NOVEMBER 27-30, 2010, FERRY NECK, BLACKWATER N.W.R. & ELLIOTT ISLAND ROAD.
            NOVEMBER 27, SATURDAY:  
            Rigby’s Folly, 3 P.M. ‘til dark only, but I take a nap soon after arriving.  Bruce Olszewski sees 12 Wild Turkeys on his eponymic trails.  He shoots a buck with a broken leg, a good one to slay.  A few Tundra Swans and Canada Geese going over which I hear from my bed.  Soy beans still unharvested.  47°F., clear, WNW 25-20 m.p.h.  Water in ponds and ditches has lowered a lot.  
            NOVEMBER 28, SUNDAY:
            Red Fox at Royal Oak, 5:21 A.M.
            Blackwater N.W.R., 7 A.M. – 2:45 P.M. (birdwalk 8 A.M. - 1:30 P.M. with Jane & Bill Hill, Kate Murphy, Arnold Simon & Levin Willey).  Clear, 36-49, wind NW5, tidal waters low, impoundments pretty high, some skim ice.  54 species.
            Snow Goose 0, Tundra Swan only 44, Northern Shoveler 40, Northern Pintail 165, Green-winged Teal 145, Hooded Merganser 5 (possibly 10), Ruddy Duck 16, Pied-billed Grebe 1, American White Pelican 1, Double-crested Cormorant 2 imm. (at Sewards; 1 with a White Perch), Bald Eagle 20, Northern Harrier 3, Cooper’s Hawk 1, Peregrine Falcon 1 ad. ♀ over the V.C., American Coot 5, Greater Yellowlegs 11, Dunlin 17, Fish Crow 3, Tree Swallow 5, Brown-headed Nuthatch 3, Eastern Bluebird 6, Cedar Waxwing 4, Slate-colored Junco 20, Brown-headed Cowbird 90, House Finch 3.
            We have excellent, extended views of 3 Fox Squirrels and 1 Sika Deer.  Also present, 3 regular old deer and a Buckeye.  The length of the bushy tails of some Fox Squirrels is amazing, often longer (and thicker) than the rest of the body, and seen to good effect on the striking postcard photograph of the species by Mary Konchar as well as a new T-shirt, both on sale at the V.C.
            I transport an injured American Bittern with a broken leg that the refuge has taken under its wing.  It was hit on Hip Roof Road.  I transfer it to Susan B. Feldhuhn, who does admirable volunteer work for Tri-State Bird Rescue.  She’ll deliver it there at Newark, Delaware.  Tri-State could use more volunteers on the E. Shore of MD.  www.tristatebird.org  
            Back at Rigby’s Folly, 3:45 P.M. until dark:  70 Tundra Swans, 2 Common Loons, 65 Buffleheads, 1 Bald Eagle, 1 Great Blue Heron, 9 robins, 75 Surf Scoters, and a kingfisher.  See 9 deer (8 does and a 6-pt. buck, cowering in Woods 2, wondering what I am going to do, I’d guess).  A Sycamore I transplanted from Philadelphia perhaps 35+ years ago, now has (and has had for some time) some leaves that are 13” wide.  
            Contractors have planted 9 oaks to mitigate for some of the trees destroyed during the shoreline replenishment project.  This is mandated by the permitting agencies in spite of the fact that there are several thousand trees in these areas that would not have been there if I had not taken 9 acres or so out of cultivation in the late 1960s.  The oaks are in batches of 3 with 1 Willow Oak and 2 Shumard Oaks in each group.  They’re all 10-12 feet high.  I hope they prosper.
            Tundra Swans seem late.  I’ve hardly seen any.  Looking back over peak counts here, most of them are grouped much earlier, such as 2,175 on Nov. 5, 1995, 750 on Nov. 11, 1973, 460 on Nov. 2, 1996, 400 on Nov. 3, 1984, and so on.
            NOVEMBER 29, MONDAY:  
            A d.o.r. 2.5’ Black Rat Snake at the intersection of Ferry Neck and Ulmer Roads.  
            Blackwater N.W.R. – Sewards.  For the 1st time in perhaps the last 40 visits I fail to see the American White Pelican.  
            At the temporary Visitor Center I buy 3 of the attractive, tan, large coffee mugs with 9 species, “Birds of the Chesapeake Bay,” very well executed, in bas-relief: Osprey, Black Skimmer, Mallard, Canada Goose, Great Blue Heron, Wood Duck, Green Heron, Bald Eagle & Laughing Gull.  
