at the shoulders, a very distinctive mark; seen to catch fish). gannet 1 adult. Snowy Egret 1 (1 day later than the record early date for here). Bald Eagle 3. Wild Turkey 2 (heard gobbling). Dunlin 1, a fly by. Bonaparte's Gull 2. Hairy Woodpecker 2. Pileated Woodpecker 1, a great view and seen while drumming also. This spring has been a disaster for seeing good numbers of Buffleheads and Lesser Scaup with no more than 20 Buffleheads seen during these 3 days and no scaup (compare with c. 750 Lesser Scaup March 29, 1986, and c. 450 Buffleheads March 28, 1986, seen by George and me).. One Common Loon I saw today caught 2 small fish plus a 6+ inch Oyster Toadfish (Opsanus tau), which I saw it swallow with ease. Also saw a Horned Grebe catch a small fish. Bluebirds are hanging around their nesting boxes. When George and I arrived late Friday night a Common Loon was giving its wail call repeatedly and Spring Peepers, Chorus Frogs, and Southern Leopard Frogs were calling in W4. Gray Squirrel 3. Liz arrived at 8:30 P.M. accompanied by rain and impressive thunder and lightning. Sun., March 30. Blackwater N.W.R. including Gum Swamp and Shorter's Wharf Road plus the new impoundments off-refuge but nearby on Maple Dam Rd. 7:30 A.M. - 12:30 P.M. Overcast with light rain, winds NW 25, temperature falling from 45 - 40 with a short period of light snow later in the afternoon. Not surprisingly no one showed up for my bird walk. American Coot 9. Caspian Tern 1 (at Seward's). Green-winged Teal 245. Bald Eagle 14. Least Sandpiper 15. Blue-winged Teal 4. Brown-headed Cowbird 105. Greater Yellowlegs 43. Great Egret 11. American Wigeon 33. Lesser Yellowlegs 7. Ring-necked Pheasant 1 cock at Gum Swamp. Also: a Fox Squirrel off-refuge on Liner's Road. Two dead watersnakes on Shorter's Wharf Road. At World's End Creek X Route 336 I saw an immature male Cooper's Hawk tangling with a big flock of Red-winged Blackbirds. He was unsuccessful but perched afterwards, affording me an excellent view. Today Liz saw 8 Wild Turkeys on Bellevue Rd. near Royal Oak. I stopped briefly at Cambridge on Oakley Street and the Canvasback flock seems to be gone but I did see 70 Surf Scoters and 16 Lesser Scaup. 115 Laughing Gulls in the fields near Trappe. Rigby's Folly. March 31, Monday. Fair becoming overcast with heavy winds 20-25+ m.p.h. all day, a second cold front sending the temperature from 47-41 in mid-late afternoon with increased winds, a period of light snow, and impressive, complex cloud formations trailing virga - not good birding weather. 18 deer (does). Northern Gannet 3 adults. Surf Scoter 160. Cleaned ditches on the public road of trash, did some chainsawing of fallen Black Locusts in the yard. Some very varied spring weather these 3 days. 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 =======================================================================