Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 11:16:55 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Talbot & Dorchester 9/18 - 9/21 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline September 18-21, 2003. Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland. "Nothing is more exhilarating that to have been shot at without result" - Winston Churchill. My sympathies to the many who were adversely impacted by Isabel. I wasn't. Sept. 18, Thursday. "Rigby's Folly", Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near Bellevue. Secure the boat, clean off the porches, put storm windows down, and leave c. 11 A.M. when the bands of rain begin. Scary, building NE winds roil the vegetation, which swings erratically back and forth. Cousin Laurence Driggs visits and we talk about the coming situation. 2 Ospreys still hunting. 2 disoriented-looking Royal Terns and a few Tree Swallows over the house. Afternoon in Dorchester County: 23 imm. cormorants on the Christmas tree reef at Sewards, sitting it out. At Blackwater N.W.R. 11 Bald Eagles, 225 Green-winged Teal, 40 Forster's Terns, 1 Seaside Sparrow. It's impressive to see the terns still hunting in gale force winds and rain, 40 Tree Swallows also hunting in the lee of the Sewards bridge. After 15 minutes of a "sea watch" at Upper Hooper's Island I decide to leave when the Narrows Ferry Bridge causeway starting 100 yards to my south is completely obscured by horizontal water - rain and sheets of Honga River's salty spume and spray slamming across the road. Night at the Best Value Inn in Cambridge, where Hooper's Islanders are also seeking refuge. Excellent cable coverage of Isabel - until the cable goes out after supper. All the fast food places are closed. Sept. 19, Fri., dawns clear and sunny, mercifully, but with impressive SE winds of 30-35 m.p.h. Route 33 out of Easton is "closed" but almost everyone unceremoniously opens it, in the fine tradition of Eastern Shore independent mentality. Drive through 5 extensive areas of high tidal water to get to Rigby by 8:15 A.M., including a 400' stretch on our driveway (which completely subsides by afternoon). House, driveway, boat, and yard are O.K. but the south-facing shoreline has endured considerable erosion with some 40 lb. rocks thrown back 50' or more from the bank. Power and phone O.K. Roaring surf tops all our banks and flows deep into the fields and pine woods bringing bottles, logs, and every imaginable form of detritus. The neighbors' 22' boat is busted from their boat lift, bangs against our rocks, stove in, the formerly bolted-down chairs 100' back in our fields somehow, life preservers and cushions strewn along our shoreline hundreds of yards. Our dock is completely submerged, highest tide I've ever seen by a foot or so. Tide drops all day long, goes down over 36", thank heaven. Mel Baughman and I do a sea watch from Lucy Point most of the time from Noon to 5:30 P.M. 1 ad. SANDWICH TERN, a new yard bird (263) at 2:40 P.M., 41 Royal (new high), 1 Common, 3 Caspian (ties previous high), 24 Forster's Terns and 11 unid. distant Sterna terns, 325 Laughing Gulls, plus 3 Merlins (ties previous high) but not much else. Also of interest: the first 2 Cloudless Sulphurs of the year, 3 Diamondback Terrapin, and a huge chorus of Southern Leopard Frogs in the Big Field. This storm did not bring much rain here, no more than an inch or so. The terns today follow the same flight line they did after Hurricane Fran, flying south, presumably back to where they had been originally. Right after Fran, Sep. 7, 1996, at Lucy Point I saw 31 Royal, 24 Common, 1 Sooty, 204 Forster's and 3 Black Terns, my only yard Brown Pelican, unid. peep, 345 Laughing Gulls, and distant birds I suspected were Red-necked Phalaropes. Sep. 20, Sat. Up at 3:50 A.M. but a false start for the 9th Dorchester Co. fall bird count. Too much water on the roads to get to many place. Jared Sparks and I spend time at Blackwater N.W.R. anyway: 1 Glossy Ibis, 30 Pectoral Sandpipers (in fields along Key Wallace Drive), 45 Caspian Terns, 3 screech and 5 horned owls, 6 Brown-headed Nuthatches, 2 Cape May Warblers (in scrub along the dike), 2 Rose=breasted and 4 Blue grosbeaks. Continue cleaning up storm debris at Rigby. See first Woodchuck in over 5 years, a large, fat adult, I'd hope a pregnant female (but unlikely in September). Spend much of the day talking to neighbors. 