HOOPER’S ISLAND & FERRY NECK, February 2-4, 2010.
MONDAY, February 1. On the way down: 31 Horned Larks on road shoulders of Rt. 481. Rigby’s Folly, late afternoon only: 80 Tundra Swans, 1450 Canada Geese, 45 Canvasbacks, 165 Surf Scoters, 90 Buffleheads, 1 Bald Eagle, 1 Great Blue Heron (headed south - a good move). Clear, calm, 39-34, high tide.
TUESDAY, February 2. Rigby’s Folly, fair becoming overcast, calm – SE 5, 26-39. 40 species. In the cove a pair each of Hooded Merganser and Gadwall, species not seen here every year. A 360 degree sun dog develops by mid-day, forecasting the c. 1” of snow to come tonight. 13 deer (1 buck), 10 of these visible on Holland Point from Lucy Point. 4 Gray Squirrels, one running off with an entire corn cob. Bare areas of ground in a few protected places. A lot of seed fall, presumed Loblolly Pine seeds.
Also: 1 ad. Red-shouldered Hawk, 85 Herring Gulls (many standing on small, isolated, submerged ice blocks making it look as if they’re standing on the water’s surface), 165 Buffleheads, 140 Surf Scoters, 1 Common Loon, 1 Horned Grebe, 60 Tundra Swans, 5 Black Vultures (2 perched in the walnut tree right over the house), 120 starlings, 4 flickers, 25 robins, 1 black duck, 15 goldeneye, 30 waxwings, 305 Canvasbacks (at the mouth of the cove, a pure flock), 3 male Red-breasted Mergansers, 16 Lesser Scaup, 1 Swamp Sparrow, 1 ad. & 1 imm. Bald Eagle.
WEDNESDAY, February 3. HOOPER’S ISLAND but also including the nearby areas of Swan Harbor, Meekins Neck & Lower Keene Broad-Great Marsh Creek. 7 A.M. – 6 P.M. 77 species. I’d wanted to start at 6, but in spite of a 4:30 A.M. wakeup the new snow slows things down considerable. 48 mi. by car, 2 by foot.
WATERFOWL: 18 species totaling c. 7687 individuals. Many of these are at distance in the Honga River and some of the estimates are casual. In order of abundance: Ruddy Duck 3000, Mallard 900 (huge dusk flight from the farm ponds between Spicer & Wallace creeks; also several hundred at Mallard Haven at the n. end of Meekins Neck Road), Lesser Scaup 850, Tundra Swan 780, Canada Goose 600, Canvasback 485, Bufflehead 400, Redhead 300, Northern Pintail 85 (with the Mallards), Common Goldeneye 80, Surf Scoter 75, American Black Duck 70 (mostly with the Mallards), Long-tailed Duck 45, Hooded Merganser 6, Greater Scaup 5 (probably many more present but most of the scaup are distant and presumed to be predominantly lessers), Mute Swan 4, American Wigeon 1, Green-winged Teal 1.
In spite of much scoping of the glassy waters: no Red-breasted Mergansers – hard to believe. Especially since other piscivores are present in good numbers – for mid-winter: Common Loon 13 (one uttering its wail call when an ad. Bald Eagle flew over it) and 15 Horned Grebes. Eight Bald Eagles is not a great total for here. One of them, an ad., dove at a Mallard on the water. No gannets, cormorants, or pelicans; I didn’t expect any, but some would not have been a total surprise.
In Honga a Sharp-shinned Hawk dives acrobatically at a passerine and disappears behind a bush, where an American Crow dive bombs it.
Also: Pied-billed Grebe 1, Great Blue Heron only 6, Northern Harrier 4 (3 of them ad. females; 1 ad. male), Red-shouldered Hawk 1, Clapper Rail 1, Virginia Rail 2, Sanderling 4 & Dunlin 170 (Swan Harbor), Wilson’s Snipe 1, Bonaparte’s Gull 8 (Swan Harbor), no owls, Pileated Woodpecker 1, Fish Crow 1, Brown-headed Nuthatch 3 (1 at the Birchmeiers’ feeder feeding voraciously yet also calling almost continuously; too much coffee today?), Winter Wren 1, Golden-crowned Kinglet 3, Hermit Thrush 2, Red-winged Blackbird & Common Grackle 2000 or so, big flight at dusk headed from lower Hoopers Island to across the Bay apparently), Brown-headed Cowbird 40.
I almost opted to cruise north Dorchester’s field roads in hopes of finally adding Lapland Longspur to my county list but the pull of Hooper’s Island couldn’t be denied. The recent count of 20 Lapland Longspurs in north Talbot County has to be one of the all-time state highs. Not too long ago there were no Talbot County records.
