Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2004 11:35:35 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Iceland Gull & Dorchester, Jan. 18-19 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Dorchester County, Maryland, January 18-19, 2004, Sunday & Monday. Hope springs eternal: In Philadelphia on Sat., Jan. 17 I heard a titmouse singing and a Mourning Dove calling. Great Blue Herons. Those seen, often sitting on the ice edge looking miserable, were nevertheless quite natty with well-developed nuptial plumage and yellowish bills. 8 at Blackwater N.W.R., 3 at Hooper's Island, 3 at Elliott Island. Sun., Jan. 18. 9:30 A.M. - 5:45 P.M. Overcast, rain all day, winds SW - NW 10-20 m.p.h. Tidal waters very low. Visibility down to half a mile or less much of the time with some fog and mist. A trace of snow and slush on some small, shaded roads. Got up at 4:45 A.M. but weather was hopeless so slept in until 8. Ceiling getting higher and winds strengthening and shifting to the NW in the afternoon and visibility improving to 4 miles or more. 20 waterfowl species today. Cambridge waterfront from Route 50 west to Hambrooks Bar & Riverside Drive. No work being done today on the new apartment complex on Oakley St. so was able to drive right up to the ducks which still swim TOWARDS the car when it stops: 13 waterfowl species - 158 Tundra and 5 Mute swans, 305 Canada Geese, 165 Mallards, 25 American Wigeon, 890 Canvasbacks, 5 Redheads, 33 Lesser & 2 Greater scaup, 2 Surf Scoters, 14 Common Goldeneyes, 24 Buffleheads, and 5 Ruddy Ducks. Most of the CGs and Baldpates were grazing on lawn grass. Hurlock Wastewater Treatment Plant. Not surprised it was closed to prevent cars from driving on the muddy dike roads. Walked up to the junction of the 2 north cells. All frozen. Foggy. Couldn't see across to the other sides. 130 Tundra Swans resting on the ice of the NE cell. 1 Canada and 25 Snow Geese nearby. Junction of Routes 14 & 16 near Hurlock: 1875 Canada, 60 Snow, and 12 Blue Geese feeding in a stubble field littered with corn cobs. Blackwater N.W.R. Most water frozen. 24 Bald Eagles seen on a quick drive through from Wildlife Drive in spite of the poor visibility. 1 Cooper's Hawk on a dead snag opposite Pool 3. 36 Dunlin and 5 Killdeer in a field east of Sewards. 80 Tundra Swans. Bull Point Unit of Blackwater N.W.R. near Gum Swamp. 1 Great egret by the side of Route 335. Hooper's Island. Note: the big, high bridge with the long causeway on either side (Narrows Ferry Bridge) is still being repaired in the aftermath of Hurricane Isabel. More correctly, it is the causeway that is being repaired. Consequently it is CLOSED 8 A.M. until Noon and 1:30 until 3:30 P.M. each day Monday through Friday. A surprising amount of the Bay was frozen at Hooper's Island with all manner of ice formations, even floes, combining with the rain, fog, mist, increasing winds, and variable clouds to form a compelling scene, the grandeur of its desolation most affecting. ICELAND GULL. 1 adult flying around the harbor that I watched with delight for half an hour at Fishing Creek (the town) at the end of Old House Point Road. I stood under a corrugated tin roof to stay out of the rain. If you go there this is a pretty busy seafood company area so, obviously, be respectful and stay out of the way. There was also a mixed flock of both scaup species and Canvasbacks feeding very close in. The Iceland was seen trying unsuccessfully to horn in on some garbage in the water that several Great Black-backed Gulls were wolfing down. I also saw it in flight right next to a Ring-billed Gull and sitting on the ice next to a first-year Herring Gull. Several of the Iceland's outer primary feather tips were dull gray, indicating it to presumably be a "Kumlien's Gull". Hooper's may just be a good place to prospect for white-winged gulls since a Glaucous and possibly the same Iceland have been seen in this same area of Fishing Creek in the past few years, rarities for the Eastern Shore away from landfills and the Atlantic Coast proper. Also at Hooper's: Tundra