Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 10:08:20 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Dorchester County Feb. 29 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Sunday, February 29, 2004. Happy Leap Day. 7:45 A.M. - 6:45 P.M. Clear with high haze coming in late becoming mostly overcast before sunset. Winds calm to SW 10-15-5. 36-64 degrees F. Tides very low everywhere but extremely low along Elliott Island Road. A brilliant vermillion glow or dome appeared at sunset with contrasting dark gray clouding around it, intensifying and enlarging for a while with rows of roseate-gray then streaking the cloudlines. Faint sundogs in late afternoon. Impressive mirages with faux ice shelves, mudflats, and fog banks visible as one looked toward Bloodsworth Island and Bishops Head far to the west. Numerous marsh fires along the Transquaking River and in the Wingate area sent big columns of smoke - gray when the marsh burned, white when fire went through hammocks - high into the sky with flames visible miles away. Almost calm at sunset and dusk. Insects about, especially moths after sunset. The duck show on placid Fishing Bay, with thousands of engaging, appealing little Ruddy Ducks resting on the waters, was impressive. "Rigby's Folly", Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near Bellevue. 9 deer in F4 at 5:12 A.M. Dorchester County, Maryland: 12 observers including Wayne Bell, Margie Steffens, Danny Poet, Levin Willey and Shirley Bailey in 7 vehicles. An official trip of the Talbot County Bird Club. A congenial group with much laughter and enthusiasm. As usual most of these numbers are approximations. Egypt Road. 10 Horned Larks, 12 Eastern Meadowlarks, 1 Fox Squirrel in yard on west side of road at junction of Old Field and Egypt roads. 85 Tundra Swans migrating low over us calling. Beautiful to see and hear. Blackwater N.W.R.: 2 adult Red-headed Woodpeckers, 45 Gadwall, 20 Bald Eagles (one snagged a fish), 60 shovelers, 2 Hermit Thrushes, 1 screech owl, 8 wigeon, 5 Ring-necked Ducks, 2 Redheads, 4 Hooded and 115 Common mergansers, 7 Tree Swallows, 6 Brown-headed Nuthatches (some great views of these perky little sprites), 70 pintails, a singing Pine Warbler. An impressive flock of 35 meadowlarks along Greenbrier Road. Also: 2 Red-bellied Turtles. 12 Lesser Yellowlegs. Transquaking River at Bestpitch: 12 Bald Eagles, 1 Rough-legged Hawk. 3 Painted Turtles near here. 1 ad. Bald Eagle was missing the 4th primary feather (from the outermost one) of its right wing. Griffith Neck Road: A White-breasted Nuthatch, 35 Dunlin, 1 Pileated Woodpecker, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 9 Bald Eagles. At another spot c. 1 mile east of here we saw 8 more Bald Eagles we felt were different from any earlier ones. Lewis Wharf Rd. Nothing much at the landing except a male Red-breasted Merganser and a harrier. May be my first trip here w/o seeing a Bald Eagle. Elliott Island Road. 3 Short-eared Owls including very close, extended looks at 2 in good light, one of these perched on a sign right next to the road, another hunting for an extended period at Gadwall Bend. An American Bittern which ran from the shoulder as we parked next to it, then flew west into the 'Spartina cynosuroides' along Island Creek. 3,700 Ruddy Ducks in Fishing Bay along with 160 Canvasbacks, 120 Red-breasted Mergansers, 30 Redheads, 130 Lesser Scaup. 2 Rough-legged Hawks, much hovering, rather close range, extended looks. 2 calling Great Horned Owls. A spontaneously calling Virginia Rail ("kid-dick, kid-dick, kid-dick, kid-dick"). 7 Black-crowned Night Herons at dusk apparently rising from the reeds along Island Creek, the last new species of the day. "Only" 8 Bald Eagles, including an adult on its nest just west of Savanna Lake visible from the Moorhen Spot. Also: 4 Hooded Mergansers and 3 male Boat-tailed Grackles. On the way in at Savanna Lake: 85 Common Mergansers, 95 Tundra Swans and a distant Red Fox asleep in the shore bank in the sun on the east side of the lake (one of 2 natural lakes in the state? is what I've been told). At the Moorhen Spot 70 Dunlin flying in the distance. 23 yellowlegs of both species along the road, mostly greaters. A large owl flew in front of the car at Henrys Crossroads. Totals for the day: 12 Red-tailed Hawks, 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 2 kestrels, 57 Bald Eagles, 30 harriers. Missed: loons, grebes, cormorants, Snow Goose, Blue-winged Teal, Wood Duck, Osprey, snipe, no fancy gulls-just the basic 3, kingfisher, towhee, cowbird. Not very many Green-winged Teal, but during the course of the day I noted once again how easy it is to mistake them, when distant and foraging, for shorebirds. On the long drive home Venus kept me company most of the way, so bright it seemed just off my left elbow, slowly setting. The beautiful pale yellow Dole freighter was docked at the mouth of the Cristina River near Wilmington, as she usually (always?) is on Sundays. Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119-1225. 215-248-4120. 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