Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 11:06:27 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Talbot County March 26-29: scoters, G. Cormorants MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline March 26-29, 2004, mostly in Talbot County, Maryland. Tides lower than normal March 26-28, higher March 29. One of the evenings, I think it was March 26, it was easy to see 4 of the planets in the much-bruited alignment to the southwest even if I didn't diagnose all I was looking at. They're really in proximity visually, not really in alignment. 3 very nice boat trips out onto the Choptank River for a total of only 18 miles. Thu., March 25. 2 Woodchucks at 6:15 P.M. near their burrows at the junction of Rts. 95 and 13/1 in northern Delaware. Fri., March 26. Fair, winds SW 10-15, temps. up to 75. Long-tailed Ducks calling very far in the distance and the whistling of male Surf Scoters' wings at 5:10 A.M. out on the Choptank River. A quick drive through on Wildlife Drive 7:30 A.M. at Blackwater N.W.R. on the way to pick up 'the Mudhen' from winter storage at Gootee's Marine. 190 shovelers, 35 Gadwall, and 10 Bald Eagles. On the way back to Rigby on the Easton Bypass (Route 322), where I like to look for Woodchucks near their burrows, a Red Fox was curled up next to one of the burrows, peacefully watching the traffic at 10:45 A.M. "Rigby's Folly", Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near Bellevue. From the dock at noon: 260 Canvasbacks, 95 Lesser Scaup, 90 Buffleheads, 4 Black Vultures and 15 Horned Grebes. From Lucy Point at 2:15 P.M.: 1,710 Surf Scoters (some seen swallowing food - mollusks?), 0 gannets, 90 Buffleheads, 5 Common Loons, 16 Common Goldeneyes. Visibility limited beyond c. 3/4 of a mile due to haze and Schlieren. 4 Cabbage Whites and 3 unid. anglewings seen today. A quasi-disastrous launching of 'The Mudhen' towards sunset but I was rescued by 2 of Dana Sindermann's workmen who showed up after dark to unload material into a dump truck. Mark Hill of Bailey Construction Company came today (for the 3rd time in 25 months) to support my continuing quest (which has now reached epic proportions) for a boat lift to be installed on the dock. The rest of the family arrives c. 9:30 P.M. Sat., March 27. Overcast, temps to low 60s, calm, occasional winds SW 3-4 m.p.h., tidal water temps 52 (inshore) to 48 (2 mi. offshore) degrees F. George A. & I made one very successful boat trip noon - 2 P.M. estimating 4,320 SURF SCOTERS (new property high count), 530 Long-tailed Ducks (c. 1.5 mi. farther out than the skunkheads and in 17'-19' of water), 1 White-winged and 2 Black Scoters, 10 Common Loons, 14 Horned Grebes, 195 Buffleheads, 70 Lesser Scaup, and 1 Diamondback Terrapin but 0 cormorants, Canvasbacks, or goldeneyes. The glass surface of the Choptank made for perfect viewing (and listening) conditions and the calls of the myriad scoters and Long-tailed Ducks were memorable and affecting. Also today: 8 Tundra Swans in migration. George saw near the house a Swamp Sparrow, a Hermit Thrush, and heard 3 Pine Warblers singing. Pleasant to BBQ hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, and shish kabob for the family in the warm dusk with Spring Peepers, Chorus Frogs, and Southern Leopard Frogs calling nearby and Fowler's Toads hopping about the lawn. Dessert was a home-made cherry pie from Carroll's Market. The good life. Due to the vagaries of tide I waded, boots sloshing full, 3 times today, the cold water bracing but nonetheless a good feeling. This was necessary to get to and from the boat in the low tides. Sun., March 28. The Talbot County Bird Club, 15 or so strong, came for a birdwalk today on Ferry Neck, including Benoni Point and Rigby, led by Les Coble with Dick Kleen, Paul Spitzer, Bobbi Sindermann, Wayne Bell, Terry Allen, et al., and George and I joined up with them. Most of the birds on this list were seen then, many at Rigby, but the list includes birds seen