Rigby's Folly, Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, 25124
West Ferry Neck Road near Royal Oak but nearer still to Bellevue. 

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2007.  2:45-5:45 P.M. only.  36 degrees., clear, wind
WSW 15.  

28 species incl. 10 flickers in Field 4.  360 Ruddy Ducks in Irish Creek. 
10 Canvasbacks & 2 Redheads.  1 Cooper's Hawk.  70 Surf Scoters.  53 Tundra
Swans.  1 Great Blue Heron.  2 waxwings.   1,070 Canada Geese in the cove
and 340 more in front of Tranquility = c. 1,410.

3 deer (does).  1 Gray Squirrel. 1 Mouse in the traps since last weekend.

From Bellevue Road, to the East, on the edge of John Swaine's property:  22
Wild Turkeys including a displaying tom, all puffed up, the living
embodiment of pomposity.  
 
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4.  35 species.  Clear, 26-38 degrees, winds NW 5, tide
VERY low, way past the end of the dock.  

2 Great Blue Herons.  200 Buffleheads.  210 Surf Scoters.  75 Long-tailed
Ducks (many flushed by a big zodiac-type Coast Guard vessel.  330 Ruddy
Ducks.  15 Canvasbacks.  1 Northern Harrier.  1 Common Loon.  2
Sharp-shinned Hawks.  1 imm. Bald Eagle.  32 Lesser Scaup.  2 Redheads. 
115 Herring Gulls in an apparent feeding frenzy up the Choptank River
slightly and opposite Benoni Point.  7 Mourning Doves.  12 bluebirds.  3
Red-breasted Mergansers, 2 males and a female, courting, head-dipping.  4
Black Vultures.  

Also:  7 deer (does) including a partially leuuucistic one.    

A dead Eastern Cottontail next to the house by the S side of the downstairs
bedroom.  A turkey Vulture ate most of it on Monday. after I'd placed it in
Field 2. 

Laurence Driggs, my cousin, visits and we spend most of the afternoon
catching up on things.

RIGBY's FOLLY CHIC:  That would be concealing the mouse traps before the
guests arrive.  The guests being Ben and Frances Weems.  The mice are kept
at bay but JUST after Ben & Frances leave I hand capture a 2.5' Black Rat
Snake that I am astonished to discover writhing across the dining room
floor.  I run outside to show them as they drive off, the serpent a
potential sort of outre party favor, if you will. 

"A mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidels." - Walt
Whitman.  Agreed!  I find mice very appealing with their diminutive paws
and feet, dark bug eyes, white bellies, abundant whiskers, and warm, brown
fur.  But when they leave their calling cards in the kitchen and gnaw the
candles to smithereens I am staggered in an entirely different manner.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5.  Clear, 18-23 degrees F., winds NW 20-30+ m.p.h. 
Arctic weather.  Hunkered down.  Daughter, Mary, and son-in-law, Mike came
down after work last night.  We spend much of the day improving the Pump
House to stave off frozen pipes, adding insulation, hanging a blanket over
the porous door, turning up the pump house heater, and installing a fan and
a 200 watt bulb.

2 Gray Squirrels in the yard.  A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, an adult, seen
nearby at the T-junction of Bellevue & Goose Neck roads, a real surprise
and a treat to see.    

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6:  

While I'm away Liz (Mary E. Armistead) has a good look at a flyby GREEN
HERON c. 11 A.M at Rigby.  From her description:  at its closest about 10'
high and 40' away flying along the shoreline in the back yard.  A dark,
crow-sized bird with a dagger bill, yellow or dirty yellow on the legs,
bill, and in the eyes.  From the vantage point of the back porch door, as
she stepped outside, the sun was behind her.  The bird was flying from W to
E.  Liz also saw a late one here Oct. 28, 2006.  Thus today's is the only
one ever seen here between Oct. 28 in the fall and an early April 8 arrival
in the spring.    

DORCHESTER COUNTY, MD.  I joined Elise Boeger, Keith Johnson, Hugh Sargent,
Frederic Sater, and Langhorne & Marilyn Smith for a short excursion to
Blackwater N.W.R. (BNWR) and Hooper's Island (HI), 8 A.M. until noon.  

Clear, 13-21 degrees F., wind NW 15, tide extremely low.  Much of Tar Bay
and Honga River frozen as well as some of Chesapeake Bay proper but with
some open leads with not many birds in them.  Blackwater almost completely
frozen.  Bitterly cold.  

425 Tundra Swans (BNWR) plus 95 at HI.  525 Mallards (BNWR).  275 pintails
(BNWR).  250 Canvasbacks (HI, very distant, on the Honga River).  30 Common
Goldeneyes (HI).  6 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS (BNWR, opposite Pool 5B,
perhaps more are present but we did not have time to carefully scope all
big white birds).  8 Great Blue Herons.  46 Bald Eagles (BNWR, includes
ones seen on lower Egypt Road and in Gum Swamp) plus 7 at HI.  7 Northern
Harriers incl 2 adult males.  7 Red-tailed Hawks.   1 adult male Peregrine
Falcon alighting on a dead Loblolly Pine snag at Gum Swamp.  3 Killdeer.  4
Greater Yellowlegs.  20 Dunlin (HI).  25 Rock Pigeons (HI).  1 Belted
Kingfisher (at Golden Hill, when we stopped to pay our respects at the site
where Red-cockaded Woodpeckers once nested).  1 Horned Lark (Egypt Road). 
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet foraging on a Poison Ivy branch at BNWR.  4 American
Pipits (BNWR).  

We looked and listened for the Eurasian Collared-Doves at Upper HI but to
no avail.

Also: c. 175 Lesser Scaup on the Choptank River just upstream from the
Malkus Bridge N of Cambridge.  

HEADIN' HOME.  75 Tundra Swans in a field near Cordova.  The Bison at
milepost 98.1 on Route 301.  An adult Bald Eagle at milepost 111.  A
Cooper's Hawk along Route 13 at Rolling Road somewhere in the morass that
is NE Wilmington, DE.  

Hugh Sargent and some of his entourage as well as Liz and I all had
orchestra tickets for tonight in Philadelphia.  As chance would have it as
Liz and I were heading down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway here tonight Hugh
spotted our car and beeped a friendly hello.  The serendipity of life.     
 

Philadelphia:  Mourning Dove calling Jan 30.  An imm. female Sharp-shinned
Hawk lurking in our yard and around the block, seen Jan. 31, Feb. 1 & Feb.
2.

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 ....)