SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 2006.  A gem.

WEATHER.  Sky:  clear.  Wind:  NW-SW 10-15.  Temperature in degrees F.: 
35-39.  Tide:  high at Blackwater, very low at Elliott I.  Precipitation: 
0.  General:  breezy, cold day; much of the shallow water in protected,
shady areas remained frozen today.  Ground condition:  lots of standing
water.  Visibility:  excellent.

RIGBY'S FOLLY, Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near
Bellevue.  Until 11 A.M. only but no birding.  Today Jimmy & Bruce
Olszewski, Jim Graves, and a few others shot 6 CGs (probably more by the
time I left).  Yesterday they saw a covey of c. 20 Northern Bobwhite, very
unusual (NO small game is hunted here).  In the past 6 or so years in some
years I have heard or seen no quail, other years just 1.  Yesterday they
shot 2 deer.  The gut pile from one attracted 5 Turkey Vultures, 3 American
Crows, and 1 Red-tailed Hawk, seen while I was leaving.  The O's gave me a
big cooler full of deer roast, cutlets, sausage & hamburger and 2 Canada
Geese.  Later in the winter Jimmy said he would put more stone on our lawn
launching ramp and help to level it.  

The Easton Oasis car wash works twice as well as my Philadelphia one but is
$1 more.  Finally get the grime off:  the residue of Hatteras sand and sea
salt, upstate New York sand and road salt.  Oasis is quite quiet, listen to
Mendelssohn's Overture to a Midsummer Night's Dream on the way through.  It
just doesn't get any wetter.

CAMBRIDGE waterfront from Route 50 west to Riverside Drive and Hambrooks,
12:30-2.  I didn't check the harbor or Great Marsh Point but most else,
yes.  

The sub-adult male Harlequin Duck a little tricky; goes in and out from
among the boats and pilings.  Seen from the east side of the yacht club
entrance road among the boats closest to shore (i.e., look to the right),
next to the 5th boat out, the 'Canvasback'.  Consorted with 5 female
Long-tailed Ducks.  Don't go there, Harley; no miscegenatin', mongrelizin'
or hybridizin' on my watch, PLEASE.  

Next of most interest to me:  the large numbers of Black Scoters, most well
offshore, c. 170, the most I've ever seen on the Bay.  Mixed in with the
skunkheads. 

An ad. Bald Eagle was carrying a c. 1'-long fish, pursued by 2 imm. and 1
ad. Great Black-backed Gull.  But it eludes them, perches magestically in a
big tree in the estate near Hambrooks Point at 205 Oak Street.

Also:  445 Surf Scoters.  40 Long-tailed Ducks.  910 Canvasbacks.  195
Lesser Scaup.  2 Mute Swans.  40 Common Goldeneyes.  22 American Wigeon. 
25 Buffleheads.  110 Mallards.  39 Ruddy Ducks (Hambrooks Bay, which they
seem to favor when they are in this area).  4 Fish Crows.  Didn't see any
but a few Redheads and Greater Scaup probably present.  

Bring some corn and watch the ducks go crazy diving for it.  Oakley Street
is a good place.  I'll probably go there again next Sunday.  The
Canvasbacks seem quite aggressive towards the American Wigeon.  It is nice
to be able to hear the little musical contact calls of the cans.  Great
views at 15 feet or less.  A spectacle.    

At the little pond near where Hambrooks Blvd. veers SW was an imm.
Double-crested Cormorant and 660 Canada Geese nearby.  Between the blvd.
and the Choptank River on the sand was a pile of slaughtered ducks:  6 male
and 1 female Long-tailed Duck and a female Bufflehead.  On the way out I
saw a man with a pickup truck picking them up and putting them in a garbage
bag.  The family who hunt our property, the Olszewskis, regard so-called
sea duck hunting with contempt. 

EGYPT ROAD.  Quick drive-by, ergo not much.  2 kestrels on the wire.  18
Tundra Swans in one field.  Most of this road is slated to become a minor
city in a few years.

BLACKWATER N.W.R.  2:15-4 P.M.  Pool 3B was loaded:  360 Tundra Swans,
2,330 Snow and 135 Blue Geese.  I dipped on the 4 American White Pelicans
(seen earlier today by others); somehow this furtive, subtle species eluded
me.  I've seen them twice previously at Blackwater years ago, once in
March, once in September.  Also:  3 Ruddy Ducks (Pool 3c), 1 Red-tailed
Hawk, 16 Bald Eagles, 165 Northern Pintails, and 135 Common Mergansers (WAY
out on the Blackwater River).  There's a huge blackbird flock in the corn
just west of the Visitor Center.  I didn't have time to sort through it
thoroughly but it seemed to mostly be male Red-winged Blackbirds.  Didn't
see any small geese but could easily have overlooked them. 

GRIFFITH NECK ROAD X HENRY'S CROSS ROAD.  An Eastern Phoebe and 2 juncos
just east of this junction.

ELLIOTT ISLAND ROAD.  4:30-5:35 P.M.  Birded just the marsh areas from S
end of Savanna Lake down to "Gadwall Bend" (where there were 8 Gadwalls). 
No Short-eared Owls but 3 Great Horneds calling.  Also:  8 Greater
Yellowlegs, 1 Wilson's Snipe, 70 robins, 12 Great Blue Herons (most at
Gadwall Bend), 1 Great Egret, 1 Black-crowned Night Heron, 3 Bald Eagles, 7
harriers, 10 Hooded Mergansers, 16 Mourning Doves, 30 Green-winged Teal,
165 Ring-billed Gulls, and 45 Song Sparrows.  Much of the marsh farther
west along the Transquaking River and east of Bestpitch has already been
burned.   
 

