Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2003 11:26:47 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: lower Eastern Shore June 6-8 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Dorchester, Somerset & Talbot counties, June 1-8 (a.k.a. Water World: water was in the sky, on the ground, and where it belongs - in the bays and rivers). Part 2. June 6, Fri. Dorchester County. 46 mi. boat trip from Crocheron with Lynn Davidson, Sue Ricciardi & Hal Wierenga primarily for atlassing. 8:45 A.M. - 7 P.M. Fair, 58-75 degrees F., winds NW 15-20 - W 10 - SW 0-5 - SE 10-15. Tide low and falling to rising to nearly fully high. My first Bay island trip ever in which I took no notes. It was nice to just be the boat driver while Lynn recorded the atlas information. A nearly perfect day with excellent visibility. We could see with binoculars all the way from the s. end of Pone I. to the flashing tower at Ewell, Smith I., a distance of c. 11 miles. My 16'8" boat rides faster with 4 people than with fewer for some reason and still gets 5 m.p.g., better than ever before. Clay I. (6+ mi. s. of the end of Elliott I. Rd., Elliott itself being definitely in the Boonies), my first visit here. Very remote and wild. Most unusual bird was a Brown Thrasher Lynn spotted, completely out of its usual context. Also, 1 Semipalmated Sandpiper, 2 peregrines (around their hacking tower), 2 Bald Eagles, 1 Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow, 1 harrier & 2 clapper rails. Low tide and winds hindered our efforts here. No families lived here in 1876. Bloodsworth I. Fin Creek: most unusual here were 2 Wood Ducks in this very salty environment. Also: 1 Carolina Wren, 1 kingbird, 1 Virginia Rail, 1 cardinal, 1 Bald Eagle, some Clapper Rails. For the Great Blue nest estimate see under June 3 above. Here as with other Bay islands I'm especially interested in the remnant breeding landbirds that persist in their steadily diminishing domain. I was disappointed in this respect to not find any House Wrens anywhere today. Bloodsworth Point (N. Pone I.), a lovely, seemingly pristine sandbar interspersed with marsh and higher areas with bushes but not many birds, although a harrier and 2 oystercatchers were present. In several parts of Bloodsworth Barn Swallows were apparently nesting in abandoned military vehicles and targets here. South Pone Island (south of Race Hog Point): the dandy sandbar persists here, another lovely locality: 295 Mute Swans, 2 Sanderlings, 2 Black-bellied Plovers (we turned one toward us several times by whistling its easily -imitated call), 1 Semipalmated Sandpiper, 2 oystercatchers, 1 female Red-breasted Merganser, 1 harrier. Found 2 beautiful pieces of cedar driftwood here, one very similar in shape to a dolphin's skull. They're now drying out in our garage. Adam I. (as with Bloodsworth, another island owned by the U. S. Navy). We did not land here but did see 6 turnstones on a small sod tump plus an oystercatcher. The Todd and Price families lived here in 1876. Holland Island. Found a fresh scaup decoy. The heronry here continues to thrive with many medium-sized herons moving to the south Holland segment, although the segment just to the north (with the one remaining house from the once thriving community) still has numbers of nesting herons as well as Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls. We found all MD nesting herons and ibis here (except Green Heron) including numbers of Glossy Ibis, both night herons, the 3 egrets, Little Blues and Tricoloreds plus Great Blues. A spectacle reminding me of Peterson's chapter on heronries, "Cities in the wilderness", which concerned heronries, in his incomparable book "Birds over America". Hal counted 40 Saltmarsh Skippers which are fond of the saltmarsh grass, Distichlis spicata. Also: 1 Whimbrel (circled us, calling occasionally, my favorite bird of a memorable day), 1 Semipalmated Plover, 1 Carolina Wren, 1 kingbird, 1 oystercatcher, a catbird or two, and a couple of Chimney Swifts. We paid our respects to the old graveyard with its headstones for members of classic Dorchester families such as Todd, Parks, Dise, and McCoy. Some graves are for people born in the 18th century. Barn Swallows still nest around the old house, which is almost ready to fall into the Bay waters. The northernmost island segment does not seem to have many birds of interest. When I first visited here in the 1970s Holland I. was an unbroken island a mile or so long. The north end had large American Hackberries favored by yellow-crowneds plus another old graveyard, now under the waves. My best finds of native American artifacts plus old bottles have been on parts of Holland Island now gone. Formerly the site of a town, including a school and church, Holland Island boasted a sizeable community in the 19th century. Adjacent islands washed away before my lifetime were Deep Banks, Turtle Egg, and Long islands. Long Island held 2 families, the others were uninhabited in 1876. "I sing of the Bay. My song is of the islands, ere they wash away." "What creatures lived on Sharp's, Long, the Roystons, Nelson's vanquished by the waves?" "But gentle tides sough Spartina and Juncus grass, skies full of Willets." Our last island was Spring I. where we just motored by briefly, finding an oystercatcher, the scores of nesting cormorants, a pair of Gadwalls (Charlie and I missed them on June 3) and the 2 peregrines at their hacking tower. Song Sparrows, Diamondback Terrapin, and pelicans are widespread, seen almost everywhere we went today, as were downy Mute Swan cygnets and their parents. We saw few terns, Laughing Gulls, or Green Herons. Back on the mainland 1 Blue-winged Teal was near Shorter's Wharf at the s. end of Blackwater N.W.R., a declining breeding species in Dorchester, and a harrier was near Wingate. On the way down we saw 2 Mud Turtles on the road. One thing I wonder is if the 4 peregrine hacking towers and their tenants here adversely impact Willets and American Black Ducks. Back at the Cambridge motel (the Best Value or True Value, something-or-other value, or whatever it is called) 20 or more Least Terns are nesting on the roof top and 2 Cedar Waxwings flew over at dusk. Unrelatedly, son, George A., heard a King Rail calling as it flew over the house he shares with his 2 sisters in S.E. Philadelphia on Clarion Street late in the evening today. This was the slow, monotone, "chac-chac-chac ..." call. Once in mid-May at the end of our Delaware marathon we stopped to let Rick West off at his Wilmington, Delaware, house and heard one in similar fashion, our last species of the day then. There's the slight chance these birds are well out-of-range Clapper Rails. I think Hal has heard them over Annapolis at night as well. June 7, Sat. Rigby. rain all day, sometimes heavy. Took a walk in early afternoon for an hour and a half and saw a medium-sized, beautifully marked Spotted Turtle. June 8, Sun. Rigby. overcast all day. temp. in 60s. winds NE 10-5-calm. Surf Scoter 20, species still lingering. These were resting, frequently raised up in the water and flapped their wings, were not diving. First year I've seen them in June here. Also the first time breeding season Herring Gulls are almost continuously present and calling, making it sound like the Maine coast at times. A large, bulky (at least for this small, scarab-shaped species) Mud Turtle at the driveway bend. She'd made a scrape I suppose for laying eggs. Cardinal building nest in yard. A few Spring Azures. My little vacation is over and I am affected by the same, mild tristesse as when I have to go home from Kiptopeke after my fall sojourns there. This time I was buoyed along by the slow, majestic, powerful melody of the prelude to act 1 of 'Lohengrin'. Nice to have a new car that plays CDs. 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 ======================================================================= =========================================================================