FERRY NECK/RIGBY’S FOLLY, OCTOBER 14-18, 2010.  Bald Eagles, many sightings.
            OCTOBER 14, THURSDAY. At Middletown, Delaware: 28 Fish Crows and a Bald Eagle, the latter seen from our booth at the 301 Plaza.  Arrive c. 3 P.M.  15 deer, in Field 4.  Overcast, NE15, 57°F., rain, sometimes heavy.  Let the storm windows down.  
            OCTOBER 15, FRIDAY.  Moderately good raptor flight, including at least 8 Bald Eagles, 18 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1 Osprey, 5 Red-tailed Hawks, 6 Black and 20 Turkey vultures for a total of 58, but not all of these are migrants.  Also, a Brown Thrasher, 3 Royal Terns, a sapsucker, 4 Tree Swallows, and 2 Great Blue Herons.              BUTTERFLIES: 4 Monarchs, 1 Orange Sulphur, 4 Buckeyes, and 4 Clouded Sulphurs.  Deer: 2 bucks and 3 does.  Carl & Carroll Sheppard arrive and are our guests for the next several days.  Fair, NW20-35 m.p.h., 54-65°F.  Conditions today and tomorrow doom our hopes for launching ‘the Mudhen’ and fishing for stripers.  Choptank River is a seething mass of whitecaps.  The at times torrential rains yesterday have left abundant standing water in the fields, many of the ditches have flow, and our 3 tiny ponds are gratifyingly full.  
            OCTOBER 16, SATURDAY.  The strong NW winds continue.  Again, raptors: 8 Bald Eagles, 13 Sharp-shinned, 3 Cooper’s & 3 Red-tailed hawks, 3 Northern Harriers (1 of them an adult ♂), 2 American Kestrels, 6 Black & 20 Turkey vultures for a total of c. 58 raptors.  One of the young eagles swoops down only 100 feet from the dock, picks up a fish by its head that I estimate to be 18 inches long, then drops it.  Two other eagles, an adult and an immature are nearby, as are numerous Herring Gulls, but the fish remains uneaten by any of these.  Later, when there is an extremely low tide - mud all the way out to the end of the dock - I spot the fish and retrieve it.  It is a dead but relatively fresh (based on Carl’s assessment of the condition of its eyes) 20-inch Striped Bass.  We decide not to eat it. 
            Also of interest: a White-breasted Nuthatch in Woods 5 (not often seen here, but they have small flights in some years into areas such as this where they do not breed), 2 Turkey Vultures apparently mating perched in a high oak, 1 Common Loon, and 2 Red-tailed Hawks, also apparently mating.  Early in the morning there’s a flock of 17 Canada Geese in V formation with an anomalous Green-winged Teal, tiny by comparison, flying with them, the second bird in the top tier, right behind the lead goose.  The Sheppards see a 4-point buck, 2 does, and a fawn.  BUTTERFLIES: 8 Cabbage Whites, 7 Clouded Sulphurs, 1 Buckeye, a well-seen Question Mark in Woods 2, and an unID’d foldwing skipper, no Monarchs.  
            I’m familiar with how, by holding one’s arms straight out to the side and “flapping” them stiffly up and down as a large raptor would, one can flush gulls, sometimes at several hundred yards.  I try this with a pair of Mute Swans at home in the cove, a fixture almost, and to my surprise they leave and are not seen for the rest of our visit!  At one point today 6 Bald Eagles are in sight simultaneously.  During the entire course of our visit we see Bald Eagles frequently, often very close, right over the yard and our dock.  339 Canada Geese today.  1 Red Fox, 3 Gray Squirrels. 
            Fair becoming clear, 54-65-61-54°F., strong NW winds 20-25 diminishing to 15 then c. 5 m.p.h.    
            OCTOBER 17, SUNDAY. 445 Canada Geese, 12 bluebirds.  Present only until 10 A.M., then again after 3 P.M.  Clear, 56-72, SW 15-5+.  As blue a sky as I’ve ever seen.  7 Bald Eagles, 1 Cooper’s Hawk, 4 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1 immature ♂ Merlin streaks across Field 1 horizontally, the fighter jet of raptors, and 6 Green-winged Teal migrating through from the north, 1 Osprey (seen from my bed as I awake from a nap).  1 Red Fox, 4 Gray Squirrels, and a small buck.  
            From 10-3 we go to Tilghman Island where we are aboard the skipjack ‘the Rebecca T. Ruark’ from 11-2.  Capt. Wade Murphy, a generous soul, throws in an extra hour for us without our asking or even hinting.  A fresh breeze ensures good sailing.  He lets some of us, under his eagle eye, take the helm for a while.  My stint, a good half hour, involves returning to the harbor entrance.  Inexperienced with sailing, much less a 53’2” foot, heavy craft with a beam of 17’ and a 68 foot mast, this is an exhilarating minor adventure for me, to say the least.
            Next to the dock where the ‘Rebecca T. Ruark,’ built in 1886, is berthed is an area with abundant asters, goldenrod, and chicory that has attracted c. 20 Buckeyes, 2 Monarchs, 2 Variegated Fritillaries, 2 Red Admirals, 12 Cloudless Sulphurs, and an unID’d skipper.  During the sail, going down Harris Creek to near Black Walnut Point, we see 4 Common Loons, 6 Bald Eagles, 25 Royal and 6 Forster’s terns, 400 Laughing, 75 Herring, and 40 Great Black-backed gulls, 35 cormorants, and a few offshore Buckeyes, but no scoters.  Capt. Wade Murphy, who worked skipjacks for 47 years harvesting oysters, is full of stories, lore, and humor - a charmer - is wonderful with the 2 young children aboard.   
            OCTOBER 18, MONDAY.  Present only until 11 A.M.  3 Bald Eagles, 440 Canada Geese, 18 waxwings, 140 robins (the first fall flight I’ve noticed), 2 Red-breasted Nuthatches and 4 Ruby-crowned Kinglets (these 2 spp. found by Liz), 1 Forster’s Tern, 6 Tree Swallows, 14 House Finches (fall migrants), 1 Common Loon, 5 cormorants (hunting in the cove), 1 Great Blue Heron, 20 Blue Jays (migrants).  Numbers of Swamp, Song, and White-throated sparrows, apparently all arrivals since yesterday.  2 Gray Squirrels, 2 deer (does).  Hard to leave on a beautiful day such as this: clear, calm, temperatures in the high 50s.  
            Best to all.  ‘til the next time. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.