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

March 1-2, 2008.  Liz & Harry Armistead.

FEBRUARY 29, Friday.  5 deer near the house at 10:30 P.M.  No mice after
our 2 week absence in the 9 kitchen traps.  43 degrees F.

MARCH 1, Saturday.  overcast becoming fair, 43-53, W @ 10 - NW @ 15+ m.p.h.

40 species.

A tight grouping of waterfowl feeding on SAV (submerged aquatic vegetation)
at the mouth of Irish Creek SE of Lucy Point includes: 91 American Wigeon,
70 Lesser (mostly) and Greater scaup, 1 female Canvasback, 4 Redheads, 12
Tundra & 6 Mute swans, and 70 Canada Geese.  

Other totals today:  220 Canvasbacks up Irish Creek.  1200 Canada Geese,
many of them in Fields 5, 6 & 7.  1 adult Bald Eagle.  2 adult Red-tailed
Hawks.  7 Killdeer in Field 1, where Killdeer have been all year.  1 Fish
Crow calling for an extended period, a sign of spring, sort of.  45
American Robins & 35 Cedar Waxwings feeding in the English Ivy adjacent to
the pumphouse.  1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  7 Horned Grebes.  

Also: 7 deer.

WILD TURKEYS.  A group of 71 foraging in the field across from the driveway
entrance to John Swaine's place on Bellevue Road.  The biggest flock I've
sen in Talbot County but I think someone found a bunch of 99 on the St.
Michaels Christmas Count a few years ago.  

Guy Spurry, a waterman and all-around handyman who I have not met
previously, visits and we talk about people we know (including his father,
Joe, who did some birding in the 1950s and 1960s), the state of the
watermen's industry, and other matters.  Joe Spurry runs Chesapeake Landing
Restaurant in McDaniel N of Tilghman's Island. 

MARCH 2, Sunday.  clear becoming fair, 37-51, WNW 10 becoming dead calm,
then SW 5.  The Choptank River mouth with excellent visibility in the
afternoon and glassy calm, perfect for scoping.  I scoped for 2 hours.  Did
not see 1 boat.  No gannets.

42 species.

The same grouping of waterfowl still feeds in the SAV bed near Lucy Point
except that the American Wigeon have increased to 130, Canada Geese to 185.
 This is the 2nd highest wigeon total I've had on the property; yesterday's
91 is the 3rd highest.  My best total was 150 on January 1, 1955, back when
there was a lot of SAV and Redheads, Canvasbacks, Tundra Swans, and wigeon
were much more abundant in the Bay.  The impressive numbers of birds at the
SAV this weekend show how important just a little patch of it can be, and
hint at the glory that was the Chesapeake prior to the big SAV dieoff circa
1970.

Also today:  275 Buffleheads.  115 Common Goldeneyes (mostly west of
Holland Point; several sub-adult [1st winter] males present at the mouth of
the cove, a most bewildering-looking waterfowl that looks somewhat like a
goldeneye-Hooded merganser hybrid; illustrated on p. 100 of the "big"
Sibley guide).  15 elegant Red-breasted Mergansers in the cove actively
diving with 2 attendant Ring-billed Gulls, perhaps an example of
cooperative feeding?.  310 Surf Scoters.  2 adult Bald Eagles.  195 Herring
Gulls (most resting on the millpond surfance far out on the Choptank
River).  3 Common Loons.  1 White-winged Scoter.  6 Horned Grebes, 1 of
them just starting to show some breeding plumage on the head.  1 Pileated
Woodpecker.

Long-tailed Duck 1 male.  On February 15 I estimated 2430 out there.  As
many people have said: "Birds have wings and sometimes they use them."

FORSTER'S TERN 2.  Flying up Irish Creek & disappearing to the north.  Liz
& I see them well.  These are 2 weeks earlier than the previous property
early record of March 16.  

A pair of Eastern Bluebirds, the male engaging in much song at Lucy Point. 


73 Ring-billed Gulls in the cove, foraging at low tide, a common winter
sight here.

Today's mammals:  4 Gray Squirrels.  1 Eastern Cottontail.  1 Red Fox
hunting in Field 4 that we watch for 10 minutes; it's unaware of us; seems
to be getting insects on the ground, but sometimes digging for them; very
mangy tail and haunches but the rest of it quite furry.  2 deer and I find
a small left antler with 2 points in the extreme NW corner of Field 2 near
the house.  One of my high school classmates is Wright Horne; his school
nickname was "Left Antler".  

WORCESTER COUNTY CLAM AQUACULTURE.  Bob Scrimgeour, a Ferry Neck neighbor,
calls.  We have an extended conversation in the afternoon.  He is concerned
about the possible effects of a proposed large clam aquaculture project in
the coastal bays of Worcester County, MD, adjacent to mainland areas where
he has property and across from Assateague Island.  I suggested several
persons he might contact who might be helpful, or, if not, who would know
who would be.  If anyone reading this has information that might help in an
assessment of such a project please e-mail Bob at:     
 

CORN.  Canada Geese, Mallards, and a pair of Mute Swans feed on corn thrown
from the dock.  In the yard cardinals, White-throated Sparrows, Blue Jays.
and (of course) Gray Squirrels are also quick to find the corn.

HEADIN' HOME.  Liz spots a Wilson's Snipe probing in the mud of a puddle in
a field S of Royal Oak and E of Bellevue Rd.  This is the field that has
the small, trapezoidal-type area that has been fallow for many years, where
there are 2 Northern Harriers hunting not far from the snipe.  I've heard
that fields need to be fallow for at least 3 years before they can support
a good population of Meadow Voles and other rodents, microtine or
otherwise; such are one of the main prey items of harriers.   

Also near Royal Oak: 2 deer.   

N of Cordova adjacent to Route 309:  14 deer.

Route 481 N of Ruthsburg: 30 American Pipits flying over a field to the W. 
2 kestrels nearby.

N of Hope: 2 deer.

Lots of Common Grackles around Easton & Cordova, flying around yards, in
the Red Cedars, a sure sign of spring.

PHILADELPHIA STUFF:

American Robin.  February 27.  85 at Germantown Ave. X Sedgwick St. in
Philadelphia, 40 at Stenton Avenue X Paper Mill Road.

Carolina Wren.  1 singing at the Philadelphia Zoo, February 28.  8 (wild)
Gray Squirrels at the zoo.  The large pond, thronging with dozens of
species of waterfowl most of my life, eiders, you name it, has none today
other than a few feral, free-ranging Canada Geese and Mallards.

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 ....)