before and after the birdwalk, including some seen by Liz A., Mary A. and myself on a boat trip back down to Benoni Point: perhaps 5,000 Surf Scoters, 700 Long-tailed Ducks, 9 Tundra Swans (in migration), 300 Buffleheads, 27 Laughing Gulls, 110 Lesser Scaup, 2 harriers (over F2 at Rigby at 7 A.M.), 7 Common Loons, 2 adult Northern Gannets, 30 Horned Grebes, 2 Bald Eagles, 1 Great Horned Owl (flushed from a loblolly c. 9 A.M.), 14 Bonaparte's Gulls, 2 Forster's Terns, 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 6 Pine Warblers, 1 Eastern Phoebe (which lit on the handlebar of a bicycle), a Brown Thrasher, 7 flickers, 1 American Wigeon, 2 Red-breasted Mergansers (strangely, the only ones I saw in this entire 4-day period), 4 Wood Ducks and 1 Great Egret (from the dock). On our boat trip Liz, Mary and I flushed 6 GREAT CORMORANTS from the Choptank River Light, all adults. George leaves after lunch finding on the way out 8 Rusty Blackbirds near Goose Neck Rd. from Ferry Neck Rd. in a field with other blackbirds and an all-white American Robin near Glebe Road X Rt. 322. Liz, Anne, and Mary take off soon after George does, leaving me alone and rather melancholy. Mon., March 29. Most of the morning spent overseeing the continuing house renovation, picking up tiles at Lowe's, and with great help from Drake and Dana dealing with the continuing disaster which is my boat trailer and its so-called power winch. Today a backhoe levelled and spread various piles of dirt and filled in trenches and 100 lbs' of grass seed were due to be planted. A Bonaparte's Gull at Rigby. 185 Ruddy Ducks on Tar Creek seen from the Bellevue Rd. in Talbot County at 2:15 P.M. At the Easton Wastewater Treatment Ponds 3:30 P.M.: 36 Bonaparte's and 110 Laughing gulls, 2 Bald Eagles, a harrier, and no waterfowl. The water was very high here and the Bonies plus a few Ring-billeds and laughers were hovering and gleaning small creatures from the waters' surface in the big lagoon. Though a rather cold March day this place was rank today but there was a (Orange?) Sulphur fluttering about and lots of dandelions on the dikes. The big Bald Eagle nest in the deciduous woods northeast of Old Dover Rd. here seemed unoccupied although I did not scope it. Route 309 ponds between Rts. 481 & 213 heading west. Pond 1 just west of Rt. 481: 1 Snowy Egret, 3 Wilson's Snipe, 1 harrier, a painted turtle, and a Canada Goose on its nest, crouched down with neck and head lowered. Pond 2: nothing. Pond 3: 2 Painted Turtles. Pond 4 (the only pond on the south side of Rt. 309): 8 black ducks, 14 Green-winged Teal, 4 pintails, 12 Painted Turtles. Pond 5 (the "Route 309 Pond"): 27 Ring-necked Ducks, 5 Tundra Swans, 4 Snow Geese (probably the same ad. and 3 imm. here the previous weekend), 7 Hooded Mergansers (all females), 4 Gadwalls, 4 black ducks, 195 Canada Geese. Goin' home. 6 Wild Turkeys and, confusing the issue a little, 2 Turkey Vultures near them c. 100 yards from the MD/DE line but in Cecil County, MD, plus a dead cottontail there on Route 301, hopefully not Peter Cottontail come a croppers. A beautiful Aston-Martin passed me near here preceded by a strange van emblazoned "Chesapeake Burial Vault, Inc.", towing a rig the likes of which I've never seen before. The Wawa in Middletown, which IS mid-way home, is such a convenience, has everything the weekend warrior needs, including a Eurocentric ATM which gives instructions in Portuguese, Polish, Italian, French, German, Spanish, and English. Speakers of Linear B, Esperanto or Old Church Slovenian as well as Scandinavians or Asians have to make do the best they can. Lots of Japanese Quince blooming this weekend. Cut some Rigby daffodils and jonquils for Liz, descendants from bulbs my father planted over 30 years ago. 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 ======================================================================= =========================================================================