SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2006.

WEATHER.  Sky:  mostly overcast to overcast to clearing after sunset. 
Wind:  WSW - W 15-20-25.  Temperature in degrees F.:  42-47-43.  Tide: 
above normal throughout, most of Shorter's Wharf Road S of the southernmost
hammock submerged.  Precipitation:  occasionally heavy last night; a few
light sprinkles after noon today.  General:  water in impoundments very
high.  Ground condition:  wet.  Visibility:  excellent.  

RIGBY'S FOLLY, Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near
Bellevue.  8:45-11 A.M.  24 species.  1 Common Loon.  975 Canada Geese.  80
Surf Scoters, most of them in Irish Creek.  1 immature and 1 subadult Bald
Eagle, the latter with a clean white head but the tail dingy white with
dark flecks and a black terminal band.  1 imm. Red-tailed Hawk.  1 Hairy
Woodpecker.  15 flickers feeding on the ground in Field 2.  7 waxwings.  35
Myrtle Warblers.  115 Red-winged Blackbirds.  Also: a Gray Squirrel and a
large Raccoon asleep c. 60 feet up in a large Loblolly Pine in Woods 7.  

Arrived last night at 9:56 P.M. when it was 53 degrees.  A cottontail on
the driveway at 9:21 P.M.  Also what was probably a leopard frog, huge
saltations across the road, Calaveras County quality.  4 mice were in the
traps, 2 in the kitchen, 2 in the downstairs bedroom, 3 of them
white-bellied, the 4th an apparent House Mouse.  Traps were reset but no
more caught during the night.  

Following the end of the hunting seasons on Jan. 28 the Olszewski family
spread over our property 300 pounds of shelled corn, 700 pounds of soy
beans, 150 pounds of wheat, and a pickup load of cob corn.  Consequently
there were hundreds of geese in Field 4 plus as I breakfasted in the house
they were grazing all over the lawn only 20 or 30 feet awat from me.  They
observed a DELMARVA FOX SQUIRREL Jan. 28, only the 3rd property record.  

TRAPPE.  Just north of town on the west side of Route 50 were 17 Wild
Turkeys feeding in a field.

CAMBRIDGE.  11:45 A.M. - 1 P.M.  1 imm. Double-crested Cormorant at the
pond again.  245 Canada Geese.  85 Mallards.  40 American Wigeon.  1,640
Canvasbacks, c. 700 by Oakley Street, 300 in Hambrooks Bay, 600+ in an
extremely densely-packed flock way out in the Choptank River close to
Talbot County land as seen from Riverside Drive.  1 male Redhead.  2 male
Greater Scaup.  315 Lesser Scaup.  16 Long-tailed Ducks, some very close to
shore in the harbor.  1 female Black Scoter.  510 Surf Scoters, most not
close to shore but a few right next to the bulkheading.  30 goldeneyes.  8
Buffleheads.  Also: a Gray Squirrel.  

Some of the wigeon were courting.  One female was attended by 4 males
(menage a cinq?) who were stylin' & profilin' for her only about 15 feet
away from my car, uttering their marvelous, distinctive whistles.  Best
vantage point remains the end of Oakley Street.  Threw out about 5 pounds
of corn kernels and the cans, Mallards and wigeon go nuts.

EGYPT ROAD:  1 Great blue Heron, 4 Tundra Swans in a field, 33 Black & 30
Turkey vultures, 1 kestrel, 2150 Ring-billed Gulls, 65 Mourning Doves, 85
Fish Crows, and 3,000 starlings with a few cowbirds, Common Grackles and
Red-winged Blackbirds mixed in with them. 

BLACKWATER N.W.R.  2-4 P.M.  A great Snow Goose spectacle, the birds
concentrated in the fields right next to the Visitors Center (V.C.), often
flushing, and with V-formations within V-formations coming in continuously
from the Blackwater River, perhaps 5,000+ including c. 375 Blue Geese.  At
times almost deafening.  As I arrived, as luck would have it, the first
flock I looked at, only 9 birds, contained an adult, white-phase ROSS'S
GOOSE.  The Snow Goose flock has built up since 2 weeks ago.  