            The Visitor Center has been relocated to the right just past the Contact Station and Wildlife Drive entrance, due to a large, upcoming expansion of the permanent Visitor Center.  This may go on for several years (?).  The merchandise has all been relocated there but I’ll miss the many mounts, maps, and exhibits of the old place, which is closed.  It’s regrettable that some of the nice trees and plantings will be destroyed in the process.  Most of Wildlife Drive will be closed on Friday, December 3, for the deer hunt.
            Leisurely drive from the refuge to Elliott Island Road while Brahms’ 4th plays on 89.5, my 1st pick symphony to take if exiled to a desert island.  The only leaves left are of oaks and beeches.  It’s not quite winter, still just barely fall.  Near the entrance to Greenbriar Swamp (Longfield, Area-U) is a Fox Squirrel tail, the rest of it missing.  There’s a cluster of hunting trucks there, one with MD tags GUTPILE, as in the deer hunter’s mantra “Happiness is a warm gut pile.”  Whatever turns you on.  At Bestpitch 2 Dunlin and 4 Black Vultures.   
            Elliott Island Road: a 7.2 mile walk to test my somewhat arthritic right knee, 11:40 A.M. – 4:20 P.M., from the Island Creek public launching ramp S to the S end of Langrells Island and back.  Bleak but lovely – clear, excellent visibility, high 40s to 55°F., wind SE 5 becoming calm, tide low becoming very low, mosquitoes as bad as they’ve been at any time this year.  Complete list:
            Canada Goose 3, Tundra Swan 9, American Black Duck 22, Great Blue Heron 6, Turkey Vulture 7, Bald Eagle 6, Northern Harrier 9, Virginia Rail 5, Greater Yellowlegs 3, Dunlin 9, Wilson’s Snipe 1, Ring-billed Gull 30, Herring Gull 1, Short-eared Owl uno (great view for minutes on end as it hunts at close range in bright sunlight right along the road), Belted Kingfisher 1, Downy Woodpecker 1, Northern Flicker 1, American Crow 260 (going to roost; didn’t hear any Fish Crows), Carolina Chickadee 4, Brown-headed Nuthatch 6, European Starling 45, Yellow-rumped Warbler 6, Seaside Sparrow 1, Song Sparrow 7, Swamp Sparrow 1, twitterkins the junco 5, Red-winged Blackbird 16, Eastern Meadowlark 1, American Goldfinch 6.  No mammals.  
            Walk marred by innumerable, pugnacious 10-wheel trucks roaring by, servicing a 0.4-mile area of shoreline restoration, costing you and me $2,551,252.  These trucks probably do damage to the road, which, even without them, is subsiding in numerous small transverse areas.  Most prevalent road shoulder trash: Marlboro packs, Budweiser, and Coors.  No hunters seen S of Savanna Lake.    
            After the walk: 3 American Wigeon and 3 Hooded Mergansers at Gadwall Bend.  Out on Fishing Bay: 1 Red-throated and 95 Common loons, and 5 Canvasbacks, plus 2,300 Ruddy Ducks (not a careful estimate).  
            At Rigby’s Folly, 7:35 P.M., an opossum at the bend of the driveway.
            NOVEMBER 30, TUESDAY.  Just close down and leave for Pencilvaineyeay.  Working in and out of the garage I slam doors, pop noisy lids off and on, while a Black Vulture eyes me from atop the dying Red Maple right over the garage, unimpressed with the commotion.  A single, lonely juvenile Tundra Swan in high flight over the vast fields of Route 481.  An adult Bald Eagle at routes 481 X 301.
            NEW BOOK, A GOOD ‘UN.  There’s a great new book that anyone with the slightest interest in the well-being of birds I’d think would want to acquire.  The American Bird Conservancy guide to bird conservation by Daniel J. Lebbin, Michael J. Parr & George H. Fenwick (U. of Chicago Pr./Lynx, 2010, 446 pages, $45.00).  Excellent maps, photography, authoritative text, covers South America, too, although the emphasis is on North America.  The photographs of Maryland’s own Bill Hubick are featured: “We would especially like to thank the four photographers who provided the bulk of the photographic material for this book …” and he’s one of them.  
            The Preface makes the most sense of anything I’ve read concerning how many actual birdwatchers there are.  Some widely cited totals seem way too high to me, and to ABC.  The Preface also raises the point that the majority of birdwatchers are not especially activist.  These and other candid points are presented reasonably and convincingly here.  That’s my take.  
            Best to all. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.