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Subject:

FRANKLIN'S GULL, Dorchester County & Ferry Neck, Sept. 16-17.

From:

Henry Armistead

Reply-To:

Henry Armistead

Date:

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 11:27:32 -0400

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2006.  11th DORCHESTER COUNTY FALL BIRD COUNT.  

Hurricane Ernesto postscript.  I heard informally from 2 people that winds
gusted to 90 m.p.h. at Bishop's Head.  6 or so big trees blown down by NE
winds along Wildlife Drive at BNWR.  Ernesto's strength here was way
underestimated. 

OTHER PARTIES.  There were, I think, 3 other parties today.  When I receive
all the results I'll post a summary for the entire count effort.  I do have
totals from Levin Willey & Gordon Jennings, who covered the Neck District W
of Cambridge and found:  24 Wild Turkeys, 19 Bald Eagles, 43 Forster's
Terns, 71 Mourning Doves, 2 Barred Owls, 4 unID'd empidonax, 1 White-eyed
Vireo, and 2 Chestnut-sided Warblers.  Diane Cole was to work extreme S
Dorchester & other areas.  Wayne Bell & Paul Spitzer were to cover Taylor's
Island.

Party of Joe Eades, Bob Ringler & myself.  Joe & I were members of the same
Cornell University Ivory-billed Woodpecker search team cohort last winter
in Cotton Plant, Arkansas.  Joe lives in St. Louis.  Our effort:

117 species.  5:30 A.M. - 8 P.M.  129 miles by car, 1 on foot.  Mostly
overcast.  1 period of rain of an hour in the late AM, 2 other much shorter
ones in the PM.  Winds NE 10 - 5 m.p.h. falling through the course of the
day.  Near calm at dusk with katydids calling on the upper EIR.  66-73
degrees F.  Tide sequence high to low.  Tidal water high at BNWR and
impoundments highly vegetated, both a disadvantage for our count today.

Route:  Hooper's Island (HI) in A.M.  Blackwater N.W.R. (BNWR) late A.M. -
early P.M.  Hurlock Wastewater Treatment Plant (H) mid-P.M.  Elliott Island
Road (EIR) the rest of the day.

Tundra Swan 1, BNWR.  Still under review.  Lacks yellow bill patch. 
Considered by some a Trumpeter Swan.  Flies, is wary, unbanded.  Preens
much of the time.  Doesn't look big enough to be a Trumpeter.  Present for
weeks.

28 Blue-winged & 66 Green-winged teal.  41 Northern Shovelers, H.  7 Ruddy
Ducks, H.  3 Pied-billed Grebes (scarce in Dorchester, often miss them). 
15 Brown Pelicans, HI, EIR.  108 Great & 65 Snowy egrets.  45 Tricolored
Herons, 65, a new high, EIR.  1 Green Heron (last species of the day).  41
Bald Eagles.  9 Sharp-shinned Hawks, most, curiously, late in the day
migrating N along the E side of Fishing Bay at EIR.  9 Clapper & 2 Virginia
rails both at HI & EIR.  1 Common Moorhen, EIR.  4 Pectoral & 11 Stilt
Sandpipers at a muddy, grassy, small pond on the W side of Rt. 331 near
Rhodesdale.  3,580 Laughing Gulls, most in the vinity of the Hog Farm.

FRANKLIN'S GULL, 1, first summer (sub-adult) at the Hog Farm on the E side
of Indiantown Rd. S of Brookview.  Spotted by Joe.  With thousands of
Laughing Gulls in view this bird as chance would have it was the closest,
in front of all the others, c. 150' away.  Studied at rest (mostly) and in
flight for 20 minutes.  Conspicuous, but broken white orbital ring.  Bill
and body length noticeably shorter than the Laughing Gulls'.  Head rounder
giving it a more gentle appearance, as with its Great Plains colloquial
name, Prairie Dove.  Seen through various binoculars and scopes we had. 
Wing pattern different from Laughing Gull.  A new county and state bird for
me.

31 Caspian & 65 Forster's terns.  5 screech & 5 horned owls.  35 Chimney
Swifts.  4 kingfishers.  4 hummingbirds.  3 unidentified empidonax.  5
kingbirds (at McCready's Creek, EIR).  1 Red-eyed Vireo, the only vireo.  1
Bank & 45 Barn swallows.  1 martin.  13 Brown-headed Nuthatches.  7 Marsh
Wrens, HI, EIR.  2 gnatcatchers.  only 9 warbler species, none remarkable. 
6 Seaside Sparrows, HI, EIR.  1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak, HI.  6 Blue
Grosbeaks.  3 Indigo Buntings.  3 meadowlarks (in decline).  540 cowbirds. 
3 Common Grackles (often surprisingly hard to get this time of year).  2
Baltimore Orioles.     

