"Rigby's Folly", Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near
Bellevue.  Sunday, June 20, 2004.  Liz & Harry Armistead.  62-78 degrees
F., clear, winds NW 20-15-5-0.  Low humidity.  37 species including 45 Mute
Swans, 1 adult & 1 immature Bald Eagle, a pair of Red-tailed Hawks, 1 Great
Horned Owl, 1 Chuck-will's-widow, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, and 3 Blue Grosbeaks
(all males).

The yard mockingbird acting is if he was on 25 mg. Dexamyl spansules, the
kind that used to get me through exam week.  Singing non-stop and doing 13
imitations (10 of these species I missed today):  bobwhite, Greater
Yellowlegs, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Chuck-will's-widow, Red-headed & Pileated
woodpeckers, Purple Martin, Blue Jay, titmouse, Carolina Wren, bluebird,
Brown Thrasher, and cardinal.

Mammals:  3 deer (does), 3 Gray Squirrels, 1 Eastern Cottontail, and, at
dusk, 2 Muskrats, 1 of which swam right under where I was standing on the
dock.  It was dead calm and I could hear the Muskrats uttering gentle
mewing chatter notes, something I have never heard before.  It is
interesting how absurdly tame rabbits are in the May-July period.  The rest
of the year they are hardly ever seen and are very shy.

Butterflies:  Common Wood Nymph, Wood Satyr, Pearlcrescents, Tiger
Swallowtail, Cabbage Whites.

Found a 5' 2" Black Rat Snake shed in the second floor east bathroom -
first of the year.  Liz and I saw 4 or 5 Cow-nosed Rays from Lucy Point.
The only 2 Marsh Hibiscus plants I know of on the property still persist,
one that produces white flowers at Lucy Point, the other pink flowers on
the side of the boat ramp.  Fowler's Toads abundant and 1 Bullfrog calling
from Davidson's pond.

I spent over 3 hours cutting branches and honeysuckle, chainsawing fallen
trees, and mowing the Warbler Trail, which is c. 800 feet long.  This is
where we have found the only King Rail and Dickcissel ever seen at Rigby.
I used to mistnet songbirds here, hence the name George gave it.  It goes
along the edge of the cove and has fallen into disuse for the past two
years.  After that I vacuumed our 2 cars.

RED KNOT series.  The "Philadelphia Inquirer" has had an excellent series
on the decline of the Red Knot each Sunday from May 23 - June 6, front
pages of Section B by Sandy Bauers (http://go.philly.com/redknots).  Knots
never seem to make a big appearance in Maryland but their drastic decline
to a fraction of their population in less than 10 years would seem to
justify transcending the scope of local LISTSERVS.  On Delaware Bay their
May populations have plummeted from 50,360 in 1998 to 13,315 in 2004  These
articles are well-written and illustrated with good color photographs,
maps, charts, and other graphics concerning the Delware Bay as well as the
knots' wintering grounds in southern South America.  The website cited is a
little obtuse and I am not sure, after a brief visit, that all the text of
the 3 articles is available there.

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