FERRY NECK, June 19-22, 2009, a time of harmless family activities with Liz, daughters Mary & Anne, sister-in-law Dorothy Mallam, niece Norah Mallam, and Derek Ayres on hand. Slack tide, with no bird migration noticed.
Friday, June 19. From 3 P.M. on only. Fair, 84-76 degrees F. 3 Ospreys chase an adult Bald Eagle out over the cove at Edwards Point. 36 Canada Geese. Anne, Mary & Derek see a small fawn nursing. 11 Diamondback Terrapin at the mouth of the cove. Liz hears a Chuck-will’s-widow at dusk. Sizeable Green Tree Frog chorus from The Pond (west end of Field 7), a new location for them, as of this year.
Saturday, June 20. Overcast with rain in the morning, then fair, E5 becoming SW 10-15. 74-83. 2 Brown thrashers, not always present here in the summer. Carolina Wrens have constructed a dummy nest in a hard hat on a bench on the front porch. This white hat is resting on its rim, was found by Bob Ringler on the Dorchester islands June 2, and bears these markings: Dominion [power and light?], “accident free 2008 award,” Cove Point LNG [liquefied natural gas], “safety, security & environmental training,” RICHARD.
We see a Double-crested Cormorant capture and eat an eel. An Osprey lands in (i.e., does NOT dive into) the water and takes off with what looks like a White Perch. Later see an adult Herring Gull do the same. BUTTERFLIES: 1 Red-spotted Purple, 2 Orange Sulphurs, 10 Little Wood Satyrs. See 5 Common White-tails, first of the year here for these dragonflies, which favor the driveway, especially on the south side of Field 4. Do 1.5 hours of trailwork, clipping, etc., in the rain on the Beach and Choptank River trails, during which I step on a large female Box Turtle (unharmed), look down and there is a smaller female right next to it.
The 6 others visit the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, here there is an exhibit of classic old wooden power boats (22nd Annual Antique & Classic Boat Festival). The Olszewski Trails are about one-half submerged and with numbers of baby Fowler’s Toads. Ben Weems visits briefly bringing homemade bread, a biography of Freya Stark (great Middle East adventurer, 5’1”, lived to 100, 1893-1993) Passionate Nomad, and returning several Wilfred Thesiger books.
Sunday, June 21. Mostly overcast becoming fair, NW 20-25, 74-80. 2 adult Bald Eagles and an adult Red-tailed Hawk. Find a dead Box Turtle on the edge of the lawn, perhaps left by a predator, that may have been repelled by the repugnant, throbbing activity of maggots inside its shell, one of the worst odors I’ve ever experienced. A young Five-lined Skink on the front porch, their favored locality. A pair of Chipping Sparrows, so harmless and inoffensive as to be almost beyond belief. Use chainsaw to clear 2 Black Locusts, fallen across the Choptank River Trail.
Monday, June 22. Today and the previous 2 characterized by fair, breezy, cool Canadian summer type weather, lovely, bands of Stratus marching across the sky from northwest to the south. Our guests leave. A bad year for ticks (good for them, bad for us) and the Sea Nettles are in in numbers in spite of the abundant rains since April, which normally delay their arrival. Complete trimming on all of the trails except for one spot on the SW side of Woods 8 where a couple of Red Cedars have fallen, bringing with them a mass of roses, grape, and honesuckle up to 8 feet high. This will take an hour or so to clear later on. The fields remain unplanted and the erosion control work on the banks by Tyler Contracting Co. has not begun, all due to the well-above average rains, going on now for 3 months. A relaxing long weekend with cookouts, cocktails, conversations, solitude, reading, some jogging, 1 wader, walks, Balderdash (a game), and watching the cove.
Best to all. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.
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