FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2006:

550 Canada Geese, 30 Mallards, and 510 Ring-billed Gulls in the area of the
pond east of Rt. 481 and just south of Hope.

215 Tundra Swans in a big field west of Rt. 481 near its intersection with
Crouse Mill Road.

RIGBY'S FOLLY, Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, 25124
West Ferry Neck Road near Royal Oak but nearer still to Bellevue. 
3:30-5:30 P.M. only.  Overcast, 69-66 degrees F., winds south 20-30:

1 Brown Thrasher.  1 Sharp-shinned Hawk.  6 deer (does). 4 bats hawking
insects - plenty of them available - right around me at dusk on the north
(lee) side of the driveway hedgerows.


SATURDAY, DEC. 2.  At Rigby all day.  Worked until 3:30 P.M.  NO mammals. 
It has dried out considerably since last weekend.  Good.  But it's still
very mucky.

2 adult and 2 immature Bald Eagles.  1 Black Vulture.  1 adult male
Cooper's Hawk.  1,630 Canada Geese in the cove.  14 Mourning Doves.  8
bluebirds.  1 Brown Thrasher.  12 Buffleheads in the cove.  1 Hairy
Woodpecker.  1 Great Blue Heron.    

the WORK:  Top off 'the Mudhen'.  Split a few logs but I buy a new 12 lb.
sledge hammer (I'm used to an 8 pounder) by mistake.  Put away the plywood,
old doors, and various boards used as "causeways" under the tent for Mary's
June 25 wedding after the 6" rain that morning.  In the midst of this
lumber are 4 BLACK WIDOWS and scores of roaches.  The wood needs to be
dusted off, the mud removed, etc.  Replace a sign that had been knocked off
by farm machinery.  Clip overhanging vegetation along driveway.  Straighten
up one half of the inside of the garage.  Consolidate various metal poles,
12 of them heavy duty ones scrounged (with permission) from a neighbor's
back lot on Thursday in Philadelphia.  May be good mounts for bluebird
houses next spring.


SUNDAY, DEC. 3.  Dorchester County, MD.

CAMBRIDGE WAWA, 6 A.M.  5 House Sparrows already foraging with any light
from the East obscured by clouds. The early bird gets the ... discarded,
half-eaten soft pretzel stuffed with jalapeno cheese.  De gustibus non est
disputandum.

BLACKWATER N.W.R.  Just Levin Willey and me on the official bird walk.  My
groupies have forsaken me.  In a very few protected areas there is a little
bit of skim ice.  Beautiful sunrise with red shafts of light emanating
upwards ... take some color photographs.  6:15-10 A.M.: 

13 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS.  They sometimes split up and hang with Tundra
Swans.  For this reason I think a recent report of 21 is incorrect, may
include some swans.  On my first pass along Wildlife Drive they are in 4
"groups" of 4, 4, 4 and 1 respectively.  Later in the morning they are all
clumped together in one flock.  They disappeared for a couple of weeks.  I
wonder where they go?

Cattle Egret 1.  Last week's bird, already very late, is getting
chronically so.

Also:  1 American Bittern (seen by Levin).  3 Black-crowned Night Herons
(also by Levin).  only 25 Snow Geese.  1 Pied-billed Grebe.  1 Forster's
Tern.  1 screech-owl.  1 horned owl.  3 kingfishers.  1 Hermit Thrush.  100
pintails.  12 Green-winged Teal.  15 shovelers.  3 Ring-necked Ducks (Pool
1).  6 Ruddy Ducks (likewise).  9 Common Mergansers out on the Blackwater
River as usual.  22 black ducks.  5 Hooded Mergansers.  3 Red-tailed Hawks.
 1 kestrel.  3 harriers, 1 of which caught a vole.  18 Bald Eagles.  3
Greater Yellowlegs.  9 meadowlarks.  215 Herring Gulls (a lot for here). 
325 Ring-billed Gulls.

Mammals:  1 Muskrat, 1 White-tailed Deer (doe), 2 Eastern Cottontails.  No
squirrels.

Water remains high in the impoundments.  Tidal waters very low now with
lots of exposed mud (good!).  

HOOPER'S ISLAND, including areas from Swan Harbor Road (N of Hooper's
Island per se) on down to the extreme south part of Middle Hooper's Island.
 10:30 A.M. - 2:45 P.M.  Mostly overcast yet with the sun coming through
the cloud cover somewhat, winds NW 5 but mostly calm - dead calm, temps c.
50 degrees F., perfect conditions for scoping the wide waters.  An
afternoon of great beauty.

EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE on the S part of Middle Hooper's Island, not at the
2363 address (across from Parks Road) where it has been hanging out but a
little farther south on top of the phone pole right next to the mailbox
post with 2343 on it.  Sitting on top of that pole preening extensively,
oblivious to its being species 301 for my Dorchester list, and unaware that
I would have been glad to see it even in the condition of Hardy's "Darking
thrush", "... small, gaunt, and frail, in blast-beruffled plume ..." 
Studied at a distance of c. 200 yards through the scope, not wishing to
disturb it.     

Beautiful conditions for scanning the waters:

31 Common Loons (3 of them dealing with Hogchokers they'd caught).  4
Red-throated Loons.  12 Horned Grebes.  95 Double-crested Cormorants.  14
Brown Pelicans.  95 Long-tailed Ducks (many of them calling; great views
looking straight down on them [but stopping here is ... ahem ... forbidden]
from the top of Narrows Ferry Bridge, the males resplendent with their long
tails and scapulars).  270 Surf Scoters.  1 female Black Scoter.  420
Buffleheads.  but 2 Common Goldeneyes. 165 Tundra Swans.  11 Red-breasted
Mergansers.  55 Canvasbacks (out in the Honga River).  20 Mute Swans.  

From Swan Harbor Road out on the sandbars of Tar Bay:  61 Sanderlings and
295 Dunlin.  7 Forster's Terns.  1 adult Laughing Gull.  245 Herring & 70
Great Black-backed Gulls.  

Also:  4 Bald Eagles.  1 Tree Swallow.  2 male Boat-tailed Grackles.  3
Northern Gannets (adults, as expected).  2 Northern Harriers.  4 bluebirds.
 5 Great Blue Herons.  3 kingfishers.  1 Great Horned Owl calling at the S
end of Middle Hooper's I. at 2:15 P.M.

FLOWERS THAN WON'T QUIT.  About 200 yards north of the collared dove
-perhaps the most unusual sighting for me today - a little patch of big,
purple clover and chicory is in full bloom on the east road shoulder.

HEADIN' HOME:  4:41 P.M.  At Milepost 109.3 on the West side of Route 301
there is a shallow but sunken wet area (an old borrow pit?) that has a big
Beaver lodge.  I am not certain if it is an active one.  Appropriately, a
pair of Hooded Mergansers are in the water there.  They're often a fixture
behind beaver dams in areas farther north.  So much music of this season is
schmaltzy Christmas music (as opposed to the great body of really good
Christmas music) but it is a relief to hear Mozart's splendid 39th Symphony
on 89.5.  The strings in the 4th movement are incredible.  Makes the drive
north more pleasant.  As Tom Lehrer might have said:  "By the time Mozart
was my age he had been dead for 31 years."     
  
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 ....)