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Subject:

Blackwater area, Ferry Neck, October 28-29

From:

Henry Armistead

Reply-To:

Henry Armistead

Date:

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 11:24:28 -0500

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

Saturday, October 28, 2006.  GREEN HERON, seen several times by Liz, latest
ever for here by 2 weeks.  Liz also sees a Box Turtle.  A Pearlcrescent and
2 Monarchs.  1 Winter Wren.  1 Rusty Blackbird.  

Sunday, October 29.  53 species.  Many of these birds are seen by the 15
members of a Talbot Bird Club field trip here, including leader Les Coble,
Jan Reese, Les Roslund, Kathy Carroll, Danny Poet, Jean Crump et al.

WEATHER.  Definitely.  Fair becoming clear, winds W 35+ subsiding to 5,
then switching to the NW after sunset, temps 47-65. 

RAPTORS.  TOTAL 116.  An excellent flight, by local standrads, especially
of accipiters, vultures, and Bald Eagle.  Almost all of the accipiters, and
many others, are flying west, right INTO the gale force winds.  As usual
the vultures dipsydoodle around, as only vultures can dipsydoodle, and to a
lesser extent the Red-tails and eagles do also, making exact counts
impossible.  A big female Cooper's Hawk shoots right through the yard, a
foot off the ground.  Not a good place to be a White-throated Sparrow
today.  Only two hours are NOT spent hawking, instead eating, doing the
storm windows, etc.  Sharp-shinned Hawk 44 (2nd highest), Cooper's Hawk 5
(ties 3rd highest), Bald Eagle 7 (ties 4th highest), Merlin 1 (34th
property record), American Kestrel 3, Osprey 1, Red-tailed Hawk 5, Northern
Harrier 3,  Turkey Vulture 40, Black Vulture 7.

OTHER BIRDS:  14 Tundra Swans, arriving out of the north and pitching in
with other waterfowl, after warily circling several times, in front of
Tranquility, uttering their incomparably beautiful calls.  Welcome back
from the Arctic.  68 Mute Swans (Sky Carp; from the sublime to the
terminally pedestrian).  12 Surf Scoters.  20 Ruddy Ducks buzzing by, wings
awhirr.  9 Common Loons (a small mid-afternoon flight, high, and unerring).
 3 Royal Terns.  2 phoebes.  7 Tree Swallows.  30 Ruby-crowned and 3
Golden-crowned Kinglets, fidgeting and hover-gleaning, sometimes flashing
their colorful crowns.  7 Field and 1 Fox sparrow, resplendant in their
immaculate browns, pinks, and rufous feathers.  5 meadowlarks.  3 Rusty
Blackbirds.        

MAMMALS:  1 bat, 1 Eastern Cottontail, 3 deer, and 5 Gray Squirrels, the
latter including a charming yearling near the back porch, a yard 'poo, that
drops from a branch to the ground, then assumes briefly the Weltenschauung
posture before scampering off on missions best known to itself.

EROSION.  The very high tide and gale force winds this weekend caused
considerable erosion to the west-facing banks of our shoreline.

BUTTERFLIES:  2 Monarchs, 4 Buckeyes, 1 Orange Sulphur,1 Clouded Sulphur.

END OF THE DAY EVENTS.  Daughter, Mary, and son-in-law, Mike, arrive late
in the afternoon for a meal of fresh, jumbo lump crab meat packed at
Hoopersville, purchased in Cambridge at Kool Ice on Washington Street,
where I also get 2 Striped Bass fileted.  We watch a perfect sunset from
Lucy Point, the sky so cloudless and clear that even a few minutes after
the sun disappears the brightness on the western horizon, looked at
directly, hurts the eyes.  At last light the quarter moon shows up
brilliantly at 32X, the outlines of the craters and their shadows seen on
the moon's illuminated visual left side (i.e., its center).  At one point a
huge jet, lights flashing, crosses near the moon as does a hunting bat, all
seen simultaneously in one field of my 10X binoculars.  Mike, an executive
chef, is featured in Nov. 2006 "Philadelphia" (p. 122, photo, writeup) and
Nov. 2006 "Philadelphia style" (cover photo & p. 156, 158, photo, brief
writeups).   


DORCHESTER COUNTY, Sat., Oct. 28:

BLACKWATER N.W.R.  7:30-11 A.M.  Only Levin Willey & I show up for the bird
walk due to the gale force winds and heavy rain.  But the rain ends, the
wind subsides, and it gradually clears & there are lots of birds.  We
encounter M/M Stan Arnold.:

2 Gadwall.  1,575 Northern Pintails (in all the impoundments).  450
Green-winged Teal.  12 Bald Eagles.  1 coot.  5 Black-bellied Plovers.  1
American Avocet on a mud flat in the Blackwater River opposite Pool 3A.  35
Dunlin.  40 Forster's Terns.  3 phoebes.  50 Tree Swallows.  2 Brown-headed
Nuthatches.  1 catbird.  40 waxwings.  1 Pine Warbler.  4 Field Sparrows. 
3 immature White-crowned Sparrows at the Visitor Center feeders.     

Mammals:  1 Fox Squirrel, 2 Eastern Cottontails, 1 Sika Elk.   

GUM SWAMP.  A large, fat Water Snake sunning on the road, then slithers off
into the marsh.  Medium-sized Snapping Turtle roadkill.  Requiescat in
pavement.

SWAN HARBOR ROAD, just N of Hooper's Island, Dorchester County.  Levin and
I do a hawk watch here from 11:30-1.  RAPTORS:  Most birds are heading S
but enough are not (esp. vultures and eagles) so that these numbers are
mostly estimates.  TOTAL 70:  Sharp-shinned Hawk 30.  Cooper's Hawk 2. 
Northern Harrier 4.  Red-tailed Hawk 3.  Peregrine Falcon 1 adult.  Bald
Eagle 11.  Turkey Vulture 16.  Black Vulture 3.  Also: 30 Chipping
Sparrows, 1 Buckeye, and 3 Monarchs. 
     

Headin' home.  89.5 FM, great religious choral and organ music during 'With
Heart and Voice' from 8-9 P.M.  Prior to that: Violin Concerto 3 by Max
Bruch (1838-1920).  Never heard it or heard of him before but that is one
gonzo violin concerto.  A knockout.  Unfortunately we had to stop for gas
at Osprey (Routes 50 X 213) in the middle of the 2nd movement.  Now that
we're on Daylight Wasting Time the early afternoon darkness is somewhat
depressing.


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 ....)