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Subject:

lower Eastern Shore June 29-July 6

From:

Henry Armistead

Reply-To:

Henry Armistead

Date:

Fri, 7 Jul 2006 07:39:02 -0400

LOWER EASTERN SHORE OF MARYLAND, June 29 - July 6, 2006.

1.  My previous posting mistakenly said that John & Lynne Cheney were
eating downstairs below us at Mason's in Easton.  A symptom of my parochial
lifestyle ... John is the Temple U. basketball coach.  Rest assured it was
Dick (known in some circles as "5 Deferments Dick") & Lynne Cheney.  Cheney
and Rumsfeld both have places a few miles from Rigby.  With the drastic
decline of Northern Bobwhite locally it's a little late for any good quail
shooting.  And just to show I can be bi-partisan, I have had no sightings
this year of Lewinsky's Flycatcher.  l'envoi!  

2.  RIGBY'S FOLLY, Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD,
25124 West Ferry Neck Road near Royal Oak but nearer still to Bellevue. 
June 29 - July 6: 

Thursday, June 29.  6:30-8:30 P.M. only.  Good to be back after an
agonizing absence of 2 days.  3 Snowy Egrets.  Lately we're lucky to just
see one.  Probably breeder's from the Poplar Island colony.  64 Fish Crows,
an exact count, another seemingly unusual summer concentration.  Also, a
kettle of 65 Herring Gulls (not an exact count), unusual to see more than 1
to 3 here in a day in recent summers.  They're probably from Poplar Island,
too.  

Friday, June 30.  9 Ospreys soar in a loose group simultaneously over Field
4.  An ad. male Red-bellied Woodpecker and a stubby-tailed juvenile, the
latter lacking any red on its head, in a Black Locust in the front yard. 
The Ospreys nesting on the pole in front of Mike Davidson's house tear
chuncks of fish off for their one nestling, present these by turning their
heads sideways.  They're still doing this on July 7.  A 4-turtle day: 1
Mud, a female Box (lot of orange) at the bend of the driveway, a tiny young
Painted (smaller than a silver dollar) in the low area of Woods 4, and a
female Diamondback Terrapin, just sittin' 'n' thinkin' in the front yard 9
feet from the porch.  Later on she just shambles away.  Butterflies: an
American Lady, Red-spotted Purple, and Silver-spotted Skipper.  Green Tree
Frogs call from several areas most warm calm evenings, now, something
that's developed just in the past few years.  I can sometimes hear them
when I'm sitting in the living room or lying in bed.  They're redolent of
more southern settings, make me feel as if I'm on the Elliott Island Road. 
Brother Gordon leaves to see his publisher/editor in Newark, Delaware,
before returning to Davis, California.     

Saturday, July 1.  Happy Fi$cal New Year.  A WILLET  rapidly flying SSE and
high at 10:07 A.M., only the 4th property record.  I've seen thrashers
along the driveway next to Field 4 often enough now so that I suspect
they're nesting.  Usually they're absent from Rigby in summer.  2 Painted
Turtles.  A 4' Black Rat Snake.  4 Tiger Swallowtails.  About one week ago
the Barn Swallow pair nesting under the dock finally started to use the
ropes I tied for them between the dock pilings so they don't have to sit on
the flat, hot copper piling caps anymore.  Finally it's dried off enough so
the 40' X 80' wedding tent is removed.    

Sunday, July 2.  I felt sick, slept a lot, and didn't do much today.  The
first presumed fall migrants, or at least post-breeding wanderers from
somewhere else: 1 each of Tree and Bank swallows.  Anne sees 2 small fawns
in the yard.  2 waxwings.  1 Great Egret.  2 baby cottontails.  A Woodchuck
flushes from the brush bordering Field 4 along the driveway.  Don't see the
"field fatty" as much as we used to.  A 5" skink on the front porch.  5
Gray Squirrels.  1 Killdeer.  1 or 2 Yellow-billed Cuckoos are heard every
day, very likely have a nest near the yard.  Sultry and humid today, 70-92
degrees F.  Thunder & lightning and a little rain at dusk.

