From: Harry Armistead [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 2:28 PM
To: Norman Saunders
Subject: Ferry Neck, July 18-21, 2008; Dick Kleen memorial service.

 


Ferry Neck, July 18-21, 2008, revised.‏


From:

Harry Armistead ()


Sent:

Tue 7/22/08 6:21 PM


To: 



Rigby's Folly, weekend of July 12-13.  George A. entertained 7 or so guests
then and didn't have much time for birding but does see a Bald Eagle over
the dock, an Indigo Bunting, Orchard Oriole, several Purple Martins, a Blue
Grosbeak, and a Spotted Sandpiper (early migrant).  Also, a very young
Raccoon apparently falls out of the hollow Black Locust right next to the
house, where there is an adult and another youngster.  George's recent tour
group in Alaska saw a Rufous-tailed Robin found by others earlier, the 2nd
North American record, the first record had been a few days previously (?)
out on the Aleutians.  George's folks also found 6 Snowy Owl nests.  They
were plagued by a lengthy foggy period in Nome.      
 
Ferry Neck/Rigby's Folly, July 18-21, 2008 (Fri. - Mon.).  4 very hot days
of fair eather with moderate winds from the SW (NW on Mon.), with temps from
c. 78-95 each day.  Not conducive to a lot of outdoor activity.  It's
getting REALLY dry; I fear the drought's well underway.  Fields STILL not
planted, luxuriant as a result, with vege mostly 4'-7' high.
 
A bad year for Yellow-billed Cuckoos in places I haunt.
 
Friday, July 18.  2 P.M. - 9 P.M. only.  2 Cedar Waxwings.  1 male-plumaged
Belted Kingfisher (early migrant).  188 Common Grackles (probably many more
but I don't start counting them until I notice a flight is going on).  1
Wild Turkey in the Campers' driveway.  2 (possibly 3) Wood Ducks.  2 adult
Canada Geese with 7 very large goslings.  a Pileated Woodpecker drums just
once.  At least 2 young in the Barn Swallow nest under the catwalk; hard to
tell how many when you're reduced to just feeling them.  An Eastern Kingbird
dipping on the surface of the cove.  
 
Also: some Fireflies.  1 Diamondback Terrapin.  3 Common Wood Nymphs.
Half-grown Fowler's Toads rather widespread.
 
85 degrees F. at 9 P.M.    
 
Picked up 2 shorebird decoys/carvings my friend Bob Anderson of Norfolk
recently purchased & will deliver them to him over Labor Day Weekend, these
from Guyette and Schmidt, Inc., of St. Michaels, "the world's leading decoy
auction firm" ()  G&S operate out of a beautiful
farm where there are "rescued" horses.  In their shed there are hundreds of
spectacular decoys and carvings as well as an equally-spectacular, late
model Mercedes Benz convertible sports car.  Gary Guyette, when he first
sees my car, asks: "Are you a birder? I've seen your car at Elliott Island."
 
Saturday, July 19.  Deep blue sky with dramatically-contrasting, big, white
puffy clouds.  84 degrees at 9:45 P.M.  Take a  walk 2:25-4:15 down the
drive to the woods & around the Olszewski Trails.  
 
12 Ospreys in sight simultaneously, and the 2 youngsters in Mike Davidson's
nest platform are jumping up into the air, flapping their wings "in place",
then dropping back onto the nest.  At times they leave the nest, only to
return later.  They're just about launched.
 
DICK KLEEN'S MEMORIAL SERVICE was today at Christ Church (Episcopalian) in
St. Michaels.  Three persons were listed in the service brochure for
"tributes" but an additional 10 gave them, too, most of them neighbors or
former students.  On display in the parrish hall were dozens of photographs
of Dick, his track and cross country teams, his chess team, birding shots of
him, and much else.  Dick had specified how much of the service was to go.
One hymn is the incomparable "Abide with me: fast falls the eventide."  At
the service I remember seeing Don Meritt (whose eulogy was superb), Wayne
Bell, Steve Ford, Les Roslund, Margie Steffens, Jan Reese, Terry Allen, Bill
& Myra Novak, Lester Coble, John Valliant, Herndon & Gail Steilkie, Tom
Miller, Maggie Briggs, and Shirley Bailey, many others.  
 
Looking back over my records I see that Dick was at Rigby's Folly with the
Talbot Bird Club, August 25, 1955, when we saw 30 Bobolinks.  Rigby is no
great shakes in late August.  I bet Dick took the club here so that it would
make me feel good and to encourage a rather unknown and raw young birder.
Dick's interests included irises, hunting mushrooms, the stock market,
McDonald's memorabilia, political memorabilia, opera, history, country &
watern music, and so much else.  
 
When William F. Buckley died earlier this year someone quipped that God (or
was it St. Peter?) had better have a dictionary.  I'd say that when Dick
goes through the Pearly Gates they'd better have an encyclopedia, and be
prepared for some good laughs, and a great time.  How we do miss this
marvelous man.         
 
