Rigby's Folly, Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near
Bellevue. 

April 1, 2006, SATURDAY.  

Weather.  Sky:  fair, cloudy briefly, then clear.  Wind:  W 15-20 becoming
NW 10-15-20.  Temperature in degrees F.:  62-72.  Tide:  above normal, then
low, then high.  Precipitation:  thunder. lightning, and brief, c. 1/2 hr.
but at times near torrential, rain c. 1:30 P.M.  Ground condition: 
extremely dry.  Visibility:  hazy all day at distances of a mile plus.

Horned Grebe 6.  Common Loon 8.  Northern Gannet 1 adult.  Snowy Egret 1
(with resplendant nuptial plumes; the record early date here is March 28
one year).  Wood Duck 4.  Bufflehead 115.  Surf Scoter 210, including 20 or
so in the cove area.  Red-breasted Merganser 25.  Black Vulture 2 (have
been hanging around the blind on the W side of Field 1 and it looks as if
they MAY have started a nest under the bench).  Bald Eagle 3.  Red-tailed
Hawk 2 adults, a pair apparently with considerable difference in their
sizes.  American Kestrel 1.  Wild Turkey 3 (2 toms and a hen, in Field 4). 
Fish Crow 35.  House Sparrow 2 (a pair in and out of the bluebird box on
the old phone pole on the E side of Field 1 along the driveway).    

Several of the loons and grebes are starting to look pretty sprucy in near
full breeding plumage.  A pair of Mute Swans copulating in the cove.  Let
me just say this:  in a future reincarnation I'd rather not be a female
Mute Swan.

Also: an adult Red Fox seen twice.  3 Gray Squirrels.  a 3' Water Snake,
big one, swimming in the cove by the dock.  Butterflies:  65 sulphurs, 2
Mourning Cloaks, 10 Cabbage White & 3 Eastern Tailed Blues.  Found a fine
set of shed antlers, each 5 full points, in the hedgerow between Field 3 &
Field 4.  Removed stakes and "caution ribbon" from Field 3 which the
Olszewskis placed there this winter to discourage geese from browsing in
this, the Clover Field.  After 2 weeks, 3 mice were in the house traps: 2
in the kitchen, 1 in the downstairs bedroom.  While putzing around at the
garage entrance I heard an impressive SWOOOOSH, looked up, and an Osprey
was divebombing an adult Bald Eagle just above treetop level directly
overhead.  

SUNDAY, April 2.  Clear.  Calm becoming NW10-15, then calm again.  57-72
degrees F.  Much less hazy than yesterday.  Beautiful sunny day.    

A Talbot Bird Club field trip to Ferry Neck, first to Benoni Point, and
then to the Armistead place, 7:15-10:15 A.M.  Among those present were Les
Coble, Norm Saunders, Linda Schwartz, Shirley Bailey, Danny Poet, Dick
Kleen, Margie Steffens, Wayne Bell, and Jane McConnell, c. 17 people all
told.  Numbers below represent only those I'm aware of.  Several times 2-3
small groups were off by themselves and no doubt saw birds I don't know
about.

55 species, including 16 Northern Gannets (all adults; several seen
plunge-diving).  10 Horned Grebes.  10 Common Loons.  14 Double-crested
Cormorants (in migration; yesterday I didn't see any).   2 Black Scoters (a
pair).  a female Common Goldeneye.  5 black ducks.  16 Red-breasted
Mergansers.  8 Lesser Scaup (a pathetic number for this time of year; 2005
was bad for them also).  1 Sharp-shinned Hawk & 1 Northern Harrier, both
migrating.  2 Bald Eagles.  a covey of 7 NORTHERN BOBWHITE near Hoff's
driveway (have almost disappeared from Ferry Neck, but see below also).  1
Wild Turkey (others saw a group of 30 or so between Royal Oak and Ferry
Neck).  9 Laughing Gulls.  16 Forster's Terns.  1 Tree Swallow.  1 male
Purple Martin.  1 Brown Thrasher (singing vigorously).  12 starlings,
including 2 nests under construction, 1 on a dock, another in a mailbox.  4
Pine Warblers (singers).  6 House Finches (much singing).

Best of all:  BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCHES.  A vigorously calling bird
(unsolicited) at Benoni Point.  Another unsolicited bird calling at Rigby's
Folly at Lucy Point, the first property record in 10 years.  See below for
my summary of this species' status over the years at Rigby's Folly.  The
asterisk * designates that there is a breeding record.         

*Brown-headed Nuthatch.  13 1/1/55.  10 6/30/56.  9 3/31/55.  8 9/11/76. 
After 1976 highest count 5 10/16/79.  Juv. following an ad. 8/10/57.  After
10/7/84 not seen until a wandering individual was seen and heard 1/23/93
and another such 9/15/96.  No longer seems to be regularly present on Ferry
Neck due probably to forest fragmentation and lumbering [Please note that
our own lumbering operation took place about 15 years after this species
apparently disappeared from Ferry Neck].  1 in yard 10/27/74 and 10/5/75,
the only records for there.  1 at Lucy Point 4/2/06 WB et al.

Not many White-throated Sparrows or Yellow-rumped Warblers around.  In
spite of their being here all winter they don't ever seem to begin flooding
through unti later in April.

Many thanks to Jane McConnell for joining us and for letting us bird on her
property.  She believes a few BHNUs have persisted all this time on Ferry
Neck down towards Benoni Point, which is about a mile from Rigby.

Species seen later and not during the Talbot Bird Club field trip (all at
Rigby):  1 ad. Bonaparte's Gull, 1 ad. Red-tailed Hawk, a pair of Wood
Ducks & 1 Downy Woodpecker.  Late in the day it became calm and there were
c. 610 Surf Scoters in the Choptank River mouth visible from our shoreline.

Liz and I saw a covey of 5 NORTHERN BOBWHITE where our driveway enters the
woods between Fields 4 & 5.  In some recent times I have sometimes gone an
entire year without hearing or seeing one quail here.

Also:  1 Red Fox, 6 Gray Squirrels, 3 Deer.  Butterflies:  3 Mourning
Cloaks, 4 Eastern Tailed Blues, 7 or 8 Cabbage Whites, 30 or so sulphurs.  


MISSCELLANEOUS (sic).  What do Sharon Stone, Rock Pigeon, American Crow,
and Green Heron have in common?  All are very generalized so that often one
has to look twice to make sure that is what they are/who she is.  Make sure
(especially when in flight) a pigeon is not a falcon, a Green Heron is not
a night heron or bittern, a crow is not someting else, a pileated or a
raptor.  This is not to disparage Sharon Stone, a great beauty, but her
features are so generalized she seems to lack as distinct a persona as,
say, Julia Roberts, Courteney Cox Arquette, Julianne Moore, Andie McDowell,
or Susan Sarandon.  I can't think of a male lead that has a similar
quasi-cyptic identifiability.  That's the way I see it.    

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 ....)