The drought is over.

"Rigby's Folly", Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near
Bellevue.  Saturday, April 2, 2005.  A deluge most of the day.  Overcast
becoming fair then clear briefly in late afternoon then clouding over again
with light rain after sunset.  Visibility only fair.  Winds 25-35 from the
SE diminishing to 5-10 m.p.h.  Temperature 61-64-57.  Some thunder,
window-rattlers, at 8 P.M. with winds shifting to S 20-25 m.p.h.  7:30 A.M.
- 7 P.M.  41 species.  I spent 3:45-5:30 at Lucy Point, dozed off in the
sun several times, and was once awakened by, of all things, a small group
of Red-breasted Mergansers, by their pattering across the water's surface. 
Most of the day was unsuitable for birding because of heavy rains.  Very
high tides.

23 Horned Grebes, best count today in the cove, several with small fishes
they'd captured.  2 Northern Gannets, aduts.  A pair of Wood Ducks in Field
4.  1,120 Surf Scoters, some of them also finding prey items (small
mollusks, presumably).  18 Bonaparte's Gulls, a flock heading due north out
over the Choptank River.  1 Great Horned Owl, called just 3 times at dusk. 
21 Common Flickers in sight at one time in Field 4; I assume the great
rains brought ants and other invertebrate foods to the surface for their
delectation; highest spring count.  165 Common Grackles.  

Also:  7 deer and 1 Gray Squirrel.  Big choruses of Spring Peppers and at
dusk a few Chorus Frogs and Southern Leopard Frogs.  

Bellevue ferry landing:  65 Lesser Scaup, 20 Buffleheads.  Tar Creek:  70
Ruddy Ducks.  Miles River near Oak Creek:  135 Buffleheads, 4 Ospreys, 25
Lesser Scaup.  

Cathy Cooper of the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy was here from 10 until
Noon, when we talked about possible conservation easements for Rigby's
Folly.

Sunday, April 3.  Overcast all day with some light rains.  High 40s
temperatures.  Winds 20-40 m.p.h. from the west.  Strong winds.  Strong. 
Sometimes making harsh, shrill whistling on contact with my speeding car
just as happened when I crossed the Malkus Bridge at Cambridge during
Hurricane Isabel.  

Rigby's Folly, 10:30 A.M. - 1 P.M.  Slept in late.  Just birded from the
dock for 15 minutes or so:  70 Canvasbacks.  510 Lesser Scaup (4th highest
property count).  65 Buffleheads.  60 Ruddy Ducks.  1 Sharp-shinned Hawk. 
The waterfowl mostly out and up Irish Creek in the distance. 

Hurlock Wastewater Treatement Plant, Dorchester County, MD.  2-3 P.M.:  1
Tundra Swan.  14 Snow Goose (1 adult had BIG problems with its wings).  12
Canada Geese.  3 Green-winged Teal.  32 Mallards.  13 Northern Shovelers (I
was surprised not to see more here; perhaps they went in search of scummier
pastures).  9 Ring-necked Ducks.  235 Ruddy Ducks (the coin of the realm). 
2 Bald Eagles, 1 immature and an adult not quite in full fig with a dark
terminal band on its tail; the immie was sitting on one of the dikes.  1
Red-tailed Hawk.  1 American Kestrel.  3 Savannah Sparrows.  1 Eastern
Meadowlark.  Nearby Purple Martin houses were not yet colonized.  Local
Vorsythia and Daffodils are turned out nicely.  No "turkles" in the Hurlock
water cells.  Too cold for them.

Route 309 ponds, listed as seen going west from the Rt. 309 X Rt. 413
intersection.  Mostly murky and muddy and brimming over from the rains. 
Pond 1, vacant except for 4 Tundra Swans in an adjacent winter wheat field.
 Pond 2, 1 Great Blue Heron and 1 kestrel nearby.  Pond 3, vacant but 3
kestrels nearby.  Pond 4 (only pond on the left side), vacant though nicely
vegetated and, unlike the others, with clear water.  Pond 5 (the big one,
always seems to have the most):  23 Green-winged Teal.  13 Ring-necked
Ducks.  4 American Wigeon.  2 Mallards.  2 Gadwall.  2 Bald Eagles soaring
across the road in the heavy winds.  Some of the areas in what normally are
fields are so full of water that they have temporary "ponds" bigger than
the permanent ponds.  

Ponds on Rt. 213 near the junction of Rts. 213 & 301 (SE of there 200 yards
or so).  Southernmost pond:  35 Ring-necked Ducks.  Pond closest to the
intersection:  3 Canada Geese.  2 Mallards.  1 male Lesser Scaup.    

Trappe, Talbot County, MD.  Anyone who likes books should visit UNICORN
BOOK SHOP on the north edge of Trappe, east side of Route 50.  The little
brick building does not look like much but inside is a superb collection of
used books, including some rare ones.  Often open on Sundays, too.  I
usually pass it by; so much temptation inside.  There's a 2-foot stack of
"Maryland Birdlife" for sale for $20 there now.  Would be good for one of
our local sanctuaries.  

Today I splurged on W. E. Clyde Todd's "Birds of Western Pennsylvania", the
size of a big city phone book, 710 pp., U. Pittsburgh Press, 1940.  $50,
semi-rare.  Has 118 original paintings by George Miksch Sutton, one of my
favorites and worth the price alone, plus Peterson's black-and-white
diagrammatic plate of raptors as seen from below.  This is a "life book"
(first time I've seen it).  For years it has been listed in some sale
catalogs (Buteo Books, Catalog 15, 1997, $90;  Buteo Books, Catalog 20,
2002, $110) and I have wondered what it was like.

I also got "Traveling with the birds" by Rudyerd Boulton (M. A. Donohue &
Co., 1933, 64 pp., hardbound, 10 X 12 '').  This book was always around
when I was a young boy but got lost somewhere along the way.  The color
paintings by Walter Alois Weber would hook any young kid on birds.  Weber's
art appeared frequently in the "National Geographic" in the 1940s and
1950s.  I don't think he ever got the recognition he deserved as a fine
nature artist and in the best tradition of Louis Agassiz Fuertes and Maj.
Allan Brooks.  The 3rd title I bought today is "Flammulated, Boreal, and
Great Gray Owls in the United States: a technical conservation assessment"
(USDA Forest Service, 213 pp., paperbound, 8.5 X 11", 1994),
under-illustrated and rather dry, but ... it's about owls.  Visit Unicorn
Books at your own risk.  It may be your ruin.  410-476-3838.    
      
Unrelatedly, the Secretary of the Interior of the United States of America,
Gale Norton, will be visiting Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge later on
in April for Earth Day.  At that time I will be in Texas.      

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