I am amazed to find some field birds at Hooper’s Island, where there are only a few small fields. A Horned Lark and 7 American Pipits (groups of 2, 3 & 2) are foraging right next to the road. Normally if I see them here they’re flyovers. Also see 6 Killdeer. The sparrow show is very good, almost all of these on the road shoulders like the pipits and lark:
SPARROWS: Song 87 (used the clicker to keep track of these), Chipping 47 (a single group at St. Mary’s Star of the Sea R.C. Church), White-throated 30, Fox 19, Savannah 3, Swamp 3, Field 1, plus 35 juncos.
Missed: Black Vulture, kestrel, yellowlegs, waxwing, towhee, meadowlark & Boat-tailed Grackle.
Mammals: 2 Sika Deer the only ones. Good article on them in Tidewater times, the monthly freebie available in stores (February 2010, p. 21-30, by John M. Scanlon). This publication consists mostly ads, real estate, and guides to major central Eastern Shore towns (with maps and lists of events), 4.5 X 6 inches, c. 175 pages each month. Many of the articles are vacuous but the one on Sikas, “exotic alien,” mentions that 6 were released on James Island, Dorchester County, in 1906 and more c. 1920 on Assateague Island. “DNA studies have shown both herds to be virtually identical and to have originated from Yakushima Island, Japan” (p. 22). I’ve found that Sikas, a small elk, are abundant along Griffith Neck Road (between Bestpitch and Elliott Island Road) and once saw 78 in one field there c. 3:45 A.M. one May night. I also like Tidewater times because on p. 43 it lists the tides each month.
WEATHER. Worth the trip just for the variable weather. Starts off with a heavy dusting of snow, c. 1 inch, which makes driving on side roads somewhat dicey. Last night’s snow completely covers the Loblolly Pines with a talc-like battering, beautiful winter scenes. Some of the saplings are weighted down, bent by the heavy, wet, slushy snow, which has also plastered the SE sides of the big trees. But all of the tree snow melts by early afternoon. Visibility ¼ - ½ mile or less most of the morning. Overcast.
By mid-morning the snow on the trees is in continuous fall. Sun, an opaque silver disk, trying to come through the cloud cover in late morning. Becoming fair by noon, clear by 12:30, fair again by 3:30, then overcast from 4:30. Much of the afternoon is calm, permitting excellent opportunities to scope the mirror-smooth waters. Winds north at 10 when not calm. 34-42 degrees F.
Great shafts of light coming through the clouds in mid-afternoon. Tide very low by mid-morning. Ice out from protected bay areas 100 yards or more. Big rectangular ice blocks concentrated on the east side north of Narrows Ferry Bridge. Tar Bay sandbars covered with snow. Marsh grasses matted down with heavy, wet snow (what’s a poor rail to do?) and oriented to the south due to earlier strong north winds. Wind 15 m.p.h. and cold at dusk. Most of the tidal guts and ditches frozen. Tide ebbing again by 4 P.M.
A Raccoon at Gum Swamp 6:06 P.M. Two Raccoons and 2 deer (does) at Key Wallace Drive 6:12 P.M.
THURSDAY, February 4. Four Gray Squirrels in the yard availing themselves of the corn plus a Sharp-shinned Hawk. I try for the 4th time for the Queen Annes County Northern Shrike, again with no luck. Dan Small said he did a 2.5 hour survey there today but did not see the shrike.
SNOWFALL so far on Ferry Neck is 25 inches, 16+ in December and 9 in January, well above normal for the season, with a blockbuster snow storm forecast for this coming weekend (cf. Star democrat, Feb. 4, 2010, p. A1, by Carolyn Swift, quotes John Swaine, who farms our fields).
“There’s plenty of room for Alaska’s animals … right next to the mashed potatoes.” Sarah Palin.
“Game breeding is an art … The way to go about it is first, destroy all your cats; next yard up and control all your dogs. Indifferent persons should not be allowed to own dogs, or rather to have dogs own them. Then make brush and thick bush clumps where game can retreat and be safe from their enemies. Trap all mice, rats, cats, weasels, mink, skunks, foxes, opossums, raccoons, coyotes, and worthless hunting curs. Use a .410 on red squirrels, water snakes, screech owls, blue jays, crow blackbirds. Poison the crows.” – American duck, goose & brant shooting by William Bruette (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1934), p. 239, from the chapter “The vermin question.” “If you want a bird paradise, it is necessary to keep bird enemies controlled. Murderers cannot be allowed … Just imagine, if all the murderers in Chicago are hanged, how real estate values in that city would soar!” – p. 244.
Best to all. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.
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