Monday, July 3.  5 Barn Swallows fledge from the nest under the dock.  3
male Indigo Buntings sing along the edges of our corn fields.  Occasionally
when I exit at pre-dawn hours I'll catch one in the headlights, when they
look an almost neon blue-green.  Dazzling.  2 Cedar Waxwings.  A pair of
Blue Grosbeaks, which favor the small Persimmon grove at the bend of the
driveway where I've found nests in previous years.  Liz sees a mockingbird
carrying food; they favor the young Hawthorns along the driveway.  Mike,
Mary, Anne, Liz and I all see a 5" Five-lined Skink on the front porch at
various times, smart-looking with its arresting, bright blue tail.  I chain
saw down 140 young Loblolly Pines along the Olszewski trails.  Takes 2.5
hours.  These were bent, permanently, by heavy, wet snow last winter. 
Clearing them out will not only make the trails look better but will admit
more sunlight for grass on the trails and also give various oaks, Black
Gums, and other more desirable trees and better shot at maturing nicely. 
The trails now have much standing water and scores of dragonflies patrol
the length of them. 

Tuesday, the 4th of July.  A small fawn and a doe at the bend of the
driveway.  The growth of SAV in our cove is rank and excellent this year,
especially Ruppia, in spite of the continuous presence of Mute Swans.  The
white boots I left upturned for some time on 2 dock posts have spiders and
Mud Dauber nests inside of them.

Wednesday, July 5.  90 Canada Geese quietly feeding on SAV around the dock
at 5:31 A.M.  When I approach they just swim slowly away.  Not one utters a
single sound.  Strange.  Where do they come from?  This is more than I have
seen since late winter.  2 Least Terns hunting at the head of the cove at 5
P.M., the first I've seen here all year, probably breeding birds from the
roofs of either the Easton Giant store or the Best Value Inn in Cambridge. 
A Snapping Turtle D.O.R. at the junction of Deep Neck & Bellevue roads. 
R.I.P.  (Requiescat in pavement).  

Thursday, July 6.  A splendid Red Fox early in the day at the bend of the
driveway.  Later when Bennie Smith from Shaw's comes to do some plumbing
work we see what is probably the same fox, this time with a nearly
full-grown Eastern Cottontail in its jaws.  I remove a Spotted Turtle from
the road.  

DORCHESTER COUNTY, MARYLAND:

3.  Tuesday, July 4:  

House Sparrows active at the Cambridge Wawa at 3:53 A.M.

Taylor's Island CE atlas block.  4:30 A.M. - 12:30 P.M.  76 species (37 by
6:10, 51 by 6:30, 67 by 8:30).  This actually comprises the S part of
Taylor's I. per se including most of Robinson Neck and all of Punch Island
roads plus a segment of Smithville Road on the "mainland."  Much of it
consists of Taylor's I. Wildlife Management Area, most of which is
inaccessible except by boat or extensive foot travel.  

The Nature Conservancy also has an attractive, substantial holding here off
the east side of Robinson Neck Road.  Late in the morning I walked about 3
miles through that.  Much of the TNC holding consists of mature, open,
park-like woods, mostly Loblolly Pines, but also with some fine, big oaks,
Sweet Gum, and Black Gum.  This is low, very wet woods interspersed with
big tracts of brackish, sometimes quite fresh, marshlands, as well as very
shallow, lake-like open bodies of water, some extensive.  

Birdlife here at the TNC reserve is quite sparse save for titmice,
chickadees, and Brown-headed Nuthatches plus numerous House Wrens, crested
flycatchers, and yellowthroats.  I was surprised to find no vireos,
Pileated, Hairy or Red-headed Woodpeckers, warblers other than Pine and
yellowthroat, no Acadian Flycatcher, etc.  The marshes do not seem to
harbor Seaside Sparrows or Marsh Wrens either.  But ... it is beautiful and
unique.

