CAPE VERDE SHEARWATER.  Preliminary information ... A North American first,
one of these was well-seen by all aboard Brian Patteson's pelagic trip off
of Cape Hatteras on Sunday, August 15.  My son, George, was there as one of
Brian's several assistant leaders and called me this morning saying that
adequate photographs were obtained.  It was in view for c. 20 minutes and
was flushed several times, once flying right under the bow.  It looks
somewhat like a cross between a Cory's and a Greater but is smaller and has
a dark but not black bill.  It is a species by virtue of a recent split (I
forget from what ... perhaps of the edwardsii race of Cory's) so does not
appear in most field guides.  Two sizeable waterspouts were also seen, c.
100 Sooty Terns, 9 Bridleds, 2 Pomarine Jaegers, and a Manx Shearwater plus
a couple of pods of Pilot Whales.  Winds at Hatteras reached but 40 m.p.h.
due to Charlie.

And now, for the mundane ...

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

Saturday, August 14, 2004.  Spent most of the day getting the house and
property ready in case Hurricane Charlie came close.  Thank heaven it
didn't.  Overcast, 70 - 76 degrees F., winds L & V changing to NW 5 m.p.h.
then NE at 10.  Rain from 11 A.M. until c. 11 P.M.  34 species.

Common Loon 1.  Snowy Egret 4.  Mute Swan 156 (2nd highest property count,
the highest being 240 seen by Liz and me on July 29 & 30, 2000).  8 Surf
Scoters (3 males, 5 females; these birds seem to be flightless; when the
rear up in the water to flap their wings their isn't much to flap).  Royal
Tern 4.  Chimney Swift 67 (2nd highest property count).  Purple Martin 20
(ties highest count).  Eastern Bluebird 4 (including 4 stubby-tailed
juveniles capable of flight).  Indigo Bunting 1 male still singing.

Went for a nice walk in the rain 1-2:30 P.M. when I saw 1 Common Wood Nymph
& 3 Diamondback Terrapin.  Also: 1 Gray Squirrel, 1 Eastern Cottontail and
2 deer (does).  Ben & Frances Weems came for dinner, which included
venison.

Sunday, August 15.  29 species.  Spent much of the day doing brushwork and
putzing around inside the house.  Did a "sea watch" from 6:30 - 8:30 A.M.
in case Charlie blew something in - very unlikely since Charlie went to sea
near Virginia Beach and then headed away to the northeast.  Hurricanes
which pass west of here are much more likely to bring vagrants of interest,
especially if they have come from well offshore before making landfall in
the Carolinas.  However, there was a genuine flightline almost all of the
waterbirds were following this morning, directly to the northwest,
including:  2 Common Loons (in strong flight), 3 Double-crested Cormorants,
61 Laughing (over half of them juveniles), 7 Ring-billed & 3 Herring gulls,
16 Forster's Terns, 2 hummingbirds, 1 Purple Martin, 2 Barn Swallows, and 1
errant Eastern Meadowlark, an overdue property year bird and very
surprising to see it out over the Choptank River and at this time of year.

Also:  Another neck-collared Mute Swan, this one with the alphanumeric
CA08.  The 8 Surf Scoters still present.  1 Spotted Sandpiper.  1 Great
Horned Owl calling at 3:35 A.M. when it was calm, overcast, and not raining
- easy to hear from our bed.  1 Diamondback Terrapin, 1 cottontail, 2 does
& 1 fawn.  Liz heard a fox calling in the night.  Butterflies: 1 Monarch, 3
Common Wood Nymphs, 1 Buckeye, 4 Red-spotted Purples, 2 Eastern Tailed
Blues & 2 Pearlcrescents.  At the only pink marsh hibiscus that grows at
Rigby, which has 16 blossoms and a few more coming, there were 3 species of
skippers, two I don't know how to identify and a Silver-spotted Skipper.

Cackling Goose.  Branta hutchinsii.  Rigby's Folly records.  Elevated to
species rank by the A.O.U. in 2004.  Single birds fitting the description
of the Richardson's Goose form seen 16 times, including 10/4/69, 11/6/71,
11/3/73 (Lars Egede-Nissen also saw it), 10/3/75, 10/26/75, 11/13/83,
11/10/84, 2 1/13/95 & 2/19/95 (same birds?), 9/23/95, 1/23/00, 3/14/00
(seen by George Armistead), several times in the winter of 2003 & 2/7/04
(thus the period of occurence is 9/23-11/13, 1/12-3/15).  No reason I can
think of why they shouldn't be seen between Nov. 13 and Jan. 12; they just
haven't been.  Several times indeterminate small Canada Geese forms not
fitting the decription of the Richardson's Goose form have been seen also.
With this split, giving us a species "in escrow", the "yard" list is now
264.

These birds were identified on the basis of their small size, their
proportionately shorter necks, and their stubby bills.  I think, I believe
it was Jim Stasz's description of their size, neck, and bill shape in
comparison with "regular" Canada Geese as being quite analogous to the
differences between Ross's and Snow Geese, an excellent comparison in my
opinion.  I found the comment on MDOSPREY about their bill being like an
equilateral triangle to be an especially apt, helpful description.  When
these birds are flying with regular Canada Geese these 3 features stand out
clearly even at some distance.

Off topic:

MAKE YOUR OWN TRUMPETER SWAN CALL.  A while back I discovered that by
pushing the straw up and down slowly in a fast food drink container a sound
somewhat like two duetting Trumpeter Swans can be produced.  Push the straw
through the X or cross-shaped (depending on one's physical and/or spiritual
orientation) opening of the plastic lid.  Haven't done this in a while but
if I remember the lower sound is produced when the straw is pushed down.
This is my first and last bid to be the Martha Stewart of ornithology.  As
I understand it, Martha will soon be making bright, shiney bird houses out
of license plates.

A close call.  Heading south Friday evening at 8:45 P.M. on Rt. 301 at
milepost 102 in the outside lane we were passing a huge 18-wheel truck when
I saw a 4-door sedan cutting across the intersection from our left.  It was
evident immediately that it and the truck were going to collide.  I yelled
for Liz to pull off onto the shoulder.  Somehow the truck just brushed the
other car, swerved into the depression of the center strip, and then turned
over on its right side, its massive momentum causing it to continue so that
it slid to the other side of the highway, completely blocking the oncoming
northbound lines.  Dozens of heavy 5-6 gallon plastic containers of
waterproofing compound burst through the truck's roof and many gallons of
diesel fuel flooded the area.  The driver, a middle-aged Asian man, was
O.K. with remarkable composure.  He deserves a medal for avoiding the other
car as much as he did.  The father and daughter in that car sustained light
injuries.  The only other person who hung around as a witness other than
myself was a rangey, impressive-looking African-American man.  As we talked
I learned he worked at Pauxent Naval Air Station on B-22's and for 7 years
was one of the pilots of Marine Crops One, the helicopter that takes the
President and other V.I.P.s to Camp David and other destinations.

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