From: Harry Armistead [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Monday, September 08, 2008 4:05 PM
To: Norman Saunders
Subject: Hurricane Hanna - nothing good: Ferry Neck & Blackwater N.W.R.,
September 5-7, 2008.

 

FERRY NECK/RIGBY'S FOLLY & BLACKWATER N.W.R., September 5-7, 2008.

 

NO outstanding Hurricane Hanna birds .

 

The huge spaces between paragraphs continue.  We'll lick this somehow,
eventually .

 

Rigby's Folly:  Hurricane Hanna watch.

 

Friday, September 5:  Late P.M. only.  1 fawn, 1 doe, 1 Gray Squirrel, 1
Osprey still hanging around its nest, 1 Green Heron.  Overcast, 84-79
degrees F., east wind 5+, some sprinkles or very fine, light rain.

 

Saturday, September 6:  The remnants of the storm hit.  Not the most
compelling storm, but with scary moments, and not the most compelling
birding.  1.875" of rain.  78 degrees F. all day then falling to 76 at
sunset.  In spite of being one of the most protected fields, Field 4's
vegetation gets matted down by the wind and rain. 

 

44 species, including:  2 Black Vultures, an Osprey with a fish, 13 Chimney
Swifts (hunting high, even in the rain), 4 woodpecker species, 2 House
Wrens, 2 gnatcatchers (successfully foraging in the rain), 3 Black-and-white
Warblers, 1 Northern Waterthrush, 3 yellowthroats, 2 Indigo Buntings, and a
Bobolink. 

 

7 A.M.  SE 5, very light rain, 1 Green Heron, 1 ad. Bald Eagle low out over
the cove and Irish Creek flying north.

 

8:40 A.M. official high tide at Cambridge but tide CONTINUES TO RISE at
least up until 8 P.M., rising to the top of the dock.

 

9:30 A.M.  SE 10+, steady rain.

 

9:35 A.M.  some thunder.

 

10:00 A.M.  heavy rain starts.

 

10:45 A.M. rain intensifies.  E 15-20.

 

Noon-12:15 No rain.  E 25.  3 Chimney Swifts, 1 Osprey, 2 Herring Gulls, 1
Turkey Vulture, 2 Laughing Gulls.  Take short walk:  Blue-gray Gnatcatcher,
3 TVs, 1 Barn Swallow.

 

2 P.M.  Quite heavy rain. 

 

3-5 P.M.  Near calm, little rain, take a 1.7 mi. walk with oversize
umbrella.

 

5 P.M.  Wind starts to come, gently from NW, intensifies to 25, then 30, 35,
with higher gusts and more rain.  

 

6:15-7:15 P.M.  Rain stops, skies start to clear far to the west, winds
35-45.  Do a SEAWATCH at Lucy Point: = 20 Royal, 1 Caspian, 1 Common & 6
Forster's terns, 11 Herring & 5 Laughing gulls, and 1 unID'd shorebird.

 

SUNSET: a little sliver of semi-clear sky to the west, the sun lighting up
the Loblolly Pine forests behind me with the gloomy dark gray clouds above
them - spectacular scene - while the breakers and wind roar in front of me
at the mouth of the Choptank River.

 

After dark, winds continue to roar out of the NW.  Combined with the
extremely high tide this results in some shoreline erosion but no blownover
trees.  

 

NON-AVIAN TAXA.  3 Gray Squirrles, 1 fawn alone and at 7:31 P.M., right in
the yard, a doe with her 2 fawns.  1 Cabbage White, 3 Common Wood Nymphs.  1
Diamondback Terrapin in the cove.  2 Green Frogs, and, energized by the rain
after not being seen for weeks, Fowler's Toads.

 

Sunday, September 7:  Clear, winds NW 10-15-10 and falling still, 69 degrees
F., tide nice and low and will become a well below normal low later.  Do
another "seawatch" 6:45-9:45 A.M. from Lucy Point, where there's a good 45
degree view of the Choptank River mouth.  In spite of vigorous scanning with
the bins, and scopework, nothing fancy.  Perhaps the slugs on the Western
Shore will be the ones to spot any off-the-wall tropical seabirds blown in
by Hanna.  Today as yesterday all the birds (except the raptors) are beating
to the NW, purposefully, INTO the strong winds, making (especially
yesterday) slow, painstaking headway.

