MARCH 17-23, 2008 (Monday through Sunday):

ON THE WAY DOWN, March 17, 2008:  A roadkill Barred Owl (unbanded) at mile
111.0 along Rt. 301 on W. side shoulder.  9 Wilson's Snipe at the wet area
0.2 mi. N. of Rts. 481 X 309.  4 kestrels along Rt. 481.  4 Wilson's Snipe
in the wet area of a field on Bellevue Road.  A Painted Turtle at the pond
on W. side of Rt. 309 c. 1 mi. N. of the junction of Rts. 309 & 50.

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

MONDAY, March 17, 2 P.M. - 8 P.M. only.  clear becoming fair, 45-55, NW 15
- <5, cool, low tide, sunny mostly.  46 species, incl. 12 waterfowl
species.  A good start for our week's stay.

135 Snow Geese, rise up off the surface of the mouth of the Choptank River
at great distance, several miles, and fly NE.  After a few minutes it is
evident they are geese.  After a few more minutes easy to see they're snows
with no blues or Ross's geese present.  Previous highs here, both snow &
blue combined, are but 18 (17 snows) on Oct. 26, 1998, and 17 (9 of them
snows) on Oct. 22, 1998.  Only a matter of time, but much of it, that a
substantial flock is seen here, finally, in view of the several 1000 that
winter not so far away at Blackwater each year.    

Also:  only 2 Tundra Swans, however, 2 flocks heard but not seen.  2 Wood
Ducks.  12 Canvasbacks,  620 Surf Scoters.  only 2 Long-tailed Ducks.  55
Red-breasted Mergansers, many of them courting close-in to shore, elegant
waterfowl.  26 Horned Grebes.  21 Northern Gannets.  2 ad. Bald Eagles.  A
small flight of these 3 species: 3 Sharp-shinned, 2 Cooper's & 7 Red-tailed
Hawks, the redtails all in sight simultaneously.  Nice.  410 Herring Gulls,
foraging out over the Choptank River (4th highest count).  1 Eastern
Screech-Owl (calling spontaneously at 9:38 P.M from Woods 8, easily audible
from the front porch).  37 Fish Crows (in one flock).  1 Winter Wren,
flushes from the rip rap at Lucy Point.  1 Brown Thrasher calling at dusk
at Lucy Point.  1 Pine Warbler singing in loblollies at the SW corner of
Field 5.  12 cardinals.  

Non-avian taxa:  1 Gray Squirrel, 4 deer & 1 Cabbage White.  A long-dead
Box Turtle at Lucy Point.    

TUESDAY, March 18.  fair becoming overcast, SE  5 - S & SW 10-15+, 45-53.  

Species not seen yesterday:  1 Downy & 1 Hairy woodpecker.  2 male
Green-winged Teal.  40 Cedar Waxwings.  1 goldfinch.  14 Mallards.  2 Tree
Swallows.  Other birds:   32 White-throated (in SE corner of Field 2) & 4
Song sparrows, 4 Wood Ducks, 2 Bald Eagles, 3 Killdeer.  
Also: 18 deer.  A Winter Jellyfish seen from the dock.  2 Gray Squirrels. 
Many daffodils came out today.  

Find a Chipping Sparrow nest from last year looking as fresh as if it had
been completed yesterday.  It is in the Wool Sedge Depression of the
Olszewski Trails about 2 feet off the ground in a Persimmon sapling right
in the midst of a big bunch of Wool Sedge.  Made of fine grasses and some
Wool Sedge leaves.   

WEDNESDAY, March 19.  overcast, S-SW 15-5, 47-66, very high tide (high at
3:37 P.M.), occ. light rain.  Temperature rising late, 62-64 all afternoon,
64 at 6:30 P.M., 66 (!) at 10 P.M.  

2 Common Loons in breeding, 4 in non-breeding plumage.  1 ad. Bald Eagle. 
1 Pileated Woodpecker, great views in yard and Woods 7.  1 Savannah
Sparrow.  2 black ducks feeding in the wet area, pond extension, of Field
7.   21 Green-winged Teal flying S. out of Irish Creek (3rd highest
property count).  6 Northern Gannets.  a male Pine Warbler foraging in the
yard.

Also: 1 Cabbage White, 11 deer, 1 Eastern Cottontail & 3 Gray Squirrels.

Elsewhere:  4 Wilson's Snipe in a wet area along Bellevue Road.  1 Wild
Turkey drinking from the road ditch near Rigby Lot Road, Rt. 329.  36 Wild
Turkeys in a field E. of St. Michaels near Route 329 X 33.  1 Sharp-shinned
Hawk over Graul's at St. Michaels.   

