Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 09:28:27 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Black Rail synopsis MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline BLACK RAILS. I am writing a paper on the status of the Black Rail, historical, recent past, and present, in coastal states from New England to Florida to Texas. Would be grateful to hear from anyone about their experiences, especially in the past 10 years. If you would like to see a rough draft of this (5,121 words so far) please say so. This is prompted by my failure to hear very many from 1995 to present in Maryland, including 3 fruitless attempts in 2003. Does anyone know if mockingbirds imitate Black Rails? How late in the summer do they usually "sing". What reasons can you suggest for their decline from New England south to Virginia? Appreciate any ideas and experiences. All respondents will be acknowledged in the article. ELLIOTT ISLAND ROAD, Dorchester County, MD. 9:50 P.M., July 4, to 1:20 A.M., July 5 (3.5 hrs.). 29 stops. Clear but hazy becoming clearer (allowing views of the Milky Way and Cassiopeia). 78-76 degrees F. Wind 10-20 m.p.h. No tapes used. Not ideal conditions with big choruses of Green Tree Frogs at the beginning, drowning out most other natural sounds, and strong wind towards the end. Savanna Lake to Langrell's Island and "Gadwall Bend". 0 Black Rails. Only birds were: 2 Common Moorhens, 1 Willet, 3 Clapper & 3 Virginia rails, 5 Marsh Wrens, and 1 American Black Duck. It IS getting late in the singing/calling season - one reason I may have heard so few birds. Bull and Southern Leopard Frogs were calling from Langrell's Island. No owls or nightjars. Mosquitoes so bad I had to hear 3 layers, knee boots, and gloves. 1 Sika Elk, 1 Fowler's Toad, 4 Red Foxes. While there the quarter moon was setting. Nice Firefly show the first couple of hours, some of them so bright they were like little strobe lights. 10 cars went by, might as well count them, too. While in the Savanna Lake area I could hear the fireworks' distant rumble at Cambridge (12+ miles away) and see the glow of the grand finale at Salisbury (17+ miles). Arriving back at Rigby at 2:30 A.M. it was 81 degrees F. "Rigby's Folly", Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near Bellevue: July 4, Friday. 1 Pileated Woodpecker, 4 Wild Turkeys, 1 hummingbird, a singing Blue Grosbeak, 2 ad. Bald Eagles roosting in the dead oak, 1 Snowy & 1 Great egret, a mockingbird and a bluebird carrying food. Baby Fowler's Toads, most the size of a large pea, are everywhere. 11 deer (1 buck & 10 does). A Box Turtle and a Painted Turtle on the driveway. A small, dead fawn on the edge of the lawn. Remnants of Tropical Storm Bill dropped considerable rain last night. The last thing we need right now is more rain. John Swaine, who farms our land, still has not even disked or ploughed our fields they are so boggy. NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD IMITATIONS heard this weekend. I never thought the pair nesting along our driveway had a very rich repertoire and was surprised to list 23 species imitated on July 4 & 5: Northern Bobwhite, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Royal Tern, Chuck-will's-widow, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Pileated Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Great-crested Flycatcher, Purple Martin, Blue Jay, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Brown Thrasher, American Robin, Eastern Bluebird, Yellow-breasted Chat, Eastern Towhee, Northern Cardinal, Common Grackle, Orchard Oriole, Red-winged Blackbird. This individual is one of those mockers that is clearly full of it, even singing manically when it flies. July 5, Saturday. A kingbird carrying food. July 6, Sunday. A Great Horned Owl flushed from some shade trees in the yard in mid-morning. 39 Mute Swans. A singing Indigo Bunting. First Black Rat Snake shed of the year found in the house in the east bathroom upstairs: 4' 11" (the record is 6' 2.5"). As during last summer there is a very good growth of submerged aquatic vegetation in our cove. A die-off of scores of fish, a foot or less in length. I did not examine them closely but some were sea trout. The weekend started off furry well with 6 Woodchucks at Melrose Country Club on Thursday evening, my personal best. My commute from work takes me past this place on the NW boundary of Philadelphia. Returning to Philadelphia yesterday c. 6 P.M. we saw 6 of these "meadow seals" in the Whitemarsh-Flourtown area. They are active in the late afternoon. Quite often I see them feeding and scurrying about on the road shoulders only a foot or so from the tires of moving traffic. Sometimes they rest at such a spot on their haunches with their backs to the cars. Oblivious with a capital O. The small numbers of them that inhabited Rigby for 15 or so years have disappeared but I see them at the Easton bypass sometimes. A hot, hazy, humid Independence Day Weekend that was hard to take with temperatures in the low 90s each day. Thank heaven for the steady SW winds. 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 "BAM! Policy as arcade game. When science crosses Bush agenda, it takes a beating." This is the headline in today's lead editorial in the "Philadelphia Inquirer", which concludes: "President Bush talks a good deal about "sound science". Apparently, his definition of the term is: science that supports his political agenda." Discussed in the editorial are global warming, air pollution, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, problems at Yellowstone National Park, and other issues. ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================