Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 09:19:26 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Ferry Neck & Blackwater March 20-21 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline March 20, 2004, Sat.: A Woodchuck in Delaware just east of the turnoff to Routes 13 and 1 from I-95. Here the diggings from their established burrows have been conspicuous for several weeks. It's almost as if small road graders have been at work. Route 301, mile 109.3. A roadkill immature Red-tailed Hawk. Route 309 Pond 1 mi. e. of the T-junction of Rts. 213 & 309. At noon: 55 Ring-necked Ducks, 4 Snow Geese (1 ad., 3 imm.), 12 Tundra Swans, 6 black ducks, 2 American Wigeon, 2 Gadwalls, 1 Green-winged Teal. Route 213 halfway between Routes 301 & 50. A roadkill male Ring-necked Pheasant (undoubtedly a released bird). Route 33 X Unionville Rd west of Easton.: an ad. Bald Eagle. "Rigby's Folly", Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near Bellevue. 3 - 6:30 P.M. only. Clear to fair, 50-54 degrees F., winds SW 20+, tide very high: 1,445 Surf Scoters (apparently numbers have built up since last weekend; once an imm. Bald Eagle flushed most of them). 45 Common Goldeneye. 2 Ospreys. 3 Forster's Terns. 25 Fish Crows. 5 Wood Ducks. Missed were Canvasback, gannet, and Laughing Gull. Huge choruses of Spring Peepers and Chorus Frogs in W2 and the east side of Tranquility. When it's warmish with considerable standing water it seems to me the frogs can almost sense when rain is coming and then call intensely. 34 deer (all does), a record property count. 1 Gray Squirrel. A dead Meadow Vole on the SE side of F1. 1 Chorus Frog calling from the big wet area in F1. Sunday, March 21. Overcast to clear to fair, 47-54 degrees F., calm becoming very windy as the cold front came through with strong winds of 20-35 m.p.h., almost strong enough to blow the tripod over. Sporadic rain, heavy at times, before dawn: Choptank River bridge, Route 50 just north of Cambridge. No traffic so I stopped in the middle to look at a flock of 55 Canvasbacks. Cambridge to Blackwater N.W.R. & back, 7 A.M. - 12:30 P.M. 7 of us on the refuge birdwalk including Levin Willey. 4 Pied-billed Grebes (a curiously scarce bird in Dorchester County; I think this is the most I've ever counted in one day there). 90 Gadwalls (more than usual at Blackwater this winter/spring so far). 145 Northern Shovelers. 2 Barn Swallows (Hans Holbrook and Jim Brighton alerted us to this species; with the advent of this big cold front these swallows will be up against it). 1,275 Ring-billed Gulls (mostly in the fields along Egypt Road). 8 Blue-winged Teal (declining as a breeder hereabouts; I'm sure today's birds are migrants). 1 American Coot (delightfully tame; in Pool 1). 40 Ring-necked Ducks (Pool 1). 28 Forster's Terns (mostly roosting on mud tumps in the Blackwater River). 12 Tundra Swans. 9 Great and 2 Snowy egrets. 5 juncos (on the grass under the Welcome Center feeders). 14 Ospreys (two carrying small fish, a couple of others bringing branches to nests). 7 Lesser and 1 Greater yellowlegs. No Laughing Gulls today. Non-birds: a Garter Snake on Key Wallace Drive, injured by a car. 4 Fox Squirrels (possibly 5). 1 Red-bellied Turtle. A few Chorus Frogs calling. In general many of the aids to navigation, Osprey nesting platforms, and the few offshore duck blinds that had been left were badly damaged by a combination of Hurricane Isabel and this winter's extensive ice formations. Consequently I'd say that Osprey nesting success will be adversely impacted this summer. On the way home: Route 301, area between miles 118.3 and 119.2, roadkill heaven: an ad. Snow Goose, an ad. Red-tailed Hawk (close to a dead Raccoon; probably came down to eat the 'coon and then got nailed itself in turn), an ad. Ring-billed Gull and 1 hound (sp.). At Mile 118.4 the site of the active Beaver dam in 2002 is still abandoned but the Skunk Cabbage there is as profuse as ever; last year a phoebe was nesting in the roots of an overturned tree in the stream here - Jacobs Creek). A Woodchuck at the entrance to its burrow on the east side of the road embankment just north of where one turns to go north on Routes 13/1 from Rt. 299 near Middletown, Delaware; surveying its domain and looking contemplative, as if working on its Weltanschauung; if indeed it has one it must be dominated by thoughts of food and hibernation. 2 Bald Eagles in Delaware low over the bridge and road over the Delaware & Chesapeake Canal (Route 13/1). None of today's roadkill birds were banded. Nice to see some daffodils and Forsythia but this was a day when winter came back with a vengeance - the forecast for temperatures to go down to 15 on Monday night in some Philadelphia suburbs. Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119-1225. 215-248-4120. 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