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

Thursday, May 3, 2007.  6 deer crossing the drive from Field 2, 10:14 P.M.

Friday, May 4.  Fair becoming clear, winds NE 5 becoming calm, 56-74
degrees F., tide low.  Has become quite dry.

1 Snowy Egret.  2 Surf Scoters.  1 White-eyed Vireo singing near the yard. 
5 White-throated Sparrows in Woods 1.  3 Common Loons.  1 Great Crested
Flycatcher.  1 Great Horned Owl calling at 6:38 P.M. & 8:55 P.M.

Also:  29 Diamondback Terrapin.  1 Spotted Turtle in the ditch of Field 4. 
A large Raccoon asleep up 60 feet in a Loblolly Pine in Woods 1.  7 deer. 
An adult Red fox hunting along the drive in front of the house unconcerned
about my presence.  

Butterflies:  1 Monarch.  3 Tiger Swallowtails.  The first Red-spotted
Purple for me this year.  2 Cabbage Whites.  1 Orange Sulphur.  4 American
Ladies.  1 Spring Azure.  Dragonflies:  A large darner in the "pond" on the
E. side of Field 4.  2 Common Whitetails.  

John Camper working on Field 3 (Clover Field) after supper.  Lawn, trails,
and drive mowed very recently.  Looking nice and green with rich grass
growth.

2 Green Herons over Royal Oak.

Grand opening of the new Wawa at Easton today.  Hoorah!


Sat., May 5.  79th Dorchester County May Bird Count (in part).  Midnight -
9 P.M. (I went through 2 quarts of coffee).  Jared Sparks & myself.  207
miles by car, 1 by foot. 

3 other parties were afield today.  In a few days I'll summarize the totals
for the entire count. 

Clear becoming mostly overcast then completely so.  Calm or nearly so much
of the time but in the afternoon SW becoming W winds 5-10+-5 then calm
again at dusk.  54-70-53.  Rain, light becoming steady then light again,
2:15 P.M. until sunset.  Most of this COMPLETELY at odds with what was
forecast.  A cool, sometimes chilly night, and, less so, day.  Tides mostly
high.  Impoundments have been drying for a while.  Nice and calm at day's
end allowing easy scoping of all the waters on Fishing Bay, which, however,
produced nothing but the Canvasbacks and a few loons and pelicans.   

136 hard-earned species (the record 1 party list is 168 in 1995).

The low numbers of many birds (or, for that matter, their absence)
continues to be a source of concern.

Abbreviations:  BNWR, Blackwater N.W.R.  EI, Elliott Island.  HI,  Hooper's
I.

PURPLE MARTIN, 1 female.  WHAT on earth is going on here?  Usually see
dozens.  The 121st species of the day.

AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN.  5 resting in the usual spot opposite Pool 3B. 
First record for the May counts here.  As far as I know this species has
not been seen here for more than more than a month.

NORTHERN BOBWHITE, 3.  Will they become extirpated here?

BLUE JAY 2.  West Nile Virus?  

11 Common Loons.  25 Brown Pelicans, some at both at HI & EI.  375
Double-crested Cormorants.  5 Canada Goose goslings at HI.  4 Gadwalls,
BNWR.  1 male Shoveler, BNWR Pool 1.  1 American Black Duck X Mallard
hybrid at EI.  3 male Canvasbacks at EI Fishing Bay.  1 male Surf Scoter at
HI.  11 female Red-breasted Mergansers at Swan Harbor.  22 Ruddy Ducks at
HI.  

1 Red-shouldered Hawk, Old Field Road.  4 Wild Turkeys (1, 2 & 1 at 3
locations).  15 Clapper, 2 King & 35 Virginia rails.  3 Common Moorhens,
EI.  3 American Coots, BNWR, Pool 1.  An adult and 3 small young Killdeer
at Swan Harbor.  4 American Oystercatchers, Swan Harbor & HI.  only 1
Black-necked Stilt, EI.  4 Solitary & 2 Spotted sandpipers.  1 Common Snipe
at Golden Hill.  1 woodcock, EI.

1 Caspian, 20 royal, 1 Common, 130 Forster's & 6 Least terns.  1 Barn, 1
Eastern Screech, 4 Great Horned & 2 Barred owls.  26 Chuck-will's-wwidows. 
1 Whip-poor-will (not at the usual spot on upper EI Rd. but near the
intersection of Henry's Crossroad & Griffith Neck Road, a nice scrubby area
favored by chats).  2 Red-headed Woodpeckers (1 at Robbins, 1 BNWR).  

5 Brown-headed Nuthatches.  WARBLERS:  1 Northern Parula, 1 Yellow, 1
Black-throated Blue, 5 Yellow-rumped, 20 Pine, 3 Prairie, 1 male Blackpoll
(well-seen), 1 Prothonotary, 1 Worm-eating, 7 Ovenbirds, 1 Northern
Waterthrush, 40 Common Yellowthroats & 7 Yellow-breasted Chats. 

8 Summer Tanagers.  40 Chipping, 5 Field, 7 Savannah, 2 Grasshopper, 5
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed, 40 Seaside, 1 Song, 2 Swamp & 2 White-throated
sparrows.  4 Blue Grosbeaks.  2 Indigo Buntings.  4 Boat-tailed Grackles.

Missed:  grebes, falcons, Black-bellied Plover, dowitcher, cuckoos, Brown
Thrasher, waxwing, Bobolink, off-the-wall vireos (a Floyd Parks phrase),
numerous warblers, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Baltimore
Oriole.

FAMILY TOTALS (mostly not much to brag about; no, not much at all).  heron
types 5 (poor).  waterfowl 12 (fairly good).  raptors 7.  rails 3. 
shorebirds 16 (O.K.).  owls 4 (O.K.).  gulls 4.  terns 5 (O.K.). 
woodpeckers 6 (never have had 7, the 7th would have to be sapsucker, which
we've never had).  swallows 3 (counting the martin; poor).  flycatchers 2
(poor).  warblers 13 (the record is 23).  vireos 2.  thrushes 1.  sparrows
9 (O.K.).    

MAMMALS:  6 Muskrats (continue to be more in evidence).  0 Nutria.  3 Red
Foxes (all of them kits; cute).  2 Virginia Opossums.  5 White-tailed Deer.
 51 Sika Deer (as usual most of these were at night in fields between the
Transquaking River and the Eliott Island Road).  2 Gray Squirrels.  1
D.O.R. Fox Squirrel.  0 rabbits.

The 2006 4th edition of the Peterson mammal guide, by Fiona Reid, (an
otherwise excellent book in my opinion; 579pp.!!) does not show Sika Deer
as occurring in Maryland.  I'll write to Ms. Reid about this.

Also:  10 Spotted Turtles.  Only heard a few frogs:  Southern Leopard,
Green & Bullfrogs.  5 dead snakes on the road.  Herptiles did not like the
cool weather today ... at all.  3 Tiger Swallowtails.      


Sunday, May 6.  A day to recover, get away from coffee.  Clear, windy (gale
force), and cold.  An adult Bald Eagle at mile 117.6 on Route 301.

FALLOUT FROM THE RECENT NORTHEASTER.  The May 2007 "Blackwater volunteer
newsletter" relates how 5 Bald Eagle nests were blown away by this storm. 
Some of the eaglets found were sent to Tri-state Bird Rescue.  

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 ....)