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Ferry Neck August 28-29 (YCNH)

From:

Henry Armistead

Reply-To:

Maryland Birds & Birding

Date:

Mon, 30 Aug 2004 10:13:59 -0400

"Rigby's Folly", Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near
Bellevue.  August 28-29, 2004.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron, 1 immature.  Returning from a boat trip Sunday
Liz and I saw this bird on the edge of the saltmarsh 100 feet west of the
dock in company with a Mute Swan and a Great Blue Heron.  We approached it
in the boat to within 75 feet when it flew and disappeared into the trees
back from the shore.  Missing most of the feathers on its head and
upperneck, which sported bristle-like, spikey feather shafts only, it had
confused us initially with its bizarre, piebald appearance.  But the dull
but dark purpleish-brown feathers on the upperparts and wings and its
dangling, gangly long legs left no doubt that it was a YCNH.  This is a new
yard bird, no. 265, and only the 2nd YCNH I've ever seen on the Eastern
Shore mainland, other than a few at the West Ocean City pond in the 1960s
and 1970s.  All the rest, hundreds, have been on central Chesapeake
islands.  The other "mainland" one was at Bishop's Head in S. Dorchester
County, which is practically an island environment.  One of the few
records, I believe, for Talbot County.  We only have 17 records of
Black-crowned Night Heron for Rigby.

Saturday, August 28.  Clear, 76-90 degrees F., winds SW, 15 becoming less
humid as the day progressed.  Water temperatures, a refreshing 81-84
degrees.  36 species.  Didn't bird much today, a lot of shopping in Easton.
 Great Blue Heron 0 (with the Poplar I. archipelago colony declining we
don't see them as much).  Mute Swan 185.  Surf Scoter, 1 male, 3 females.
Wild Turkey, 3 hens, 2 poults.  Carolina Chickadee 5, incl. 1 stubby-tailed
juvenile.  Black-and-white Warbler 2.  Ran the boat 3 mi., first use in c.
5 weeks.

Sunday, August 29.  Clear to fair, very humid, 74-88 degrees, winds SW-S
15.  Red-tailed Hawk 2.  Bald Eagle 2.  Disastrous boat trip to Benoni
Point, ruined the propeller on rocks.  Saw 1 Royal Tern, 1 ad. Bald Eagle,
2 Surf Scoters, and 2 Diamondback Terrapin.  Submerged aquatic vegetation
(SAV) making a comeback (in spite of all the Mute Swans) and had to clear
the prop several times of Ruppia grass.  This used to happen all the time
in the 1960s but from 1970 and later hardly ever after the grasses died
out.

Pelican nestling vocalizations.  I forgot to mention in my previous posting
on this that they often sound like Wildebeests also.  Really.  I haven't
been to the Serengeti but I've heard the beests on public television many
times.

Butterflies this weekend.  Cloudless Sulphurs (3 or 4, the first this
year), Orange Sulphurs,  Common Wood Nymph, Monarch, Pearlcrescent, Cabbage
White, Buckeye, Red-spotted Purple, Eastern Tailed Blue.

Other inveterate invertebrates.  One Firefly still flashing this weekend as
the nearly full moon rose Saturday evening.  The moon loomed so big and
luminous you'd a thought you could charter a small plane at Easton and just
fly right to it.  Not very many Sea Nettles this year.  Demise of the
mosquito: for several years I have been alarmed at how few mosquitos there
are, and other noxious insects such as various flies.  The spraying
programs have been strong for years and what with West Nile Virus hysteria
have probably been stepped up.  I sometimes wonder how flycatchers and
swallows make it as well as they do.  Several Common Whitetails buzzing
around the driveway.

Mammals:  2 Gray Squirrels, several deer (does), an Eastern Cottontail.
Going home Sunday evening an extremely mangy Red Fox was trotting along
right next to Rt. 322 near the Ruby Tuesday on the Easton bypass.

Grass is very green this August, almost like it is in May due to the
abundant rain.  Lots of Green Frogs at The Pond.

Our green boat launching ramp is a sloping pile of bricks and small rocks.
On the west side, less than a foot from where the trailer tires pass, is a
pink Marsh Hibiscus, the only one on the property.  On the east side, only
a couple of inches from the tire track, is a little clump of Sea Lavender.
Another smaller clump of lavender is in between, safely straddled by the
tires.  Spartina patens, Iva frutescens, and Poison Ivy protrude from among
the rocks and I periodically mow them.  They put me in mind of Dylan
Thomas's "The force that through the green fuse drives the flower".
Persimmons arch over the entire affair and the flowering marsh plants are
flanked by Baccharis halimifolia bushes.  When the tide is a bit more than
half high it is possible, with great care, to launch "the Mudhen" here.  It
is a sunny venue and protected from the winds so that pulling the boat in
high summer is an extremely hot activity.

The Woodchuck watch:  8 of these fatties seen in the Wilmington-Middletown
axis in the early evening, Friday, August 27.

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