FERRY NECK and BLACKWATER N.W.R., April 12-19, 2010 (in full).  Previously I had left my notes in MD but prepared a preliminary and incomplete report from memory that was posted earlier.  Observations are at the family back 40, Rigby’s Folly, unless otherwise indicated.
            Monday, APRIL 12.  In our Philadelphia yard, 7 Gray Squirrels before we leave, about as many as we ever see simultaneously, and displaying all manner of antics:  tree chases, ground chases, chases involving both milieu, assumptions of the Weltanschauung posture, furious whiskings and flickings of bushy tails, feedings upside down in our 3 Droll Yankee feeders (as if they are nursing on them), constantly in motion, or else, frozen for long periods, scoldings, breathtaking leaps from one tree top to another, and, as always, cacheing corn and sunflower kernels, or else digging them up, voraciously feeding on corn kernels scattered on the lawn, and so on.  A mammal for all seasons, and as entertaining a one as you could ask for, but much vilified by most, including the majority of birders I know.  I don’t understand it.  Please, and you know who you are, kindly reconsider.  
            79 Turkey Vultures on the way down from Philadelphia.  27 Fish Crows in Middletown, DE, where they seem to be attracted by all the construction and development.  Pond near Hope e. of Rt. 481: 1 Great Blue Heron with a small fish, 115 Ring-billed Gulls, 1 Wild Turkey.  Pond near junction of rts. 481 & 309: 3 Green-winged Teal, 2 Mallards, 2 Canada Geese, 7 Pectoral Sandpipers & 5 Painted Turtles.
            At Rigby’s Folly, 2:45 until dark: 33 Northern Gannets, 34 Lesser Scaup, 3 Bald Eagles, 860 Surf Scoters (previously erroneously reported as 830), 10 Common Loons, 1 ♂ Common Goldeneye, 9 Forster’s Terns & 20 Laughing Gulls.  Spring Peepers and Fowler’s Toads calling after dusk.  Intact shell of mature Diamondback Terrapin found in the middle of the Big Field.  6 Cabbage Whites.  
            Excellent visibility (gulls visible around pilings s. of Black Walnut Point, 7 miles away).  Clear or fair but with very thin and high haze, 70, NW5 – calm - <5S.  63 at 9:30 P.M.  Liz and I watch from Lucy Point as 4 or so one-foot long fish (Striped Bass would be my guess) aggressively chase tiny baitfish, which jump from the water’s surface in panic.
            Tuesday, APRIL 13.  BLACKWATER N.W.R. including lower Shorter’s Wharf Road, 7 – 10:45 A.M.  Calm-NE15, 50s, raw, cold, overcast, waters low.  64 species.  Encounter Diane & Chris Fisher of East Granby, CT, and bird with them most of the morning.  
            3 American White Pelicans, 30 Green-winged & 2 Blue-winged teal, 6 Wood Ducks, 3 harriers, 20 Bald Eagles, 2 American & 32 Snowy egrets, 1 Cattle Egret (Liner’s Road), 6 Greater & 12 Lesser yellowlegs, 40 Least Sandpipers, 1 ad. breeding plumage Bonaparte’s Gull, 3 Pileated Woodpeckers, 2 male Purple Martins, 25 Barn Swallows, 3 Brown-headed Nuthatches, 1 Brown Thrasher, 8 bluebirds, 5 yelowthroats, 1 Ovenbird, 1 singing Field Sparrow (Egypt road, near the eagle nest), 1 ad. White-crowned Sparrow, 2 Virginia Rails, 1 Barred Owl, 8 & Seaside Sparrows.
            Also: 3 Southern Leopard Frogs, 5 Sika Elk & 1 deer.
            The rest of the day spent struggling, unsuccessfully, with a tangle in my boat trailer power winch which was not my doing.
            Wednesday, APRIL 14.  Fair becoming clear, NE5-SW5, 47-63.  <0.5” rain yesterday.  Out at Lucy Point ONLY 2 Common Loons, 4 Buffleheads, and one gannet; the Choptank River mouth has become almost desolate, very disturbing.  Trails and driveway mowed today by Kennedy Lawn Service, taking from 7:20 A.M. until 8 A.M.  2 Bald Eagles, 4 Mute Swans, 6 Forster’s Terns, 35 Lesser Scaup, 1 Cooper’s Hawk, and 19 Turkey Vultures in sight simultaneously (day total of c. 24).  A Red Fox.  A Painted Turtle and a d.o.r. Mud Turtle nearby (4” carapace).  
            Elsewhere: 18 Wild Turkeys s. of Rt. 33 and w. of St. Michaels, 7 turkeys in Royal Oak.  15 Green-winged Teal off Ferry Neck Road in the rather-new pond near Ulmer Road.  20 deer near the Easton airport, where we pick up Liz’s sister, Dorothy, and then repair to Chesapeake Landing Seafood Restaurant and Takeout for a good meal.  A neighbor has had an Osprey nest on top of their boat.  This has been removed only to have the Ospreys build a nest on top of their chimney!  
