Saturday, January 14, 2006.
RIGBY'S FOLLY, Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near
Bellevue. 2:45-5:30 P.M. only. Gale force winds sustained at 30 m.p.h. or
more with a forecast of gusts up to 50 knots (= c. 57 m.p.h.) for tonight.
The Choptank River is an angry, seething mass of huge whitecaps, the water
roiled and loaded with sediment. 48-42 degrees F. Overcast. Furious,
violent weather. Today the two hunters limited out with 2 Canada Geese
each from the blind on the west side of Field 1 (the "Big Field").
39 Common Goldeneyes, a dusk flight when they are often seen in winter to
fly up Irish Creek going north somewhere to spend the night; most other
waterbirds go out of Irish at dusk to overnight out in the Choptank. 18
waxwings. 13 bluebirds (a flock).
Sunday, January 15.
BELLEVUE. Early on. 1 Killdeer. 1 American Kestrel. 9 juncos.
RIGBY'S FOLLY. A.M. only. Clear. NW winds 25-30 with much higher gusts,
had been even stronger last night, blowing water down and out of the Bay.
The closest open water was c. 147 (151 big paces) yards NW of the end of
the dock, and this an hour after the tide had been coming in. Bottom of
the cove littered with the shells of razor clams, most of them c. 4" long.
Cedar Waxwing 55 (a flock). 1 adult Bald Eagle.
CAMBRIDGE WATERFRONT. 1:45-3 P.M. Failed to relocate the subadult male
Harlequin Duck. On May 9, 1992, I saw a Harlequin Duck, also a subadult
male, at Fishing Point at the end of the Elliott Island Road. 1,125
Canvasbacks. 115 Lesser Scaup with a pair of Redheads hanging out with
them. 20 Common Goldeneyes. 20 Buffleheads. 375 Surf & 90 Black Scoters,
mostly well offshore. 85 Mallards. 15 American Wigeon. 1 Long-tailed
Duck. 3 Ruddy Ducks. 2 immature Double-crested Cormorants in the pond at
Chelsea Dr. & Hambrooks Blvd. (This same road is variously, as you head
west, Water St., Hambrooks Ave., Hambrooks Blvd., and, finally, Bellevue
Ave.). Fed the ducks out of a 50 lb. bag of deer corn bought yesterday at
The Shore Sportsman.
BLACKWATER N.W.R., 3:30-5:30 P.M. Failed again to find the white pelicans
but they were seen yesterday. Ran into Jim Stasz at Pool 5. Tide
extremely low, water in impoundments still very high.
ISS = In Sight Simultaneously
10 Great Blue Herons. 1,000 or so Snow plus a few Blue geese. 80 Tundra
Swans in an Egypt Rd. field plus 115 at the refuge. 350 Mallards. 4
shovelers. 115 pintails. 20 Common Mergansers. 36 Bald Eagles (several
times over 20 were ISS). 1 harrier. 3 Red-tailed Hawks. 95 Dunlin. 3
Greater Yellowlegs. 2 Killdeer. 45 Mourning Doves. 1 Cooper's Hawk, a
large female. 12 Meadowlarks.
A perfect sunset as seen from Pool 5 with an almost full moon rising soon
afterwards. The sky so clear tonight that it is easy to see all of Orion's
stars even with the big moon rather close to him.
FRESH MUSKRAT. Dayton's Restaurant at the Point (in Cambridge), a good
place to eat afterwards, though they close early. Unfortunately they were
out of Muskrat inspite of the special sign for it out front. After
crossing the Malkus Bridge it's on the right (west) just past the visitor
center. Subdued. Not much neon. Full of older couples (but no blue hair)
with several rooms, filled with nice prints of birds and local scenes. The
big dining room has dozens of mounted big game heads - herbivores with
emphasis on antelopes (Greater Kudu, etc.). This place has been there all
my life, an adjunct of Williamson real estate. Williamson now lives in
Texas, was on safari A LOT evidently. Dayton's evaluation form asks you
not just about the service ("attitudes of the people who served you"!) and
food but also what is your favorite newspaper and radio station and what
can they add to the menu (Nutria?). Our broiled rockfish and sea trout
were fine. Then we saw "The Producers" in Easton. Laughed so hard it
hurt. I can't imagine, as happened tonight, an usher at a Philadelphia
theater watching as you approach and then opening and holding the door for
you.