1 Common Loon at Rigby. The mouth of the Choptank River is full of logs, fallen trees, and other floating debris. Sep. 21, Sun. 9th Dorchester County Fall Bird Count, a poor day, with a bad showing by waterfowl, raptors, shorebirds, warblers and other passerines. Most of Hooper's Island is closed with state troopers, the Army, Humvees and deuce-and-a-half trucks blocking the way down there. A mile or so of Elliott Island Road is under water (in 10 or so segments), slowing down our progress. Low-lying areas infused with the great tidal surge and poorly drained afterwards, especially if they are far from any tidal creeks or bays, are where roads are most flooded. 5:30 A.M. - 8 P.M. 2 parties (Jared was by himself on Hooper's I. 7:45 - 11:15 A.M.). Dency Hanna and I did the "bird walk" at Blackwater 8 - 11 A.M. Jared was with me most of the rest of the day. 167 mi. by car, 4 on foot. 70 - 85 degrees F. Mostly overcast. Winds N 0-5, NE 10, then SW 5-10. Tides high most of day. Visibility foggy to start, then hazy, then good at day's end. Hooper's and Blackwater in the A.M., Hurlock Wastewater Treatment Plant in early P.M., Elliott Island Rd. (EIR) the rest of the day. 107 species (3rd lowest in 9 years). 8 heron types. 12 waterfowl. 9 raptors. 2 rails. 11 shorebirds. 2 owls. 3 terns. 6 woodpeckers. 2 swallows. 2 flycatchers. 3 wrens. 1 vireo. 5 warblers. 4 sparrows. Missed: moorhen, Black-bellied Plover, hummingbird, meadowlark, waxwing, Boat-tailed Grackle, orioles, tanagers, Field Sparrow. Brown Pelican 3. Cattle Egret 85. Black-crowned Night Heron 12. 470 Mute Swans (465 at Hooper's I.; 2 ad. and 4 young near their nest at the "Moorhen Spot" at EIR, which had been under several feet of water during Isabel). Snow Goose 10 (9 mostly disabled birds, including an ad. Blue Goose, at Hurlock, but an apparent migrant arrival at Blackwater). Mallard 600 (most at Harry Elzey's farm on Rt. 335 at Golden Hill). Northern Shoveler 134 (130 at Hurlock). Ruddy Duck 11 (Hurlock). Black Vulture 1 (only). Bald Eagle 23 (only). Northern Harrier 9 (incl. an ad. male carrying a vole at EIR). American Kestrel 10 (only; 8 at upper EIR). Merlin 1 (carrying prey at EIR). Clapper Rail 8. American Golden Plover 21 (Hurlock; the highlight of the day; resting on the dikes; by driving slowly around the dikes here and not getting out of the car any birds present will normally stay and not be scared away). Sanderling 12 (Hooper's I.; amazingly, the sandbars are still there). Caspian Tern 58 (55 at Blackwater). Chimney Swift 4 (species 99). Red-headed Woodpecker 3 adults (Blackwater). Eastern Kingbird 1 (EIR). Fish Crow 1 (only). Brown-headed Nuthatch 6. Marsh Wren 2. American Robin 4. European Starling 1100. Pine Warbler 22. Common Yellowthroat 11. Eastern Towhee 2. Chipping Sparrow 6 (incl. an adult feeding a youngster). Seaside Sparrow 9 (a new high count; even sang a couple of times). Song Sparrow 2. Common Grackle 2. House Finch 2 (Hurlock; species 100). House Sparrow 35 (Hurlock; species 101). Also: 3 Red Foxes plus 1 d.o.r., 1 Fox Squirrel, 1 Sika Elk, 6 Nutria. I hand caught a Red-spotted Purple, a baby Mud Turtle the size of a 50 cent piece, and a snapping turtle with a carapace c. 8" long. Southern Leopard Frogs were especially vocal but also heard briefly were Green, Bull, and Green Tree Frogs. Numbers of water and rat snake roadkills were also seen and several live Painted Turtles crawling across roads. A dozen or more Diamondback Terrapin, mostly in Fishing Bay. This certainly is a fickle time of year as can be seen by the many species missed and the very low counts typical of numerous "common" species (grackles, sparrows, et al.). Huge mats of 'Spartina alterniflora' wrack cover parts of Elliott Island Road and elsewhere, rivalling those seen on the Virginia Eastern Shore barrier islands in winter. The marshes are sodden and still covered deep by the immense tidal surge almost 3 days after the passing of Isabel. Standing tidal water several inches deep covers the forest floor at Blackwater refuge. Schools of minnows swim out of the way of the car on submerged roads. 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 ======================================================================= =========================================================================