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Subject:

Ferry Neck, Blackwater N.W.R. & Hooper's hawking

From:

Henry Armistead

Reply-To:

Henry Armistead

Date:

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 11:14:13 -0400

OCTOBER 27-30, 2007.  A time of clear skies, cool/cold weather, and
generally NW winds, but not the huge influx of waterfowl and
middle-distance migrants I'd hoped for.

October 27:  

Middletown, Delaware.  2 Monarchs and a Woodchuck.

Rt. 481.  1 phoebe & 1 Monarch.

Rts. 33 X 322, an Osprey hunting over the "headwaters" of the Tred Avon
River.

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

Saturday, October 27.  4-6:45 P.M. only.  Tide a good foot above normal on
the heels of a strong southerly weather system and a full moon.  Has rained
heavily earlier today; the ponds are finally full again.  Parts of some
fields are soggy for the first time since last winter.  Good.  Excellent
visibility after the rains.  37 species.  A very good bird show in the
brief time.

6 Common Loons.  1 Great & 1 Snowy egret.  9 Wood Ducks.  5 Northern
Harriers soaring in a group, perhaps looking for a place to roost
communally tonight, ties 2nd highest property count; highest was 14 on
Sept. 13, 1998.  3 Royal Terns.  3 Belted Kingfishers (ties previous high
of 3 on 3 different dates, all in the fall).  55 Yellow-rumped Warblers.  6
Buffleheads.  36 Surf Scoters.  35 Fish Crows.  1 Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Also:  4 Gray Squirrels, 1 bat, and a long-dead Mud Turtle in the SE side
of the Big Field.

Soy beans in the fields are low and sparse, 6-9" high, but many with seed
pods nonetheless.  Nice growth of low grasses with the beans.  Yard and
driveway mowed recently.

Sunday, October 28.  6-6:30 P.M. only.  

1 adult Bald Eagle.  1 rabbit.  Skeins of geese and a few of ducks heading
south against the western sky.  22 deer: 16 in Field 4, 4 in Field 5 & 2 in
Field 1 including the small leucistic buck.  1 of the deer in Field 4 a
huge buck, the biggest I've ever seen, 8-points, with tines 7-8", a most
noble beast.

Monday, October 29.  5-6:45 P.M. only.  A perfect sunset but no green
flash.

16 deer (no bucks), 3 Gray Squirrels.  1 Ruddy Duck.  1 Great Egret.  10
Common Loons.  12 Buffleheads.  1 Royal & 2 Forster's terns.  

BALD EAGLES HUNTING.  Just before sunset 2 adult eagles double-team a
Common Loon on the water near Holland Point.  They dive at it several times
to no effect.  The loon utters the first note of the yodel call 4 times.  A
few minutes later the eagles dive at a flyby Great Blue Heron.  The heron
lands in deep water twice, frequently uttering raucous squawks.  I think
it's injured but eventually it rises from the surface and flies off to the
east, apparently O.K.

Tuesday, October 30, morning:

20 Wild Turkeys in the Clover Field (Field 3).  May be more since by the
time I see them they're already filing into the woods on the field's W
side.  1 doe.  A few Buckeyes scattered throughout the bean fields.  

3 trucks come from Shaws to repair our outdoor plumbing lines.  This is
going to cost, big time.

BLACKWATER N.W.R.  October 28.  Bird walk 7 A.M. - Noon.  66 species (some
seen before or after the official walk).  8 people on the bird walk, incl.
Mary Konchar, Levin Willey, Kate Murphy, Arnold Simon, Dale Murphy & 2
women from Northern Virginia whose names escape me.  Impoundments still
very low, or even dry, showing few signs of replenishment from the recent
rains.  Poor landbirding.  Too windy.

55 Snow Geese (mostly Blues).  1 male American Wigeon.  18 black ducks. 
450 Mallards.  3 shovelers.  175 pintails.  425 Green-winged Teal.  1
bobwhite (seen at 4629 Egypt Road).  1 flyover Red-throated Loon, really
unusual for the central part of the refuge.  1 Pied-billed Grebe.  2 Great
Egrets.  20 Bald Eagles.  4 harriers.  14 Sharp-shinned Hawks (a flight
going on).  1 Cooper's Hawk.  1 Peregrine Falcon.  