Monday, January 16. RIGBY'S FOLLY. 10 A.M. - 5:30 P.M. 50 species (The
January record is 54; missed chickadee, titmouse, kinglets, robin & towhee
today). Also: 1 Gray Squirrel, the only mammal seen all weekend except
for 3 mice (1 House, 3 White-footed) caught inside the house. NO deer!!
WEATHER. Sky: fair - mostly cloudy - fair - clear. Wind: NW5 becoming
dead calm. Temperature in degrees F.: 33-40. Tide: low to high.
Precipitation: 0. Very welcome, peaceful weather. General: as pretty a
winter day as I've ever seen here. Ground condition: mostly thawed, quite
a bit of standing water, most ice melted, but fields still quite firm and
driveable with a nice growth of onion and other grasses. Visibility: good
becoming excellent.
16 waterfowl species: 60 Tundra and 87 (ISS) Mute swans. 2,230 Canada and
1 Cackling (Hutchins) goose (17th record, dating back to 1969). 1 male
Mallard. 1 male black duck. 165 Buffleheads. 95 Common Goldeneyes. 340
Long-tailed Ducks. 285 Surf & 2 female Black scoters. 8 Ruddy Ducks. 2
male & 2 female Redheads. 10 each of Canvasbacks and Lesser Scaup. 3
Red-breasted Mergansers.
Spent over 3 hours scoping the Choptank River mouth under almost perfect,
ideal conditions. The Long-tailed Ducks seem to stay the farthest offshore
but it is nevertheless easy to see them today engaging in frequent
courtship chases and otherwise desporting themselves. What a dandy bird.
Not a GREAT many Buffleheads, Surf Scoters or pochards today really, by
local standards.
Also: 2 Common Loons. 3 Horned Grebes. 3 adult (ISS) & 1 immature Bald
Eagle. 235 Herring Gulls (ISS; most sitting way offshore on the Choptank).
26 Mourning Doves (ISS) flushed from the long strip of unharvested soy
beans left standing in Field 1. 2 Great Horned (1 heard at 5:36 A.M. from
inside the house, even with the geothermal heating system woofing away; 2
heard c. 3 P.M., 1 probably a dupe from early this morning) and 1 screech
owl (responded to imitation c. 3 P.M.). 18 Northern Flickers (13 ISS in
Field 4; in winter and early spring flickers sometimes appear in such
numbers feeding on the ground in open fields here). 1 Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker. 16 bluebirds. 52 Myrtle Warblers (32 ISS next to that soy bean
strip; many also feeding on Red Cedar berries today). 1 Fox Sparrow. 8
Purple Finches (mostly female-plumaged birds; working on the Tulip Tree
seed heads).
THE LITTLE BIG ONE THAT GOT AWAY. For about one second Liz and I had a
pretty good look at a Dendroica warbler with a conspicuous yellow patch on
the side of the head, c. 20 feet above us in a Red Cedar. Then it took
off. If it had been September I'd have said, "oh, Black-throated Green
Warbler, how nice," and checked it off. Just didn't see it long enough to
check it off at this unusual date. Sometimes you just have to let 'em go.
From what we saw it was not one of the similar western "golden-headed"
warblers (Townsend's, Hermit or Golden-cheeked). The Yellow Book has 3
winter records for Black-throated Green Warbler.
5 work boats dredging (for what, oysters?!) including the 'Delusional' and
the 'Good News'. A Weems Brothers pile driver platform seen going up Irish
Creek, then later coming around Benoni Point and up Irish again, being
pushed by 2 skiffs, 1 with a 25 horse Yamaha, another with a 25 horse
Johnson. A couple of other undifferentiated work boats seen. Plus 2 boats
that were sea duck gunning (not worthy of being called hunting).
"Fishing & Hunting Journal", v. 15, no. 3, August 2005. These throwaway
freebies - there are several boating, hunting & fishing titles, all loaded
with advertizing - one finds in stores often have articles of interest to
birders plus tide charts. This one, obviously unread for a while, has a
good article on the issues surrounding the Chesapeake Menhaden (favorite
prey of Bay Ospreys and Brown Pelicans) fishery (pp. 6-7), Mourning Doves
(p. 25), resident Canada Geese (p. 20-21 & 23), and the Delaware state
record Bluefin Tuna caught last July 2, an 873 pound fish (cover & p. 4).
After perusing them they make a good, absorbent platform on which to set
the mouse traps.
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 ....) |