Swan 136, Dunlin 27, Canvasback 180, Greater Scaup 8, Surf Scoter 18, Bufflehead 35, and Sanderling 1 (at the experimental jetties just south of Ferry Narrows Bridge and west of the road). Shorter's Wharf area of Shorter's Wharf Road. Did a 20 minute watch here at dusk. No Short-eared Owls but did see these flybys: 5 Common Mergansers, 2 harriers, and 7 Dunlin. Maple Dam Road. Heavy sleet mixed with rain starting c. 5:27 P.M. A woodcock flying next to the road in this at 5:31 P.M. Hope you latch onto some big nightcrawlers, little fella. Mon., Jan. 19. At the Cambridge Wawa at 5:35 A.M. 6 House Sparrows were flying around looking for garbage, an hour and a half before sunrise. Beautiful crescent moon rising over Route 50 at 5:45 A.M. (finger nail clipping in the sky). Jupiter and a couple of its moons nice and clear over Island Creek at 6:15 A.M. "Who bridled dawn with the Pleiades? Who saddled lightning with the half moon?" - Abu I-Salt Umayyah, 'the White Stallion' Spent the day along Elliott Island Road. 6 A.M. - 3:30 P.M. Clear, 25 - 34 degrees F. Winds 20-30 m.p.h. 41 miles by car, 2 by foot. In view of the adverse weather, especially the wind, I just enjoyed the scenery and the birds I could see instead of going all out trying for 70 or 80 species, not worrying that I'd missed chickadee, red-belly, robin, Hermit Thrush, etc. . 52 species. Most waters in the marsh were frozen. Tide very low to start, then well above normal high tide in the afternoon. No gunshots heard in the Elliott marsh. A bleak, austere, but beautiful day. One Eastern Cottontail the only mammal seen. Maybe some of the Nutria will freeze to death this cold winter. I think I heard that they do not deal with cold weather as well as Muskrats do. Turned the car to the sun and took a 45 minute nap at midday at the Green Island Hunt Club (or what's left of it) at Pokata Creek Bridge. The east side of Fishing Bay was piled high with countless thousands of ice slabs 4-6 inches thick, many of the piles 4 to 6 feet high, a few 7 feet. Almost all of Fishing Bay was frozen, even much of the open part at McCready's Point, which is essentially a big arm of Chesapeake Bay. Out on Fishing Bay at 9:25 A.M. 4 adult and 1 immature Bald Eagle were sitting on the ice, the 2 pairs close together, side-by-side, with 6 more eagles in the air visible all the way over on the other side at the mouth of Blackwater River. Total for the day for the Elliott Island Road was at least 37 Bald Eagles. I can remember when I was a young punk working hard here and being lucky to see 3 or 4 here. Other goodies: Pied-billed Grebe 1 (Pokata Creek), Tundra Swan 132, Green-winged Teal 1, Long-tailed Duck 1 female (out-of-place well up the Nanticoke Rover at Lewis Wharf Rd., where 8 vehicles of duck hunters were parked), Hooded Merganser 4, Red-shouldered Hawk 1 adult perched on a phone wire, Rough-legged Hawk 2, Lesser Yellowlegs 2, Wilson's Snipe 7 (most probing mud in agricultural fields), Belted Kingfisher 1 (Pokata Creek), Eastern Towhee 6 (Langrell's Island), Red-winged Blackbird 3,375 (most seen in first hour of daylight apparently coming from a roost somewhere to the south of Pokata Creek Bridge), Boat-tailed Grackle 35 (Gadwall Bend). Some of the red-winged flocks were comprised entirely of males. Only 6 harriers. Scanned like crazy around dawn but no Short-eared Owls. Dunlin. 8 at McCready's Point flew in and landed on slush ice, sat there while the waves moved the slush up and down. 5 others were feeding in an agricultural field with 4 Killdeer 2 miles south of Vienna. Headed home at 3:30. 275 Tundra Swans in fields just north of the junction of Rts. 50 X 213. An adult male Cooper's Hawk flying close and parallel to the car along the center strip of Route 301 north of milepost 97 at 5:07 P.M. Elsewhere, a dead adult Great Black-backed Gull I found at Cape Hatteras, Dec. 27, 2003, had been banded at Block Island, Rhode Island, in June 1997. Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119-1225. 215-248-4120. 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