LOWER EASTERN SHORE OF MARYLAND, June 16 - 28, 2006.

Abbreviation:  I.S.S. = in sight simultaneously.

If you're only interested in the WEDDING go directly to JUNE 25 below.


RIGBY'S FOLLY, Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, 25124
West Ferry Neck Road near Royal Oak but nearer still to Bellevue:

Friday, June 16.  2 small Mute Swan cygnets hatched from the 3 eggs in the
nest at the head of the cove.  A very small clutch.  The State did not see
this nest in its aerial survey and so did not oil the eggs.  2 Cow-nosed
Rays off the dock, the first I've seen this year.

Saturday, June 17.  Flushed a fine Luna Moth while doing brush work on the
Warbler Trail.  Such long wings I thought at first it was a Swallow-tailed
Kite.  2 Cow-nosed Rays.

Sunday, June 18.  1 Wild Turkey.  During 6 pre-dawn tries for
Chuck-will's-widows on Ferry Neck, Patricia Valdata and I heard none. 
Worrisome.  1 young Raccoon.  4 rabbits.  2 Gray Squirrels.

Monday, June 19.  A cardinal nest in a wax myrtle bush 6' up with 1 egg
along the Warbler Trail.  5 rabbits.  1 hummingbird.  A splendid ad. Bald
Eagle flying below treetop level along the Field 2 hedgerow.  4.5' Black
Rat Snake.  A Wild Turkey hen with 3 small chicks right on the edge of the
lawn.  61 Fish Crows I.S.S.  In other years there have been high summer
counts when one would think they'd be all paired off and separated out. 
Thunder and lightning and several hours of rain from dusk 'til midnight,
perhaps 1" total.  
Tuesday, June 20.  The 2 young Black Vultures in the Field 1 goose blind
now the size of chickens.  They do not so much hop as leap or saltate
around the blind floor.  See juvenile Raccoon again, 5 deer.  Orchard
Oriole carrying food in the yard.  A Green Tree Frog calling on the S side
of Field 6.  1 Red-spotted Purple, 2 Tiger Swallowtails, 2 Pearlcrescents. 
Great Crested Flycatchers are nesting in the bluebird house on the S side
of Field 4 right next to the driveway.

Wednesday, June 21.  41 Diamondback Terrapin I.S.S. from Lucy Point at 6
P.M.  Juvenile Great Horned Owl calling c. 6 P.M. from below the top of the
bank; peering over I flush an adult that is carrying a snake.  8 rabbits
I.S.S. in the yard.  While leaving to atlas at Taylor's Island I see an
opossum, a Raccoon, and 1 deer along the driveway 3:11-3:18 A.M.  1 Brown
Thrasher.

Thursday, June 22.  An almost dead fawn along the W Olszewski trail. 
Stubby-tailed young crested flycatcher next to the aforementioned bluebird
house.  1 Red Admiral, many Little Wood Satyrs.  At dusk Anne's car expires
along Route 329 (alternator).  While waiting for the AAA truck we hear a
Chuck-will's-widow and Frances Weems has heard one on Ferry Neck also. 
Green Tree Frog chorus from the direction of the Saffs' pond.

Friday, June 23.  12 deer incl. a small fawn and a 4-point buck in velvet. 
Crested Flycatcher carrying food.  

Saturday, June 24.  1 Snowy & 1 Great Egret.  Rehearsal dinner compliments
of the Solomonv family at Mason's Restaurant in Easton near the Tidewater
Inn.  John & Lynne Cheney are eating downstairs.  During the course of the
evening I have a whiskey, a martini, 3 glasses of red wine, brandy, and
champagne.  Just enough.  

Sunday, June 25.  WEDDING DAY.  Daughter Mary marries Michael Solomonov
here.  6" of heavy rain from midnight until 8 A.M.  WATER, MUD & LUMBER. 
One third of the driveway is submerged and ALL of the area under the tent. 
The dance floor floats.  140 guests due to arrive at 3.  The Field 2
parking areas are a quagmire.  Rami Amar, Michael, Carl & Rachel Perry (the
latter 2 barefoot in the mud) and my immediate family dig an 80 yard trench
to drain it off somewhat plus 21 more yards of "distributaries".  Nancy
Lytell brings 2 sump pumps which we install to begin pumping the water off
into the thickets using 350' of extension cords, 100' or more of hoses.

We lay down 32 plywood sections, 5 old wooden doors, 23 wood boards, and
the Lytells' fiberglass diving board to make pathways between the 18
tables, over to the bar area, and as a platform for the 6-person band. 

Carl Perry's take on this, a few days later: "It was certainly a study in
creativity, will power, and the importance of friends."  

Later one of the caterer's trucks goes DEEP into a ditch on Rt. 329 (for
some reason, the ditch off the oncoming lane).  The caterers arrive late,
do not bring the cornbread, run out of water and mint juleps (both promoted
as being limitless), and fail to set up the chairs.  But the band is great.
 So is the hors d'oeuvres crew.  John Swaine is on hand with a tractor in
case any of the 54 vehicles gets stuck (miraculously, NONE do). 