1 Western & 12 Least sandpipers.  1 Caspian Tern (late).  70 Forster's
Terns.  1 phoebe.  1 Horned Lark.  175 Tree Swallows.  1 Ruby-crowned
Kinglet.  90 robins.  1,100 starlings (near Cambridge).  3 Savannah
Sparrows.  150 cowbirds.   

REPTILES.  4 Red-bellied Sliders, 4 Painted Turtles, 1 big Snapping Turtle
(est. @ 15 lbs., a lunker) & 1 Northern Watersnake (plus several other
snake roadkills).  In other years I've noticed a pretty big turnout of
turtles and snakes on some sunny, late October days.  

Also:  5 Eastern Cottontails & 1 Red Fox.  We hear a Sika Elk buck bugling.

SWAN HARBOR ROAD.  In the afternoon Dale Murphy and I conduct a hawk count
at Swan Harbor Rd. just N of Hooper's Island, 1:30-4 P.M. DST.  Good
flight, esp. considering it is late afternoon.  57 degrees, NW 15-20+,
clear.  Raptors flying N into the NW winds, as is usually the case here:

3 Black & 19 Turkey Vultures, 7 Bald Eagles, 8 harriers, 81 sharpies, 14
Cooper's, 3 Red-shoulders, 16 red-tails, and 3 kestrels.  TOTAL: 158.

In addition:  1 Common Loon, 1 Virginia Rail, 7 Dunlin, 300 Laughing Gulls,
3 Monarchs.

Monday, October 29.  Back at Swan Harbor, 8A.M. - 2 P.M. DST.  Cold.  As
yesterday try to count vultures and Bald Eagles only if they seem to be in
true migration; many are not.  Much of the flight during the last few hours
is very high and hard to pick up on.  Direction is also to the N as
yesterday.  Winds frustratingly variable but mostly from the N after 11
A.M.  Temperature: 38-56.  Chilly.

TOTAL: 137 raptors.  43 sharpies, 7 Cooper's, 21 Red-tails, 3
Red-shoulders, 2 Bald Eagles, 5 harriers, 46 Turkey & 2 Black vultures, 2
Ospreys, 5 unID'd raptors (Hooper's Hawks), and 1 immature NORTHERN
GOSHAWK.  

Also here (partial list):  1 Snowy & 1 Great egret, 4 Common Loons, 175
robins, 400 cowbirds, 10 Blue Jays, 3 meadowlarks, 15 juncos, 1 Virginia &
1 Clapper rail, 14 black ducks, 5 flickers, 1 Palm Warbler, 10 bluebirds, 2
Marsh Wrens, 6 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 29 pintails, 3 American Wigeon, 950
Red-winged Blackbirds, 1 Greater Yellowlegs, and 13 Green-winged Teal.

Almost all of these are flyovers, esp. the waterbirds, since no open waters
are visible from the counting site.  A Sika Elk comes out on the road at
10:39 A.M., licking something on the paving, perhaps an coolant/anitfreeze
leak.

Also see an Osprey (the aircraft).

Butterflies:  3 Monarchs, 2 Buckeyes, 1 Orange & 1 Clouded sulphur.

Practically NO southbound raptor migration today or yesterday.

During the course of the day cars from 6 Swan Harbor households, only 2 of
which carry people I know, stop to talk.  Nice to have a friendly
neighborhood.

Blackwater N.W.R.  7:30 A.M.:  2 rabbits and 8 flyby Ring-necked Ducks. 
Late in the afternoon, c. 3:30:  29 Painted Turtles & 2 Red-bellied
Sliders, 1 White-tailed Deer (doe), 1 Monarch, and a kingfisher.

HOUSE SPARROWS, the early birds.  On both Oct. 28 & 29 House Sparrows are
active at the Cambridge Wawa c. 6:15 A.M., when the skies are still totally
dark.

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 ....)