            Thursday, APRIL 15.  Clear, 54-73, WSW or SW 5-10.  An imm. Bald Eagle, 1 Bank Swallow, 8 gannets, 7 Surf Scoters, 6 Buffleheads, 20 Lesser Scaup, 6 Mute Swans.  I clear the Choptank River trails of 5 fallen Black Locusts, now preferring a bow saw to a chainsaw, unless the tree in question has a diameter of, say, over 6”.  Seen today: 35 Diamondback Terrapin, 1 deer, 2 Gray Squirrels, a Muskrat, a Red Fox, a Fowler’s Toad, 2 S.Leopard Frogs, and a Mourning Cloak.  Son, George, and his fiancé, Laura Oppenheim, arrive.  Abigail and Tony Higgins, of Martha’s Vineyard, visit, help us ID some plants.  
            Friday, APRIL 16.  Fair, SW5+ - NW 10-15, 60-80, becoming overcast, WSW 15-20, then nearly calm.  71 at 9:30 P.M.  85 Surf Scoters, 8 gannets, 7 Common Loons, 1 cormorant, and 3 Herring Gulls, and, that is IT for a “sea watch” at Lucy Point, slim pickin’s, @ c. 8 A.M.  Otherwise, elsewhere on the back 40, 32 Lesser Scaup, 2 Common Loons, 3 Ruddy Ducks, and a couple of Barn Swallows.  George finds a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and a White-eyed Vireo, the latter a record early arrival date – by a day.  
            17 Diamondback Terrapin, lots of Fowler’s Toads calling on the s. side of the Big Field, and 18 cormorants going over high.  1 Wood Duck.  Dorothy, Liz and I chaperone my boat 44 miles to down below Blackwater, where the marina struggles with the power winch tangle for 1.25 hours, sometimes 2 staff at once, and finally it is fixed.  Phew!  
            At Golden Hill we see a Tiger Swallowtail, 1 imm. Bald Eagle, 2 Brown-headed Nuthatches, 1 martin, 2 Barn Swallows, and a Pine Warbler while waiting for the power winch fandango to end.  The American White Pelican is still at Sewards.  Ten Wild Turkeys near the junction of Bellevue & Ferry Neck roads.
            Saturday, a.k.a., to many, as APRIL 17.  60-74-55, mostly overcast becoming fair (most of the day), NW15+ building to a scary 30+ in the evening.  A Lucy Point sea watch out to the Choptank River mouth reveals only 1 Osprey, 1 Common Loon, 1 gannet, and all of 1 Herring Gull – it continues to be bleak there.  From our shoreline 8 active Osprey nests are in sight, a record.  Derek Ayres and daughters Anne and Mary arrive.  
            I put the guests to work cleaning ditches and culverts along the s. side of Field 4, clearing The Pond trail through Woods 7, and 6 of us spend a full hour disposing of c. 190 cuttings I made earlier in the year along the Olszewski Trails, that is, we drag them off of the trails and back out-of-the-way into the woods, sometimes cutting in 2 or 3 the largest ones.  The O. Trails are largely submerged; it is a slog.  But during this work we see a Garter Snake, 2 Spotted Turtles, a Mud Turtle, a Fowler’s Toad, a Common Whitetail, a Painted Lady, and 12 leopard frogs.  2 Red Foxes.  A flock of presumed Mute Swans, an astronomical 9, goes over Field 2, a large number these days.  During the evening cookout, conducted by Derek, a Bald Eagle tangles with an Osprey over the Big Field.  2 Bald Eagles today.
            Sunday, APRIL 18.  Fair, mercifully the winds have subsided to 25-20, 46-62 degrees F., cold.  Son-in-law Mike Solomonov arrives in the wee small hours.  All 9 of us sail on board the skipjack ‘Rebecca T. Ruark’ under the tutelage of Capt. Wade Murphy.  
            An oysterman for decades, Capt. Murphy is something of a national registered historic landmark himself, full of stories, facts, humor, and charm.  We are with him 10:45 A.M. – 2 P.M.  He gives us an extra hour +.  I’d recommend sailing on the ‘Rebecca Ruark’ to anyone.  A great experience.  410-829-3976 cell; 410-886-2176 home.  
            By doing so you’re helping to maintain and preserve a splendid old working sailcraft of which there are only a dozen or so remaining.  On board, sailing up Harris Creek, we see 2 American Oystercatchers (which often hang nearby at Knapps Narrows), 4 Bald Eagles, 20 Lesser Scaup, 6 Buffleheads, 20+ Ospreys, 12 Common Loons, and 2 Bonaparte’s Gulls.  Laura takes a lot of photographs of all of us, one to be used in our end-of-year letter around Christmastime.  
            Back at Rigby’s Folly: 14 Forster’s Terns.  6 Wild Turkeys at Bellevue X Ferry Neck roads.  George and Laura take off, George to give a talk at the annual banquet of the Hudson-Mohawk, NY, Bird Club entitled “Pornithology,” on the breeding strategies of birds, in case you might have been wondering.  I certainly was, at least initially.
            Monday, APRIL 19.  Drop Dorothy off at the Easton airport for the shuttle to B.W.I, then head back to the city of brotherly love, once dubbed by the local Chamber of Commerce “The City That Loves You Back,” but, just in case, we are sure to lock the doors anyway.               Best to all. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.  April 29, 2010, several days late and $$ short.   		 	   		  
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