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

Saturday, April 21, 2007.  Clear, 44-74, Calm-NW & SW <5 becoming calm at
dusk.  5:30 A.M. - 9 P.M.  4 miles on foot, 2 by car, 6 by boat.  Water
temperature 50-53.  Blueberry bushes in the woods are blooming.  Few of the
Flowering Dogwoods there flower anymore. 

75 species, a new April record, the old one being 72 on April 4, 1993, but
under ideal conditions, perhaps later in April, 85 might be possible.  A
tremendous dawn chorus around sunrise, esp. of cardinals, chickadees,
Carolina Wrens, White-throated & Chipping sparrows.  57 species by 8 A.M.

11 waterfowl.  8 raptors.  4 sparrows plus towhee and junco.  Only 2
robins, 3 Herring Gulls.  Close to an all-out effort.  A good day to break
out my hearing aids.

65 Lesser Scaup.  1,680 Surf Scoters (estimate made from shore at Lucy
Point).  1 White-winged Scoter, in flight, stood out like a sore thumb.  20
Long-tailed Ducks.  95 Buffleheads.  1 female Common Goldeneye.  12 Ruddy
Ducks.

1 Wild Turkey gobbling at dawn and dusk.  2 Red-throated & 30 Common loons;
hardly any Common Loons vocalizing this weekend.  only 14 Horned Grebes. 
20 Northern Gannets (only a few plunge-diving).  60 Double-crested
Cormorants.  1 Snowy Egret.  3 Green Herons.  3 Bald Eagles.  1 ea. of
Sharp-shinned & Cooper's hawks.  5 Red-tailed Hawks (in sight
simultaneously).  

3 Least Sandpipers (a new early date).  11 Bonaparte's Gulls, some in full
breeding plumage.  only 1 Forster's Tern.  

At dusk:  1 Eastern Screech & 2 Great Horned owls, 1 of the latter right in
the yard calling, & 1 Chuck-will's-widow.  3 Chimney Swifts.  1 White-eyed
Vireo, singing.  

22 Barn, 2 Bank & 11 Tree swallows, a definite flight, most of them coming
in from the south across the Choptank River and continuing on into the
north.  1 House Wren. 1 Northern Parula, singing but also seen.  4 Eastern
Towhees, all singing males.  

40 Chipping Sparrows, a new high count, nice flock in the yard all weekend,
at least 5 singing.  1 Field Sparrow singing and seen.  3 Swamp Sparrows,
resplendent in fresh plumage.  45 White-throated Sparrows.  5 Dark-eyed
Juncos.  14 cardinals.

Remarkable misses today:  Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler, none all weekend.
 Red-breasted Merganser.  Great Black-backed Gull.  No flycatchers,
Killdeer, waxwings, or Song Sparrows.

Also:  A Spotted Turtle in the ditch next to Field 4.  15 Diamondback
Terrapin.  4 unID'd sulphurs.  1 unID'd dragonfly.  1 Eastern Cottontail,
21 deer, 1 Raccoon in Field 1 at dawn, 3 Gray Squirrels, and 2 bats
actively hunting at dusk by the dock.  In Woods 2 & 4 a big twilight chorus
of Spring Peepers, Southern Leopard Frogs, and Fowler's Toads, so loud it
makes it hard to hear the screech owl and the chuck.   

The big nor'easter earlier in the week has brought a lot of driftwood and
other debris out into the Choptank River mouth, but nothing compared to
Hurricane Agnes or the great windrows of such floating on the Delaware
River that we see from Route 495 east of Wilmington on Sunday.  Some
erosion damage to the bank right next to the lawn, very unusual, but
probably a sign of the times to come.

Made first 2 trips of the year in the boat, small ones of 2.9 and 3.1
miles, out into the Choptank River mouth just over a mile, where I spent
much of the time with the motor off, scanning and listening.  The scoters
and other ducks very skittish, but always lovely to hear the sound of
hundreds of male Surf Scoters' wings ringing over the miles and  miles of
calm waters.  Without trying to, or realizing it for a while, got 'the
Mudhen' to exceed 30 m.p.h. for the first time ever.  

Sunday, April 22.  Clear, calm, 58-82.  Another gem, but slept in 'til
8:30.  1 Northern Watersnake.  26 Diamondback Terrapin around mid-day but
building to at least 46 by late afternoon.  1 Bank Swallow.  A Bald Eagle
perched in a Black Cherry at Lucy Point doesn't even flush as I go by in
the boat at < 100 yards.  

BUTTERFLIES:  A Tiger Swallowtail, a Pearlcrescent, several Cabbage Whites.
 

A female Red-breasted Merganser right by the dock, missed (or not here)
yesterday.  Used to commonly see nice groups of a dozen or more courting at
this time of year.  For whatever reason they have declined here.  In April
there are sometimes even a few in the Dry Tortugas for the love of Pete.

A Mute Swan in the small Spartina marsh 100 yards NW of the dock has 6 eggs
- a massive nest over 3 feet across and a foot high.  All you hear about
Mute Swans is of their aggression.  I suppose I've examined about 30 nests
over the years but never been threatened by one.  A beautiful Bonaparte's
Gull in breeding plumage sailing around right overhead and over the house. 
5 deer, 1 Gray Squirrel that scolds Liz when she surprises it (Whose place
IS this ANYWAY?).  A pleasure to wade in the cool water, even if looking
for my large, lost, aluminum SEPTA bus wheel chock that mysteriously
disappeared sometime this weekend.

Take 2 hour, 15.7 statute mile, boat trip to Cook's Point (Dorchester
County) and back on the glassy-calm Choptank.  Most of the birds here
yesterday are gone today.  It's nearly dead.  On the way over see only:  9
gannets, 1 Horned Grebe, 2 Red-throated & 13 Common loons, 4 cormorants, 4
Long-tailed Ducks, 30 Surf Scoters, 20 Lesser Scaup, 1 Forster's Tern, 45
Buffleheads, 1 Great Black-backed Gull, and 4 Barn Swallows on the move but
no Bonaparte's Gulls.  Most of the gannets are resting on the calm surface
and do not even flush as I roar by at 20 knots.

Pound net NE of Cook's Point a mile or so:  230 Double-crested Cormorants,
11 Herring Gulls, and 9 Ospreys.  One of the Ospreys snags a fish right in
the middle of the enclosed area of the pound net.  

Cook's Point has to be one of the most exposed bits of land anywhere on the
Bay with broad water on about 355 degrees.  What is left of the point per
se, an island of several acres with 5 or 6 big Loblolly Pines, also has
some nice Spartina marsh with a couple of small tidal guts, thousands of
Periwinkles, and a surfeit of discarded tires plus a small pond.  Old pine
stumps in the tidal water a few feet from shore are encrusted with
barnacles, testament to how Cook's Point used to extend farther north and
west.  

Much of it consists of rather high, eroding clay bank.  I don't see how
this charming little island, attached to the mainland only a few years ago,
will last more than a few years.  Only 10 cormorants are right on the point
but from there I see 3 Ospreys, 2 Canada Geese that act as if they are
going to breed here, 6 Mallards, and about 485 Surf Scoters a mile or so
away out in Trippe Bay or on the Chesapeake farther out.  Counted 56 boats
fishing for Striped Bass far out in the Bay.

Liz got lucky with the northern, middle-distance migrants, finding the
weekend's only Hermit Thrush and Brown Creeper plus 4 Ruby-crowned
Kinglets.

Headin' home.  A Pectoral Sandpiper in flight right at the intersection of
Rts. 481 & 309.  A Bald Eagle at milepost 108 on Route 301.

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 ....)