Preceded by cloudy, rainy days with NE winds this day, not surprisingly,
had no flight to speak of but was rewarding anyway.  Common birds we
missed, there are always some, included:  Black-bellied Plover, Great
Crested Flycatcher, Ovenbird, Boat-tailed Grackle, Yellow-billed Cuckoo,
Wood Thrush, and White-eyed Vireo.  Not for lack of trying we also missed
any tanager, Barred Owl, and Red-headed Woodpecker, saw no Catharus
thrushes.

MISCELLANEOUS:  1 unidentified accipiter.  1 Mallard X American Black Duck
hybrid.  1 unidentified peep.  A beefy bird I saw very briefly perched on a
lower crossbar of the Clay Island hacking tower from EIR was no doubt a
Peregrine Falcon but at a distance of c. 3 miles my view was inconclusive,
to say the least.     

BUTTERFLIES:  Tiger & Black swallowtail, Broad-winged, Least &
Silver-spotted skippers, Summer Azure, Clouded, Cloudless & Orange
sulphurs, Eastern Tailed Blue, Buckeye, Monarch, Pearlcrescent, Variegated
Fritillary, Checkered White, Red Admiral, Gray Hairstreak & Cabbage White.

MAMMALS:  1 ea. of Gray & Fox (BNWR) squirrel.  1 Red Fox.  2 Sika Elk
(EIR).  1 Muskrat.

HERPS:  4 Mud & 6 Painted Turtles.  4 Red-bellied Sliders.  We saw a Great
Blue Heron that had captured an unidentified 2.5', very skinny, brownish
snake.        

SUNDAY, SEPT. 17, BLACKWATER N.W.R.  A refuge bird walk with 5 of us
including Levin Willey.  6:45 AM - 12:15 PM.  Clear, calm to NW @ 5-10
m.p.h. winds, temps in the 70s.  62 species:

the Tundra (?) Swan again.  70 Green-winged Teal.  1 Green Heron.  15 Bald
Eagles.  1 Sharp-shinned Hawk.  3 kestrels.  3 Greater Yellowlegs (the ONLY
shorebird, !!).  22 Caspian & 30 Forster's terns.  1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo,
perched in clear sight for 10 minutes.  1 hummingbird.  6 woodpecker
species incl. 1 immature Red-headed & 2 Pileateds.  1 Red-eyed Vireo.  3
Brown-headed Nuthatches.  4 waxwings.  1 Northern Parula.  1 Yellow, 1
Black-throated Green & 5 Pine warblers.  1 redstart.  1 yellowthroat.  2
Savannah Sparrows.  1 Blue Grosbeaks.  20 Bobolinks.  

Also: 1 Gray Squirrel.  2 Eastern Cottontails.  Several Red-bellied Sliders
and Painted Turtles.  Levin found a roadkill Rough Green Snake on Key
Wallace Drive. 

BUTTERFLIES:  1 Common Wood Nymph.  1 Viceroy.  6 Monarchs.  3 Black & 1
Tiger swallowtail.  20 Cloudless Sulphurs.  4 Orange Sulphurs.  200+
Buckeyes, most of them sitting on the pavement of Wildlife Drive.        

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

Sat., Sept. 16.  Liz saw 5 Snowy & 2 Great egrets here today.

Sun., Sept. 17.  45 species.  Most of the migrants were identified by Liz
in the morning & I was able to relocate many in the afternoon after
returning from BNWR.  Spent quite a bit of time removing a large Black
Locust limb that had fallen on the roof over the master bedroom.  This
involved climbing to the top of an extension ladder, throwing string with
caribiners on the end over the mid-part of the branch, pulling a rope
attached to the string over the branch, tieing a slip knot in it, and
pulling the rope with the car, then chainsawing the limb and carting off
the sections.  Something of a pain in the neck. 

1 Bald Eagle.  3 Royal Terns.  1 hummingbird.  2 wood pewees.  1 phoebe.  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  2 gnatcatchers.  1 Swainson's Thrush.  WARBLERS:  1
Yellow, 1 Chestnut-sided, 2 Magnolia, and 1 Black-and-white plus 1 Northern
Parula, 3 redstarts & a yellowthroat.  2 Baltimore Orioles.

ALSO:  1 Red Admiral.    

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 ....)