[OFF TOPIC but possibly of interest:  CAPE CHARLES, VA, 41st CHRISTMAS BIRD
COUNT, Friday, December 30, 2005.  A few preliminary totals, subject to
some but probably not much change.  For certain big, conspicuous species,
such as eagles, I may arbitrarily lop off 1/4 or 1/5 of the numbers in an
attempt to compensate for preceived duplicate sightings.

A complete, heavily-annotated official list (on VA-BIRD) will follow in
about one week, you may be sure.

Many thanks to Ned Brinkley and Jared Sparks for running the count whle I
was absent for my mother-in-law's memorial service and related activities.

Pretty day but low numbers of many common birds such as white-throats and
Swamp Sparrows.  SPECIES TOTAL:  156 (low).  37 observers in 10 sectors. 
Separate parties covered Smith, Fisherman, and Myrtle islands.  7 other
groups worked the mainland areas.

3,896 snow geese.  308 tundra swans (widespread; 8 parties).  631 gadwalls.
 1 Eurasian wigeon.  11 pintails (low).  1 white-winged scoter.  659 surf
scoters (low).  321 ruddy ducks.

6,582 red-throated loons (gangbusters; mostly seen from Smith Island by Dan
Cristol & Renee Hudgins).  3 red-necked grebes (2 parties).  8 brown
pelicans.  21 great & 6 snowy egrets (both good totals by recent
standards).  3 little blue herons.  83 white ibis.

250 black vultures.  1 osprey (Chris Reiger & Fred Pinch).  35 bald eagles
(need pruning due to duplication).  2 merlins.  6 peregrine falcons.  only
4 bobwhite.  66 clapper & 2 Virginia rails.  11 common moorhens (new high
count).  

603 black-bellied & 24 semipalmated plovers.  54 lesser (a lot) & 102
greater yellowlegs.  86 willets (5 parties).  24 marbled godwits.  2 least
sandpipers (Smith Island).  4,796 dunlin.  purple sandpiper 4 or 5 by Tom
Saunders & Dot Field at the Cape Charles (town) jetties.  51 woodcock.     

5,724 Bonaparte's (new high count by a lot), 2 adult lesser black-backed
(Bob Anderson et al., Fisherman Island), and 1 glaucous (seen on both Smith
& Fisherman Island by Cristol, Hudgins, Fred Lobdell, Bob Anderson et al.)
gull.  54 Forster's terns.  3 Eurasian collared-doves (present for several
years; has bred here).  17 great horned & 6 screech-owls (the only owls,
which is unusual).  

Allen's hummingbird (immature male; present since October 26; banded,
measured, weighed, etc., later in the fall by Mary Gustafson; seen count
day at 0720 hours by Ned & Bev; new to the count & 2nd state record).  all
7 woodpecker species incl. 2 red-headeds & 9 pileateds (new high count). 
12 phoebes.  4 tree swallows.  the 5 expected wren species incl. 16 sedge &
23 marsh wrens (both good counts by recent standards).  

only 115 robins.  84 bluebirds (low).  88 pipits (low; 1 party only).  4
orange-crowned warblers (excelent; 3 parties).  34 palm warblers (low but
seen by 4 parties).  4 yellowthroats.  156 chipping, 1 vesper, 3
white-crowned, 7 Ipswich, 6 Nelson's sharp-tailed, 53 saltmarsh
sharp-tailed, 32 seaside but a mere 8 fox sparrows.  all of 136 common but
516 boat-tailed grackles.  7 cowbirds (!; low).  1 lapland longspur.  

missed (not that surprising, except for the snipe):  whimbrel, red knot,
white-breasted nuthatch, Wilson's snipe & rusty blackbird.       

OFF TOPIC, OFF-THE-WALL, AND YET NOT OFF-COLOUR:  BANNED FROM PARTICIPATION
UNTIL 2008:  the Right Honourable, Viscount Sir Dudley Fauntleroy
Radclyffffe Studly-Ramsbottom (the "Discount Viscount", known to many as
Roy Boy the Stud Dud Dude), O.B.E., V.C., D.S.O., H.M.O., L.S.M.F.T., Duke
of Onancock, Earl of Nassawadox, and 7th Margrave of Machipongo.  His
recent unsubstantiated (and only) reports include Royal Albatross, King
Rail, King of Saxony Bird of Paradise, Victoria Crowned Pigeon, Emperor
Penguin, Regal Fritillary, Monarch, Queen Carola's Six-wired Bird of
Paradise & Viceroy.  I think I see a pattern.  They may not be "of the
realm", Discount, but when you feel you can report such vin ordinaire as
Common Goldeneye, Common Redpoll, American Bittern, Common Loon, American
Pipit, Common Merganser et cetera, you can return to this count.  I'm as
much of a royalist as the next guy but I feel you've been excessive.  Honi
soit qui mal y pense?  Perhaps.  Dieu et mon droit?  MON Dieu!, even less
likely.  In the words of John Masefield, your own Poet Laureate after all: 
"Others may sing of the wine and the wealth and the mirth/The portly
presence of potentates goodly in girth:-/Mine be the dirt and the dross,
the dust and scum of the earth!"  Give me a break.  Give yourself a break. 
Stop reading this garbage.]   

Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA
19119-1225.  215-248-4120.  Please, any off-list replies to: 
harryarmistead at hotmail dot com  (never, please, to 74077.3176 ....)