 

Complete list of offshore birds:  1 ad. & 1 imm. Bald Eagle, 8 Ospreys (see
them with fish 6 times), 12 Double-crested Cormorants (2 of them capture
small eels, 1 a sizeable White Perch), 27 Herring, 1 Ring-billed & 52
Laughing gulls, 1 Great Blue Heron, 28 Royal, 4 BLACK & 55 Forster's Terns.
Also: 1 Monarch, 1 Cloudless Sulphur, and 1 Red-spotted Purple.    

 

A big Five-lined Skink on the front porch, largest I've ever seen, at least
the 8.5 inches maximum listed in the Peterson reptile guide, and fat.  4
Snowy and a Great Egret in the cove.  Mary spots a big fish, c. 18", from
the dock.

 

Sunday, September 7.  Mary Armistead, Mike Solomonov, and Ofir Hatuka arrive
at 3:35 A.M., just in time.  In the afternoon we all take a low-key trip to
Blackwater refuge, 1-4 P.M.  Tidal water high, impoundments fairly high but
with, unfortunately, most of the mud covered.  Run into Melanie Lynch and
her friend, whose name escapes me.  Tickseed Sunflowers blooming profusely
in huge "stands" but most of the Marsh Hibiscus is toned down.  A day made
in heaven:  clear, low humidity, temps in the 70s or low 80s, a refreshing
NW breeze:

 

12 Blue-winged Teal, 7 Great and 25 not-so-great (i.e., Snowy) egrets, 6
Ospreys, 7 Bald Eagles, 1 Semipalmated Plover, 6 Semipalmated & 8 Least
sandpipers, 16 Greater Yellowlegs, 7 Caspian & 30 Forster's terns, 6+
hummingbirds at the Visitor Center feeder, 1 kingbird, 4 bluebirds, 1
waxwing, 1 yellowthroat, 1 male Blue Grosbeak, and a Bobolink plus 4 Painted
Turtles.

 

LOS CAIDOS, the "fallen."  Well, the trees aren't fallen yet but the drought
has killed a huge Red Maple by the garage, the one yard Dogwood, a Black
Walnut, and a Yellow ("Tulip") Poplar.  By way of contrast, one of the
medium-sized Black Walnuts is bright green and loaded down with several
hundred big nuts.  Jared Sparks' Fig ("Figby") has made it through,  Several
Gray Squirrel roadkills in Talbot County today.  In the fall they are
mast-crazed, fattening up for the winter, building up their middens,
scampering around heedless of highways.  There seem to be especially big
numbers of squirrel roadkills in October and November - every year.

 

O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,

  So haggard and so woe-begone?

The squirrel's granary is full,

  And the harvest's done.

-        Keats, 'La Belle Dame Sand Merci'.

 

RECONSTITUTIONS.  The rain builds up a little in ponds that had gone dry:
the Waterthrush Pond, the Varmint Pool, and Lake Olszewski (but not in the
Wool Sedge Depression).  By the end of the day Sunday they're about near dry
again.  

 

WEATHER REPORTING:  At Rigby there's no TV or Internet.  I rely on the radio
stations and the weather radio.  On most classical radio stations, such as
89.5 today, only the most general weather conditions get mentioned.  The
classical jocks do fine with the names of Finno-Ugric composers, obscure
French and Germanic compositions, words that are brimming over with
diacritical marks, and their ilk, but when they report weather their
enunciation of such excruciatingly esoteric terms as "low pressure system,"
"precipitation," and other exotica . it's as if they've been asked to crack
a new Rosetta Stone or translate Linear B blindfolded.  The weather radio is
even more infuriating.  At 3 P.M. on Saturday we're told Hanna's position,
as of 8 A.M., when it was (WAS, I want to know where the sucker is NOW,
please) in North Carolina.  At 8 A.M. its position is said to be "400 miles
southwest of Cape Henlopen," wherever that is.  We're given the tides for
Sandy Hook.  Normally there's endless marine forecasts for 5-6 stretches of
Chesapeake Bay, which extend 5 days into the future.  But today, during 3
cycles of reporting, the marine forecasts are given only (with no
explanation) for Delaware and just 2 Bay areas, these in Virginia.  Nothing
on where the storm's path is projected to go, or where the eye or center is.
The tornado watch is number 890; who cares what number it is?  In addition
the computer-produced "human" voices are often hard to understand.  Gary
Williamson calls the male one "Habib."   For such reasons, as well as
wanting to "enjoy the storm," I drive into St. Michaels at mid-morning
Saturday and in less than a minute find the Internet Hanna information I
want on a public library computer.  Oh, I could have called neighbors or
family at home but did not want to bother them.  Curmudgeonly but . 

 

Best to all, anyway. - Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.   

 

  _____  

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