Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 09:49:35 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Ferry Neck Feb. 7 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, February 7, 2004. Fair, winds W-NW 20 m.p.h., temperature 45 falling to 40. 12:15 - c. 5 P.M. Leave Philadelphia at 9 A.M. but it's good there with a Mourning Dove calling, a Tufted Titmouse and a Northern Cardinal singing, and up to 11 Gray Squirrels at the feed. Liz and Harry Armistead. Main purpose of the trip is for Liz to see the house while it is still gutted before the walls go back up. 1 Richardson's Goose (Branta canadensis huntchinsii). 16th record for the property. Good view, right overhead at close range. I've sorted through several thousand regular CGs this year and it has taken this long to come up with one of these little dudes. This is a similar situation to looking for Ross's Geese - just because there are large numbers of "the other" geese around doesn't mean there will always be a Ross's or a Richardson's even though it often seems one is nearly always going to be there. One can't quite take them for granted. All of 26 species including: 52 Mute Swans (0 Tundra Swans), 18 Mallards, 2 American Black Ducks, 3 Red-tailed Hawks, 1 Black Vulture, 1 adult female Northern Harrier, 1 adult female Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1 Hermit Thrush (feeding on Winged Sumac seeds atop the sumac bushes with 5 White-throated Sparrows), 30 Common Goldeneyes. 10 deer (9 does and 1 4-point buck). Trees continue to bud out some, especially Willow and other oaks, maples, Hawthorns, the tall poplar next to the house. Daffodils and Irises up some. Most of the mouth of the Choptank River still appears completely frozen as it did on Feb. 1 but there is much more open water in Harris and Broad Creek visible in the distance and the waters south of Tilghman's Island seem largely open. Buoys are still frozen into position pointing to the southeast. The mouth of Irish Creek has a large open area (but with few waterfowl) but the rest of Irish is frozen. Most of the snow, except in the woods has washed away or else melted. Even with all the ice still in the ditches and low areas there is considerable water flow from Friday's rains. Bellevue Ferry. 5 P.M. These ducks just off the end of the ferry dock, where they are sometimes fed: 70 Lesser Scaup, 9 Ruddy Ducks, 7 Canvasbacks (all males) plus 1 Great Blue Heron. A good chance to study the scaup up close. Goin' home. Several hundred Snow Geese in the air over Cordova. 500 Tundra Swans in fields just s. of the junction of Rts. 309 and 404. A Horned Lark flitting in front of the car in near darkness on Route 481 south of Ruthsburg. Cajun catfish at dinner at the 301 Plaza near Middletown. Really bland fish crying out for lemon juice. You want to see some monster catfish take a look at "Virginia Wildlife", Feb. 2004, pp. 4-16, which just came in the mails. Monstrous. Photographs of record Virginia fish here include a 71 lb. 12 oz. Blue Catfish, a 66 lb. 4 oz. Flathead Catfish, a 31 lb. 8 oz. Channel Catfish, and the almost diminutive 7 lb. 6 oz. but nevertheless record-sized White Catfish. Ansel Adams lite: A nearly full moon rising over Middletown, Delaware's unbelievably fast-growing sprawl, first a sort of malevolent reddish when close to the horizon, then becoming bright American cheese white-yellow when seen over the Delaware City refinery cracking towers from the new Routes 1/13 bridge. Full moon was yesterday and tonight there is a little less curvature on the moon's lower left. 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 ======================================================================= =========================================================================