2 female Wild Turkeys escorting 5 small poults, incapable of flight, c.
bobwhite-sized.  19 Purple Martins, coursing over the fields, like small
raptors; 2nd highest property count.  2 adult Red-tailed Hawks.  3 flickers
along the Olszewski Trails, where almost 12 years after being logged, the
woods are maturing nicely and becoming quite open, should be attractive to
Chuck-will's-widow and Wood Thrush soon.  1 Bank Swallow.  2 Least Terns.
32 Laughing Gulls.  1 Snowy Egret.    
 
Also: 7 Common Wood Nymphs.  4 deer.  3 waxwings.  A hen Mallard with 5
small, downy young swims in from Irish Creek, her little charges actively
diving, not realizing as dabbling ducks they're not supposed to.  1
terrapin.  1 Least & 1 Forster's tern.  5 Chimney Swifts.    
 
LOW S.A.T. SCORES.  Liz sees a Gray Squirrel several times try to leap over
our canoe, which rests on its edge against a Black Locust, instead of
walking around it.  The squirrel has some trouble getting any purchase on
the very smooth, fiberglass canoe hull.  
 
Sunday, July 20.  The nearly full moon at 2:45 A.M. shines through the
windows like a searchlight.
 
2 Snowy Egrets.  17 Canada Geese fly in and land in the cove and 2 others,
perhaps cripples, swim in to join them.  Not one Purple Martin today.  1
Eastern Cottontail, which have been scarce here this summer.  At 2 P.M. go
to Environmental Concern, Inc. (www.wetland.org <http://www.wetland.org/> ),
in St. Michaels where there is an 'ARTIFACT ROADSHOW."  I take a few that
I've found at Rigby's Folly, one an axehead fragment that is apparentl
several 1,000 years old.  The Archaeologist, Darrin L. Lowery is very
informative and knowledgeable, as well as witty and entertaining.  Darrin is
Executive Director of the Chesapeake Watershed Archaeological Research
Foundation.  A bunch of characters show up with artifacts they have found.


Monday, July 21.  13 Ospreys in sight simultaneously.  The Mallard family is
now down to 4 ducklings, and boy did they scramble over the surface of the
cove when I snuck up on them this morning.  There are 3 young Carolina Wrens
in a big flower pot with Impatiens and several other flowering plants on the
north side of the house and only a foot or so off of the ground.  They're
about ready to fledge.  Spend an hour walking the Irish Creek, Choptank
River, and Warbler trails.
 
"Wetland planting guide for the northeastern Unites States: plants for
wetland creation, restoration, and enhancement" by Gwendolyn A. Thunhorst
(Environmental Concern, Inc., 1993, 179pp., plastic ringbound.  Gives useful
information on wetland plants, such as those below, although the comment
that "Iva frutescens" is good for nesting Red-winged Blackbirds and Roseate
Spoonbills (the only birds mentioned) is slightlky hilarious. 
 
MUD PLANTAIN, a.k.a. Water Plantain, "Alisma plantago-aquatic" ("Alisma
subcordatum"), p. 27.  I've watched this attractive aquatic plant spread in
ditches on the central Eastern Shore but didn't know what it was until I
recently asked Jan Reese.  It never used to be at Rigby's Folly but now
there are c. 24 plants in the ditch along the south side of Field 4, plus
one in the Waterthrush Pond, and one in The Pond.  Right now some of them
are blooming, a rather bare stalk with widely separated branching slightly
reminiscent of Wild Asparagus that is higher than the rest of the plant.  I
can see in my fantasies an out-ot-range crake or gallinule nestled among
these.  Not very likely.
 
MARSH HIBISCUS, a.k.a. Rose Mallow, "Hibiscus moscheutos," formerly known as
"Hibiscus palustris", p. 56.  We've lost the 1-2 representatives at Rigby's
Folly that used to grow and bloom up on our shoreline about where Irish
Creek meets the mouth of the Choptank River.  Last year was the first time I
noticed they were gone.  Curiously one of them appeared this month in the
ditch mentioned above, growing midst Broad-leaved Cattails.  This is over
200 yards from the nearest permanent water or tidal marsh.  I'm hoping it
will bloom soon.  These are the plants that bloom by the thousands at
Blackwater in Pool 5. 
 
PHILADELPHIA PLUMBING DISASTER.  At 11:45 last night Liz woke up to the
sound of water cascading down our walls.  A pipe burst in the 3rd floor loo,
releasing water at a rate such as a garden hose on full.  This went on for
c. 15 minutes with water pouring through the ceiling of the dining room,
several rugs completely soaked, and standing water in the basement.  Liz,
and I and our plumber worked on cleaning up from midnight until 3:45 A.M.
today.  I lost several natural history books and a dozen current nature and
bird journals, and the book described above was also soaked.  We'd planned
to come home today, in which case we'd have been faced with 14+ hours of
water flow vs. 0.25.
 
Best to all. - Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.

 

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