But the afternoon is rainless, mostly sunny, and with a fine breeze.  The
wedding ceremony takes place between the house and the dock; the toasts,
dancing, and eating under the tent - all as planned.  Brother, Gordon, is
the officiant.  The wedding party and family photographs are done on the
dock or the adjacent lawn, the photographer being one of George's best
friends, Mike Regan.  The last diehards remain past midnight.  It is a
triumph.  Lots of shouting, whistling, laughter, hugging, kissing,
conversation, a few tears, and good times.  76-81 degrees F.  Never going
to forget this day.  Never.

WEDDING DAY BIRD LIST:  Bald Eagle, mockingbird, Osprey, Black & Turkey
vultures, Blue Grosbeak, Common Grackle, Mute Swan, Red-bellied Woodpecker,
Canada Goose, Orchard Oriole, starling, Great Blue & Green herons, Mourning
Dove, kingbird, crested flycatcher, Fish & American crows, Blue Jay,
Carolina Wren, robin and bluebird.  3 deer.     

Monday, June 26.  Ben Weems comes to help us police up the area.  A
Yellow-billed Cuckoo calls in the yard, living up to its moniker "rain
crow".  A Green Tree Frog at the conjunction of Fields 3 & 4 on the E side.
 At one point the human population of Rigby has gone from a maximum of 150+
yesterday to just Liz and me today.        

Tuesday, June 27.  Winds becoming SE 25-35 m.p.h.  Essentially a tropical
storm, the Choptank a seething mass of white caps much of the time.  I do a
"sea watch" for 2.5 hrs. thinking something might get blown in but only see
3 Royal, 11 Forster's & 3 Common terns, 4 Laughing and 3 Herring Gulls. 
Cormorants and Ospreys are still active even in the strongest winds.  In
the midst of the chop are 4 Diamondback Terrapin, necks fully extended.  1
Bald Eagle.  3 Snowy Egrets.  150 or so Mallards over on Mike Davidson's
lawn I assume are pen-raised birds recently released.  4 deer incl. a large
but still spotted fawn.  1 Red Fox.  

Wednesday, June 28.  Liz stays on later than me, sees an imm. Bald Eagle,
hears a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and the Orchard Orioles, which are back, not
having nested in the yard for several years.


BLOODSWORTH ISLAND & ITS SATELLITE ISLANDS.  Dorchester County, Maryland. 
Sunday, JUNE 18.  Patricia Valdata & myself.  Pat has arresting,
knee-length Wellies, the color of dilute Lancer's rose or white zinfandel. 
She thinks they're a hoot, and so do I.  Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, go to the
islands.  A 26.5 statute mile boat trip leaving from Crocheron.  Fair if
often hazy.  Winds SW 10-20.  c. 72 - 82 degrees F.  Tide high at the
start, then falling most of the day.  Water temps in the low 70s.  8 A.M. -
4:45 P.M.

Decide to get the somewhat rough aspect of the trip over with right off by
ploughing SW into the wind 11 miles or so, then we have the wind behind us
most of the rest of the day, a strategy that works pretty well.

1.  Spring I.  8:45 A.M.  Just motor slowly by.  A large juvenile Peregrine
Falcon is begging food from the adult female on the hacking tower.  2
Seaside Sparrows, 1 Little Blue Heron, 1 Great Egret.  Spring I. does not
have much birdlife anymore.

2.  Holland I., S segment, S side.  9 - 9:30 A.M.  Watch the bustle and
activity at the heronries by anchoring and without making a landing.  1
yellowthroat.  8 Boat-tailed Grackles.  14 Mute Swans.  5 oystercatchers. 
4 Willets.  2 Barn Swallows.  9 Fish Crows.  See all of Maryland's herons &
ibises except Green Heron.

3.  Holland I., S segment, W side.  9:45 - 10:30.  My first landing here
this year.  What really attracts our attention here are 165 Brown Pelicans
sitting in the extensive and dense Baccharis halimifolia thicket but we
find only 4 nests, these all empty - still under construction.  Still this
large presence augurs well for this becoming a major pelican colony later
in the summer.   Find 19 Herring (80 adults present)/Great Black-backed (15
adults present) gull nests configured as follows:  0 eggs 1; 1 egg 5; 2
eggs 5;  3 eggs 1; 1 young 1; 1 egg & 1 young 2; 3 young 1; 1 young & 2
eggs 3.  We do not penetrate the thicket out of respect for the birds but
approximately 5 Glossy Ibis, 9 Cattle & 20 Snowy egrets, 3 Little Blue, 10
Yellow-crowned Night, 2 Tricolored & 1 Green heron flush out of it.  1 Bald
Eagle.  6 Fish Crows plus 1 stubby-tailed juvenile that has recently died. 
Also present:  2 oystercatchers, 3 Royal Terns, 2 willets, 2 Ospreys and 10
cormorants (but apparently no nests).  The joint is jumpin'.