Also:  The 3 American White Pelicans in place in the Blackwater River
opposite Pool 3B, resting with their bills tucked into their backs.  6
Great Blue Herons, 12 black ducks, 700 Mallards, 95 pintails, 2 Ring-necked
Ducks (Pool 1), 30 Common Mergansers, 28 Bald Eagles, 5 Red-tailed Hawks, 1
kestrel, and 14 bluebirds.

SHORTER'S WHARF ROAD.  4-6 P.M.  I had never ended the day here and saw
some interesting flights of birds going to roost.  I set up just S of the
southernmost hammock c. 1 mile N of Shorter's Wharf (Blackwater River) and
spent 1.5 hours scanning there.  With the water completely flooding the
marsh I didn't expect to see much.

Eastern Meadowlarks.  2 groups = 40 and 13.  53 is a LOT of meadowlarks
these days.  4:50 P.M.  They were flying due south apparently to roost
somewhere.  The marsh was completely inundated with no high ground for
them.  Numbers have been hanging around the V.C. lately.     

Turkey Vultures.  4:55-5:05 P.M.  From one spot I saw 3 clusters of TVs
over woodland roost areas, all at least 2 miles distant: 1 group of 205 due
N, another of 95 due W, and a 3rd of 30 due SW for a total of c. 330 in
sight almost simultaneously.  

Northern Harriers.  I saw no Short-eared Owls here but some of the harriers
were still aloft past 5:45 P.M.  There were apparently several small
nocturnal communal roost sites forming up with 6-7 birds each.  Once there
were 18 birds in sight simultaneously.  At least 23 harriers in toto.  

Fish Crows.  c. 375 apparently heading towards Bloodsworth Island to roost.
 

Also seen at Shorter's:  2 Great Blue & 1 Black-crowned Night heron, 6 Mute
Swans, 2 Wood Ducks (flew past at close range at 5:35 P.M.), 10
Green-winged Teal, 10 black ducks, 2 Hooded & 32 Common Mergansers, 14 Bald
Eagles & 7 Greater Yellowlegs.  1 Eastern Cottontail.

As so often seems to happen on the marsh, after a mostly overcast day the
sun finally showed about 15 minutes before it set, turning the marsh
grasses a lovely, golden amber, and then setting spectacularly.

This afternoon wasn't supposed to be a stunt but in less than 6 hours it
just happened that 23 species of waterfowl were seen.  With a little bit of
luck shoveler, Gadwall, Red-breasted Merganser, and Ruddy Duck would have
made it 27. 

Most of the Canada Geese today were feeding, grazing on grasses in the
fields and on the lawns.  

Driving during the Superbowl is certainly a treat.  There is SO much less
traffic.  No one is at the restaurants, stores, and gas stations.  I got
home here in time to see the last minute of what sounded like an
interesting game.


REFUGE HONORS.  Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge has received some
honors recently.  Glenn Carowan, refuge manager, was named refuge manager
of the year.  The refuge friends group was recently named the best refuge
friends group.  There are over 500 refuges (some of which are clumped
together under single management), so to be named best out of several
hundred is an impressive distinction.   

PAUL SYKES.  My friend Paul Sykes has now participated in 370 Christmas
Bird Counts beginning in 1953.  He has compiled 162.  As a regional
Christmas count editor he has edited 2,172 counts.  A few years ago Paul
endured bypass surgery in November but participated in over 10 counts just
a few weeks later.  A count doesn't count unless he has participated for at
least 7.5 hours but he averages 10 or 11.  I forwarded to him the results
of this December's Ocean City CBC, which was Chan Robbins' 350th.  Paul
can't say enough good things about Chan.  I suspect he may actually feel a
little badly about surpassing him.  I don't believe anyone else has done as
many CBCs as these two.    

NEW PHILADELPHIA YARD BIRD.  A Black-capped Chickadee visited our feeders
here on Saturday, January 28.  Lots of white showing on the folded wing. 
Raggedly lower bib edge.  But I realize it's not that simple.  The yard
list is now 109.

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 ....)