There is a poorly maintained trail with, suposedly, 12 markers along the
way, some of which seem to have disappeared.  There's a registration book
and pamphlets sequestered in a kiosk-type structure with what may be an old
Carolina Wren nest right next to these.  I noted that Jim Stasz, Jim
Brighton, and their party of 5 had been here on May 5, but very few others
were signed in.  

Atlas block totals:  2 Brown Pelicans, 40 cormorants, 21 great blues, 7
Bald Eagles, 1 Osprey (almost missed; at 9:17 A.M. it was my 70th
species!!), 1 Wild Turkey, 6 bobwhite (not bad by recent standards), 3
Virginia Rails, 2 Willets, 1 Royal & 2 Least terns, 1 screech & 1 horned
owl, 4 Chuck-will's-widows, 1 Red-headed Woodpecker, 7 flickers, only 1
White-eyed & 2 Red-eyed vireos, 1 rough-winged swallow (early migrant, no
doubt), 9 Brown-headed Nutacthes, 2 gnatcatchers, 3 thrashers, 2 waxwings,
14 Pine Warblers, 1 Worm-eating Warbler (great view), 3 chats, 1 Summer
Tanager & 6 Field Sparrows. 

Egregious misses:  Chimney Swift, Marsh Wren, Wood Thrush, catbird, Prairie
Warbler, Moll Flanders, Xaviera Hollander, Heidi Fleiss (they're misses,
too).

Confirmed breeders:  Mallard, Purple Martin, Tree & Barn swallows, Carolina
Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, mockingbird, starling, Pine Warbler, House
Sparrow.

Also: 1 Fox & 3 Gray squirrels.  A few Green Tree and Bull frogs calling. 
Cicadas started to chime in a few days ago.  7 Common Wood Nymphs in the
TNC property. 

Along Robinson Neck Rd., 200 yards from the nearest open water, was a
female Surf Scoter, flightless, sitting on the road, not near any houses,
but you should have seen her scramble along the pavement, as I had to get
past her somehow to get off the island.

Afterwards a quick drive through at Blackwater N.W.R.  There is a beautiful
King Rail at 1:02 P.M. right out in the open bathing itself in the fetid
water.  When I stop it runs quickly into the grasses and disappears.  I
don't think I've seen more than 6 King Rails in my life in the county.  

I find that spishing is very successful while atlassing, perhaps because
almost all the birds are on territory. 

4.  Wednesday, July 5:  

Blackwater N.W.R.  7 - 7:30 A.M.  A quick drive through found 9 Bald
Eagles, 2 Greater Yellowlegs, 1 Red-headed Woodpecker, 1 Red-bellied
Slider, 7 rabbits, and a Woodchuck.  Last night's rain must have been a lot
more substantial here than at Rigby because the Blackwater impoundments
were much more full than yesterday.

Taylor's Island SE atlas block (actually consists of big mainland area NW
of Hooper Island per se including all of Meekins Neck and some of Swan
Harbor roads).  Big Juncus roemerianus marsh, pure pine woodlands, some
mixed deciduous-Loblolly Pine forest, yards, some open bay and sand bars,
and a few fields, some fallow.  8 A.M. - noon only.  63 species.  Quite
windy.  

Atlas block totals:  2 Brown Pelicans.  22 great blues.  Great Egrets.  9
Bald Eagles.  8 Ospreys.  only 2 bobwhite.  8 Clapper Rails (very vocal;
unsolicited).  1 oystercatcher.  3 Killdeer (2 ad. with a small,
walnut-with-legs, fuzzy youngster).  2 Willets.  11 Forster's, 1 Royal & 5
Common terns.  only vireo was 1 Red-eyed.  8 Brown-headed Nuthatches (4
locations).  22 starlings (last species of the day!!).  10 Pine Warblers. 
5 Seaside Sparrows.  1 meadowlark.  1 male Boat-tailed Grackle.  

Breeding was confirmed for Osprey, Killdeer, Tree & Barn swallows, bluebird
& House Sparrow. 

Also seen:  6 rabbits, 12 Common Wood Nymphs & 1 Black Rat Snake.   

Have a great breeding season, as it were.  

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 ....)