4.  Adam I. S segment.  10:40 - 11:35.  13 species.  Twice we traipse
slowly through the area where Jared Sparks and I flushed a Wilson's Snipe
on June 11 (I mistakenly referred to this as Common Snipe in a previous
posting) but w/o seeing it.  I STILL think this bird behaved like a
breeding bird on June11 and will fill out the appropriate atlas forms for
Walter Ellison and Lynn Davidson to do with as they wish.  The area where
the snipe was seen is almost pure Distichlis spicata, forming a dense and
continuous cover, but with a nice, muddy substrate.  I'll try to go here
again on Sunday, July 2, weather permitting.  4 Ospreys.  6 Seaside
Sparrows.  4 Marsh Wrens.  5 Fish Crows, 1 carrying food.  7 Boat-tailed
Grackles.  There is extensive Juncus roemerianus marsh in this segment, no
doubt with Clapper Rails although I've yet to hear any there this year.    
         
5.  Adam I. N segment.  11:50 - 12:25.  17 species.  335 Mute Swans visible
to the E on sandbars along with 90 pelicans, 115 Herring & 45 Great
Black-backed gulls.  1 Royal Tern.  We landed primarily to relocate the
dead Loggerhead Turtle Jared & I had found on June 11 so Pat can take
digital photographs to transmit to Trish Kimmel at the Oxford Lab.  4
Ospreys.  10 Boat-tailed Grackles (1 carrying food).  7 Yellow-crowned
Night Herons.  1 Song & 3 Seaside (1 carrying food) sparrows.  2
oystercatchers.  5 Diamondback Terrapin incl. 1 travelling over the
duneline to lay eggs.  An ad. Bald Eagle seen flying just to the N over
Pone I.

6.  NW Bloodsworth I.  1:25 - 2 P.M.  Kits Point.  13 species.  6 Seaside
Sparrows.  2 Clapper Rails.  3 Osprey nests.  1 Tricolored Heron.  3 Marsh
Wrens.  Countless numbers of Seaside Dragonlets.  At one point hundreds
land in the stern on the ropes, the Bimini top, our trousers, on the
cooler, etc.  Hundreds of Greenhead Flies rest on the underside of the
Bimini top, for the most part leaving us alone. 

7.  NE Bloodsworth I. (Fin Creek, which penetrats S into the heart of the
island for over 1.2 miles).  23 species.  2:10 - 3:40.  1 Saltmarsh
Sharp-tailed (in the grassy marsh at the creek's mouth) & 20 Seaside
sparrows.  1 Green, 3 Tricolored & 5 Little Blue herons.  1 Northern
Harrier.  10 Ospreys.  4 Clapper Rails.  6 Willets.  10 Marsh Wrens.   1
catbird.  1 yellowthroat.  3 Glossy Ibis.  12 Boat-tailed Grackles.  5
Red-winged Blackbirds.  10 Snowy Egrets.     
   

TAYLOR'S ISLAND NE ATLAS BLOCK.  JUNE 21.  A gem of an area.  Up at 2:50
A.M. to get there early.  4:30 A.M. - 12:30 P.M.  85 species (52 by 6 A.M.,
71 by 7:15, 80 by 9:15.  All public roads covered including Rt. 16,
Robinson Neck, Hoopers Neck, Pine Top, Bay Shore & Smithville roads. 
Habitats: saltmarsh (tracts of both Spartina patens and Juncus
roemerianus), mixed woodland, Loblolly Pine forest, open bay, many fallow
fields (some full of milkweed), cultivated fields, wooded church yards,
yard and residential-town areas, tidal guts. 

1 Brown Pelican.  4 Snowy & 5 Great egrets.  61 Canada Geese.  258 Mallards
(most common species).  12 Ospreys.  4 Bald Eagles.  3 Wild Turleys.  4
bobwhite.  2 Clapper & 2 Virginia rails.  2 Willets.  1 woodcock.  45
Forster's & 1 Common tern.  1 nighthawk (calling and booming, too).  1
screech & 1 horned owl.  3 Chuck-will's-widows.  2 Red-headed Woodpeckers. 
4 White-eyed & 4 Red-eyed vireos.  11 Tree Swallows incl. a female D.O.R.
(lacking brood patch).  5 Brown-headed Nuthatches.  1 Marsh Wren.  1
gnatcatcher.  3 thrashers.  5 waxwings.  14 Pine, 3 Prairie & 1 Worm-eating
warbler.  9 yellowthroats.  7 chats.  2 Summer Tanagers.  4 Field & 3
Seaside sparrows.  6 Blue Grosbeaks.  7 Indigo Buntings.  6 House Finches. 

Tide: very low to high.  Clear, calm becoming NE 5-20 m.p.h.  72 - 90
degrees F.   

Missed are:  Killdeer, Hairy & Pileated woodpeckers, Wood Thrush, catbird,
Grasshopper & Song sparrows, Boat-tailed Grackle.  

Also:  6 Green Tree, 5 Bull & 1 Green frog.  1 Mud Turtle & 3 Diamondback
Terrapin, 1 of the latter removed from Rt. 16 where it was basking.  3
rabbits & 1 Gray Squirrel.  2 Tiger Swallowtails & 1 Red-spotted Purple.   
   


Best to all.-Henry ("Harry") T. 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 ....)