Buy for $1 ea. 3 fine, used books at the St. Michaels library on polar
regions, sea life, and "the National Geographic Society: 100 years of
adventure & discovery" (Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1957, 484pp.).  I was
surprised to see a painting of the founders of NGS by my sister-in-law's
(wife of my brother) father, Stanley Meltzoff, on pp. 22-23.  I only met
Stanley once.  He is better known as a painter of big game fish and, as an
amateur art historian, as author of several books, including one on
Modigliani.  This NGS history is fascinating and rich.

THURSDAY, March 20.  Mostly cloudy or fair, high 40s-56 (at Rigby), wind a
steady 35 m.p.h. gusting to 50.   

Blackwater N.W.R.  7:15-9 A.M. only.  Not many birds, but 16 AMERICAN WHITE
PELICANS.  Tidal water very high, impoundments merely high after being
below normal since last summer.  The marsh at Sewards has been burned,
revealing some 85+ Muskrat lodges, many of them, admittedly, old and small.
 1 Fox Squirrel.   81 Tundra and 5 Mute swans.  42 Green-winged Teal in
Pool 1.  2 Horned Larks.  1 kingfisher.  190 Canada Geese.  45 Mallards. 
55 Forster's Terns, most seen from Route 335. 1 Greater Yellowlegs.  9 Bald
Eagles.  1 Common Loon in northward flight INTO the gale force winds. 
Winds so strong the car heaves back and forth, making binocular use
difficult.  6 Tree Swallows.  2 black ducks.  only 4 great blues.

Pick up 'the Mudhen' from winter storage at Gootees in Golden Hill, where
there is a Bald Eagle and a kingfisher.

3 Wilson's Snipe in the Bellevue Rd. field puddle.  

8 Wild Turkeys across from the entrance to the Campers' properties,
Bellevue Road.

A small, mangy Red Fox at Harbourtowne Country Club. 

At Rigby:  Liz hears a Great Horned Owl at 2:45 P.M.  1 Cabbage White.  1
Painted Turtle in the vernal pool of Woods 4.  14 deer.  

FRIDAY, March 21.  fair, NW 20+ - <10 - calm at day's end, 46-60, tides <
normal.  53 at 7:30 P.M. but chilly.  

A stately procession of unusual, lenticular clouds comes in from the WNW in
mid-afternoon, somewhat reminiscent of the upper parts of some of the
famous photographs of the nuclear explosions at Bikini Atoll (one of these
is in the aformentioned NGS history, page 414).  Other clouds are shaped
variously, including one that looks like a giant squid, another a chambered
nautilus.  Rorschachs in the sky.  

Calm, glassy conditions and excellent visibility on the Choptank mouth
allow good estimates of birds, many at good distance, via careful,
protracted use of the 32X scope, 6-7:30 P.M.  Most interesting are c. 4,120
Surf Scoters, 4th highest for here.  Higher skunkhead counts are c. 5,000
on March 28, 2004, 4,320 on March 27, 2004, and 4,000 on March 14, 2002.  

Also out there:  30 Northern Gannets, 16 Horned Grebes, 325 Buffleheads, 11
Canvasbacks, 110 Herring Gulls, 12 Common Goldeneyes, only 6 Long-tailed
Ducks, and the first Double-crested Cormorants of the year, groups of 4 and
5.  See only 1 boat, a strange, barge-like vessel.   

Also:  12 Cedar Waxwings, 6 American Black Ducks, 4 Common Loons, and an
early Chipping Sparrow (patronizing the corn, as are, off and on, small
numbers of whitethroats, Song Sparrows, Blue Jays, American Crows,
cowbirds, cardinals, robins (!), a few juncos, a flicker (!), redwings,
and, of course, deer, and, you may be sure, Gray Squirrels).  We do not
have feeders here; we just put out corn on the ground.  Previous early date
for Chipping Sparrow: March 29.  1 ea. of Cooper's & Sharp-shinned hawks,
and Northern Harrier (ad. female) plus an ad. Bald Eagle.  See 2 Ospreys
with fish.  

5 deer.  3 Cabbage Whites.   

Took delivery of a new refrigerator, the 17-year-old+ one failing.  Used
the new Poulan 16" chainsaw for the first time.  Dozed in the sun in
mid-afternoon.  First cookout of the year.    
  
SATURDAY, March 22.  Fair becoming overcast, 46-58, NE 0-10-NW 10-5 late,
with occasional light sprinkles.  

to Blackwater & Hooper's Island with the inimitable Jared Sparks.

Cambridge.  House Sparrows already active at the Wawa at 5:43 A.M.

