Sat., April 17, 2004, c. 7:15 P.M.  This species seems to be active, if you
can call it that, late in the day - 2 Woodchucks near the intersection of
I-95 and Routes 13/1 s. of Wilmington, Delaware, where they favor the
slopes of road embankments.  I must say, for a species that is supposed to
subsist off of its stored fat during the long winter hibernation, if they
lost much weight during that season I can't imagine how fat they must have
been when they clocked out last fall.  And if a diet of grasses and other
pithy, fibery greens is supposed to be good for the waistline, they must
have a metabolism that is hard to believe.  Like big bags of furry jello.

A lot of new extreme dates secured for just one weekend.

"Rigby's Folly", Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near
Bellevue.  Sunday, April 18.  Liz & Harry Armistead.  64 species.  6 A.M. -
8 P.M.  In the morning I wore my hearing aids for the first time in months,
otherwise I would have missed the 3 singing Pine Warblers and much else.

3 Red-throated Loons (still in winter plumage; a scarce species locally;
4th highest property count).  22 Common Loons (including 1 tight group of
15 feeding cooperatively and uttering their low, gentle little chuck notes,
which were audible all the way back to our woods over 1/3 of a mile away; 2
Bonaparte's Gulls and 2 Forster's Terns were keeping them company, also
apparently part of the cooperative feeding activities; these loons were
heard giving the tremolo, yodel, and wail calls this weekend).  ONLY 1
Horned Grebe, I expected dozens.  3 adult Northern Gannets.  50
Double-crested Cormorants.  1 Green Heron.  2 male & 1 female Canvasback.
3,290 Surf Scoters, the spectacle continues (the most I've ever seen this
late in the spring; 7th highest property count).  1 White-winged Scoter.  2
migrating Northern Harriers.  1 Wild Turkey calling.  1 Greater Yellowlegs
in migration.  The 5 to-be-expected gull species.  1 Chimney Swift.  1
Eastern Kingbird (the previous earliest spring date: April 23).  1 House
Wren (previous earliest spring date: April 21).  4 bluebirds at their
houses.  22 waxwings.  20 White-throated Sparrows, many singing.

Also:  1 foot-long Horseshoe Crab bumbling around next to the dock.  This
year I haven't seen any Winter Jellyfish, although I haven't especially
been looking for them.  18 deer in F4 (all does).  4 Gray Squirrels.  1
Eastern Cottontail.  Butterflies:  7 Orange Sulphurs, 11 Cabbage Whites, 2
American Ladies, 1 Spring Azure.

Robust, lusty choruses of Spring Peepers, Southern Leopard Frogs, and,
especially, Fowler's Toads.  Long after the last light faded the toads were
blasting away, making for a sort of continuous white noise in the warm
evening.  Raging hormones?  One supposes so.  Their calls fill the night
with a palpable mystery and enchantment.  By far my favorite batrachian
species.  During the day I enjoy seeing these pudgy toads as they make
their hapless little hops.  Their beautiful black-and-gold eyes are always
a treat.  One could do worse than be a fancier of toads.  Warts and all,
yet their vocalizations can be beautiful.  A distant cousin was not so
affected.  He would involuntarily vomit on seeing a toad, a quality that
added a certain element of suspense when my parents hosted cocktail parties
on the slate flagstones of our porch overlooking the Wissahickon Creek
floodplain at Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.  A lamentable waste of good
gin sometimes resulted.

Monday, April 19.  8 A.M. - 4:45 P.M.  Mostly did house and yard work.
Clear becoming hazy/fair to mostly cloudy but with high ceiling, winds SW
15 sometimes more, 60-85 degrees F., was still 78 degrees F. on arrival
back in Philadelphia at 9:35 P.M.

Species not seen yesterday:  1 Pileated Woodpecker (calling).  1 Great
Egret.  1 Solitary Sandpiper (previous earliest spring date: April 22).  1
White-breasted Nuthatch (continuously singing from the big yard Willow Oak;
such as it was, the most unusual species for the weekend; extends the
property spring late date by 2 days).  1 Great-crested Flycatcher (previous
early spring date: April 23).  1 Lesser Yellowlegs (previous early spring
date: April 20; 14th property record).  Also of interest:  the Mute Swan
nest at the head of the cove contains 8 huge eggs, bigger than grenades.  3
Green Herons, seen several times flying around in a little pack.  38
Double-crested Cormorants.  4 Canvasbacks (latest previous spring date:
April 12).  Other critters:  1 Tiger Swallowtail, a Gray Squirrel, an
Eastern Cottontail, and 7 deer (does).  On the way out I prevailed upon a
big Snapping Turtle (carapace c. 13" long) to leave the highway and get
back into a deep ditch filled with water as an alternative to basking on
the warm pavement.

It's a pleasure to listen to the noise the wings of flushing Surf Scoters
make, audible for a mile or more when it is calm.  To George this is
evocative of the winnowing of snipe.  To me they also sound somewhat like
the Gray Tree Frog's loud, vibrant call, although that is flatter,
higher-pitched, and has even intervals.  The scoters' sound rises and gets
weaker but faster toward its end and is more "musical" and bell-like, less
harsh.  When hundreds flush the result is a lovely, pervasive "chorus" of
sound.  It has replaced the garrulous calling of Long-tailed Ducks, "South
South Southerly", that used to be characteristic of the Choptank mouth at
this time of year.  There are still good numbers of "Oldsquaws" there but
nothing like there were 15 years ago.  The skunkheads have been in the
ascendancy for years, the Long-tailed Ducks the opposite.  The scoters
reach peak numbers and linger later than the Long-tailed Ducks do (or did).

Corrigenda.  The Great Horned Owl reported on March 28 was actually a
Red-tailed Hawk; George A. got a much better look and saw the red tail.  My
posting for Easter weekend mistakenly referred to that Saturday as March
10; obviously it was April 10, and the minimalist indication of Easter
Sunday then as "Easter April" was April 11, Easter Sunday.

Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA
19119-1225.  215-248-4120.  Please, any off-list replies to:


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