"Rigby's Folly", Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near
Bellevue.  Liz and Harry Armistead.

Saturday, August 7, 2004.  Fair, 64-77 degrees, winds NW 5-10+ becoming
calm at dusk.  Listened hard for Chuck-will's-widows but their calling
season must be over.  Cool, low humidity, a gem.  63 species (51 by 9
A.M.).  A small flight of migrant passerines including these species which
do not breed closeby:  2 pewees, 2 House Wrens, 2 gnatcatchers, a thrasher,
12 waxwings, 1 each of Yellow, Magnolia (new early record for the fall) and
Prothonotary (4th property record) warblers, 3 redstarts, and a Bobolink
plus a female kestrel, a Short-billed Dowitcher (10th property record) and
2 unid. peep.

Breeding confirmations:  a pair of Mute Swans with 3 downy young plus
stubby-tailed juveniles in the presence of adults for mockingbird, Blue
Grosbeak and towhee.  Also of interest:  3 Royal Terns, 2 screech owls
(responded in mid-day), 22 Chimney Swifts, 5 hummingbirds (ties property
high count), and 14 martins.  3 Gray Squirrels, 2 deer, and a rabbit.  A
few fireflies still lighting up.  A Bullfrog calling from neighbor
Davidson's pond.  Lots of Ospreys seen carrying fish this weekend.

Sunday, August 8.  Fair, 68-82 degrees, winds W-SW 5-10.  Warmer with
slightly higher humidity but still a rare gem of a day for August.  Spent
much of the day mowing trails, doing brushwork, trimming trees in the yard,
doing housework, making measurements, etc.  39 species.

Various fowle of diverse sortes:  1 Horned Grebe, 4 Surf Scoters (2 males,
2 females), 111 Mute Swans (including one adult with a white neck collar
with black alphanumeric CA70; 5th highest property count), 63 Canada Geese,
5 Wild Turkeys (2 hens and 3 small, flightless young in back of the
garage), 2 Least Terns (overdue year bird, an adult and a juvenile).

Species not seen yesterday:  1 Spotted Sandpiper, 1 male Indigo Bunting.
To report aggressive flying call MDOSPREY:  a hummingbird seen chasing a
Barn Swallow.  Also:  4 Bald Eagles (2 adult, 2 immatures) and at least 17
Ospreys (10 in sight simultaneously one time).

Butterflies seen this weekend:  Red-spotted Purple (many), Monarch (4-5),
Hackberry, unidentified anglewing, Tiger Swallowtail, Pearlcrescent, Orange
Sulphur, Red Admiral, Silver-spotted Skipper, Cabbage White, Common Wood
Nymph.

Jimmy and Bruce Olszewski dropped in on Sunday after checking out the
trails and fields and leaving off some turnip heads for the deer.  They had
been to the Outer Banks recently catching lots of King Mackerel 20 miles
offshore out of Hatteras village.

The depauperate nature of Rigby's avifauna.  Over the years the list here
has grown because of the large acreage, intense birding when I am here (but
I do not live here), and the extensive shoreline with its view of the mouth
of the Choptank River.  However, since the property is surrounded by water
on about 270 degrees it is in many respects insular.  This means that many
common birds such as chickadees, cardinals, wrens, woodpeckers, and other
landbirds do not occur in numbers as high as is the case with areas farther
inland which are surrounded by a landmass in all directions.  For example
on Sunday I saw no robins or woodpeckers and the only swallows all weekend
were martins and Barn Swallows.  In addition the yard and our scrubby areas
now have grown up into large trees leading to the disappearance of former
breeders such as chat, Prairie Warbler, and Orchard Oriole.  Brown-headed
Nuthatch has disappeared as a breeder from all of Ferry Neck in the early
1980s, perhaps due to forest fragmentation.

The loss of a civility.  The gas station and small restaurant at Kirkham's
on Route 33 has apparently folded, done in no doubt by the convenience
stores such as the big Exxon station a few miles down the road.  Kirkham's
was a good place to stop for gas on the way home or for a snack or drink.
Farmers would gather there to exchange gossip and news.  John Camper, who
farmed our fields most of my life, was known to many as the "Mayor " of
Kirkham's.  Such places add much to the civility of our lives.  Near where
I work in Philadelphia old Jewish men preside over a greatly expansive
lunch hour at the long front table of Gingham House Restaurant, younger
Asian men dominate the front counter for a lengthy breakfast at the Dunkin'
Donuts.  Both vantage points give good views of the surrounding
neighborhood.  Down at Cape Charles some of the farmers eat breakfast
together most days at Sting-Ray's.  As the world becomes more and more
stop-and-go something is being lost along the way when settings such as
these disappear.  There is a lot to be talked about in our times but it is
not being talked about as much as it might be.

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