>From: Harry Armistead <>
>Date: 2008/07/03 Thu PM 03:14:52 EDT
>To: Norman Saunders <>
>Subject: Dorchester County, July 1; Ferry Neck, June 30-July 2, 2008.
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><TD class=ReadMsgSubject colSpan=2>Dorchester County on July 1, 2008</TD></TR>
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><TD class=SecondaryTextColor>From:</TD>
><TD><SPAN id=PresenceContainer><B>Harry Armistead</B> ()</SPAN></TD></TR>
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><TD class=SecondaryTextColor>Sent:</TD>
><TD>Thu 7/03/08 7:09 PM</TD></TR>
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><TD class=SecondaryTextColor>To: </TD>
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>RIGBY'S FOLLY, Armistead property near Royal Oak, MD, Talbot County.<BR> <BR>Monday, June 30, 2008. A very small fawn on the driveway edge at Field 4, still unsure of its legs. 1 Gray Squirrel. A Great Horned Owl calling at 7:35 P.M.<BR> <BR>Tuesday, July 1. a Brown Thrasher.<BR> <BR>Wednesday, July 2. Great Horned Owl calling at 5:20 A.M. Bill Kleh sees a kingbird, a Red-bellied Woodpecker & an Indigo Bunting. After he leaves for Bethesda I find a Pileated Woodpecker, a singing Wood Thrush, 1 Black Vulture, and a calling Yellow-billed Cuckoo. <BR> <BR>It's started to dry out here but there are brief downpours in the afternoon on Monday and later on during the early hours of July 1. Fields still not planted.<BR> <BR>SOUTHERN DORCHESTER COUNTY, Tuesday, July 1. 9:45 A.M. - 11:00 P.M. 131 miles by car. Bill Kleh and Harry Armistead.<BR> <BR>91 species. If we had started
> at 5:00 A.M. instead of 9:45 A.M. I am sure we would have "broken" 100. As it is 91 is probably a high total for me here for July. <BR> <BR>No Black Rails (or King Rails). Surprising misses: Tricolored Heron, Black-necked Stilt, Ring-billed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Rock Pigeon, Great Horned Owl, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Fish Crow, Brown Thrasher, Prairie Warbler. A very poor day/night for amphibians. Is this part of the world undergoing an amphibian catastrophe as so much of the rest of it is?<BR> <BR>It would have been surprising 15 years ago but in these times it is not surprsing that we miss Blue-winged Teal and Gadwall.<BR> <BR>Route: Egypt Road, Old Field Road, Blackwater N.W.R., Hip Roof Road, Swan Harbor, Shorter's Wharf Road, Cambridge, Route 50, Elliott Island Road.<BR> <BR>Fair, 67-84 degrees F., winds NW 10-15, mostly towards the 15 side, high tide (higher than normal) to
> low tide (lower than normal). Like a pleasant day in early October, low humidity, a nice breeze, few bugs, beautiful cloud formations.<BR> <BR>ABBREVIATIONS: EIR, Elliott Island Road. HRR, Hip Roof Road. SH, Swan Harbor. SWR, Shorter's Wharf Road.<BR> <BR>Highlights: <BR> <BR>American Black Duck only 3. Wild Turkey 9 right in extreme South Cambridge (Appleby X Goodwill Avenues) plus 1 other somewhere else. Northern Bobwhite 5 "singing" birds. Brown Pelican 35 at SH, high for there. Glossy Ibis 1 EIR. Black-crowned Night Heron 2 EIR. Bald Eagle c. 22. Northern Harrier 3, 1 SWR, 2 EIR. <BR> <BR>Clapper Rail 1, EIR, Virginia Rail 15, 14 EIR & 1 HRR. Common Moorhen 2, EIR. American Oystercatcher 2, SH. Willet all of only 3: 1 SH, 1 SWR, 1 EIR. Laughing Gull 85 SH. Forster's Tern 80 SH (NONE seen on all all-day boat trip on June
> 21). Royal Tern 2 EIR. Least Tern 8, Best Value Inn in Cambridge.<BR> <BR>Yellow-billed Cuckoo only 2. Eastern Screech-Owl 1 village of Elliott. Chuck-will's-widow 3, EIR, 2 of them seen. Ruby-throated Hummingbird 4. Red-headed Woodpcker 1 adult, great views at close range, HRR, flycatching as Lewis's Woodpeckers do, same genus. Red-bellied Woodpecker, only 2, SH.<BR> <BR>Eastern Kingbird only 3. Brown-headed Nuthatch 3 SH. Marsh Wren c. 22, some nest-building. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1 SWR. Eastern Bluebird 28. Wood Thrush only 1, Blackwater N.W.R. European Starling c. 475, still the breeding season but already they've started building flocks. <BR> <BR>Cedar Waxwing 1 EIR. Prothonotary Warbler 3 Egypt Road. Worm-eating Warbler 1 Old Field Road, good views. Ovenbird only 1, Old Field Road. Summer Tanager 4. <BR> <BR>7 SPARROW SPECIES
> including: Grasshopper Sparrow 2, Egypt Road. Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow 7, EIR. Seaside Sparrow 45, some carrying food. Swamp Sparrow 2, singing, EIR. <BR> <BR>Blue Grosbeak 20, at least. Indigo Bunting 12. Eastern Meadowlark 5. Boat-tailed Grackle only 1 distant male, EIR. House Finch 8 SH.<BR> <BR>No sign of the Dickcissels on Egypt Road. <BR> <BR>Also: 3 Red Foxes, 6 deer, 1 Fox Squirrel (a "Super 'Poo"; good views at SH), 1 bat, 3 Eastern Cottontails. 1 Diamondback Terrapin (captured as it sat right in the middle of the road), 3 Painted Turtles. <BR> <BR>Butterflies: didn't pay much attention but did see: 5 Monarchs, 3 American Ladies, 1 Black Swallowtail, 7 Orange Sulphurs, 6 Cabbage Whites & 6 Buckeyes.<BR> <BR>HEADIN' HOME, July 2, an American Kestrel at milepost 93, unusual and rare in the central peninsula in the summer.<BR> <BR>NIAGARA
> FALLS. June 29, 3 Peregrine Falcons upstream from N.F. while birding with Liz's cousin, Whitney Mallam. The Falls are an incredible spectacle, the force and power of that water. We rode the "Maid of the Mist", especially impressive when you are almost under the Canadian Falls (Horseshoe Falls). Later in the day a Coyote lopein' along the south shoulder of I-90 at 10 A.M. <BR> <BR>Best to all. - Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.<BR></DIV></DIV><br /><hr />Enter the Zune-A-Day Giveaway for your chance to win — day after day after day <a href='http://www.windowslive-hotmail.com/ZuneADay/?locale=en-US&ocid=TXT_TAGLM_Mobile_Zune_V1' target='_new'>Enter Now!</a></body>
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Norm Saunders
Cambridge & West Ocean City, MD
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