Blackwater N.W.R.  6:45-9:30 A.M.  12 Wood Ducks.  33 AMERICAN WHITE
PELICANS.  10 Chipping Sparrows.  Singing are 3 Song & 2 Field sparrows.  3
Common Mergansers.  200+ Snow Geese at great distance S. of Blackwater
River.  45 Dunlin.  28 Tundra Swans.  6 Brown-headed Nuthatches.  8 Cedar
Waxwings.  1 Pileated Woodpecker.  67 Fish Crows.  65 Northern Shovelers. 
7 Lesser & 5 Greater yellowlegs.  1 Fox Squirrel.  3 Laughing Gulls.  4
Horned Larks along Egypt Road calling in the pre-dawn darkness.  An Orange
Sulphur.  2 Painted Turtles.  A 2' Garter Snake basking on the pavement,
contending for the Darwin Award, perhaps, or else possibly inspired by the
old blues lines (nothing worse than a suicidal serpent):

"I'm gonna lay my head on some lonesome railroad tie,
Let the 3:19 train ease my worried mind."

Hooper's Island but also including Swan Harbor.  9:45 A.M. - 12:30 P.M.  2
BROWN PELICANS.  10 Bonaparte's Gulls, 235 Dunlin, 1 male Boat-tailed
Grackle, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1 Black-bellied Plover & 35 Sanderlings, 6
Double-crested Cormorants, 10 Brown-headed & 1 Red-breasted nuthatch all
from the Birchmeiers' dock and feeders at Swan Harbor, and our thanks to
Neil & Kate B., a most hospitable couple.  9 Great & 1 Snowy egret.  8
Laughing Gulls.  6 Northern Gannets.  75 Surf Scoters.  10 Red-breasted
Mergansers.  4 Bald Eagles.  35 Horned Grebes.  16 Long-tailed Ducks.  8
Common Loons.  20 Boat-tailed Grackles, 19 of them just S. of Narrows Ferry
Bridge.  100 Tundra Swans on the E. side of Barren Island.  95 Buffleheads.
 14 Lesser Scaup.       

Back at Rigby, do a "sea watch" 5:15-7:15 P.M. from Lucy Point.  only 8
gannets but much plunge-diving.  28 Horned Grebes, all of them slowly
swimming out of Irish Creek to spend the night offshore where they're
presumably safer from predators.  80 Herring Gulls.  Only 1 boat seen.  3
Canvasbacks.  1 Bonaparete's Gull, a "yard" year bird.  Still no Laughing
Gulls here.  Earlier in the day Liz sees 4 flickers and a Sharp-shinned
Hawk.  4 deer.  4 Common Loons.     
SUNDAY, March 23.  clear, NW 10, tide < normal, 37-50, a cold day.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker calls 3X in yard, a year bird.  4 gannets.  2
goldeneyes.  1 imm. Bald Eagle.  3 Canvasbacks.  1 Forster's Tern.  My
impression is that there are more Northern Cardinals than usual this year. 
1 Red-tailed Hawk.  Non-avian taxa: 1 Orange Sulphur, 1 Gray Squirrel, 1
deer.  

Bellevue, Talbot County, at mid-day:  an ad. Northern Gannet RIGHT IN THE
TRED AVON RIVER between Bellevue and Oxford.  55 Lesser Scaup.  6
Canvasbacks.  2 Red-breasted Mergansers.  100s of scoters over towards the
Choptank Light.

Headin' home:  8 deer W. of Easton near Leehaven Road.  9 Wilson's Snipe
and a pair of Canada Geese in the little wet area 0.2 mi. N. of routes 481
X 309 and E. of the road.  3 kestrels along Rt. 481.  A Red-tailed Hawk
roadkill on the E. side of the center strip at mile 102.5 of Route 301.  3
Wood Ducks in the pond made by damming the Sassafras River E. of Route 301.
 

COLD WEATHER FISHES.  I am indebted to Ferry Neck neighbor Ed Kilduff for
this information, some of which he gathered from authorities he knows. 
Apparently more Mehaden are staying in the mid and lower Bay in winter,
permitting some gannets and Brown Pelicans to overwinter.

the "OCEAN VICTORY" comes a cropper.  My previous posting related the
sighting from Taylor's Island of this sorry-looking craft.  Thanks to
kinsman Laurence Driggs for recent news that the ship has been forced to
anchor off the Patuxent River mouth with a drunken crew of illegals.  Jared
and I saw a ship there on Saturday that must have been this one.  The Bay's
answer to 'the Flying Dutchman?'  The Patuxent River bridge is easily
visible on days of good vizibility from Hooper's or Taylors's islands.  

FAVORITE SIGN of the week somewhere in Cambridge listed today's special and
its components ... "plus waitress, $13.95."  Eliot Spitzer, have I got a
deal for you.

Best regards to all, such as they are. - 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 ....)