FERRY NECK, CAMBRIDGE & BLACKWATER N.W.R., FEBRUARY 10-15, 2011.  Unless otherwise noted sightings are on Ferry Neck at the Armistead property, Rigby’s Folly. 
            THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10.  56 Turkey Vultures on the way down.  A Bald Eagle over I-495 E of Wilmington at mile 10.5, where I’ve never seen one before.  Four Wild Turkeys at routes 301 X 481, seen by Liz while I napped in the car, then 12 others E of St. Michaels in their favorite field S of Route 33.   
            Arrive at Rigby’s Folly at 2:30 P.M. and see from our dock 430 Canada Geese, 27 Ring-billed & 3 Herring gulls, 21 Ruddy Ducks, 10 Buffleheads, and 2 Tundra Swans.  In Field 6 are 81 American Pipits, a record count by 26, the previous high being 55 on December 19, 1954.  Also, a Red-tailed Hawk, 5 Gray Squirrels, and a Red Fox.     
            NW 10-15, Clear, 37°F., very low tide out 20 feet from the base of the dock.   
            FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11: 
            SHORT BUT SWEET.  6:30-10 A.M.  The excuse is to go to Washington Street in Cambridge to get a quart of oysters from Kool Ice and 200 lbs. of deer corn from nearby Eastern Service Corporation, but visits are made to several other, ahem, spots. 
            Blackwater N.W.R., 6:45-9 A.M.  Still quite a bit of ice, Little Blackwater River frozen and a lot of Blackwater River is, too.  20-30°F., clear, calm becoming SW5, tidal waters very low at the refuge:   
            31 Bald Eagles, 3 Northern Harriers, 230 Northern Pintails, 2 Northern Shovelers, 195 northern but not Northern Tundra Swans, 23 Black Vultures (from a roost in a Loblolly Pine stand slightly NW of the Blackwater River bridge), 1 Belted Kingfisher, 50 Mourning Doves (Egypt Road, in fields), 700 Mallards, 205 Blue and 5000 (refuge estimate from yesterday) Snow geese.  No sign of the white pelican.   
            My estimate of 705 Common Mergansers, a gonzo count for here, coincides, to my satisfaction and relief, with the refuge’s total of 700 yesterday.  Most interesting are 3 tight groups of Great Blue Herons standing in the early morning sunshine: 13, 8 and 20 respectively, most that I could see in good breeding plumage. 
            Cambridge, Oakley Street: A brief visit but enough to estimate 750 Canvasbacks, 145 Mallards, 205 Lesser Scaup, 22 Buffleheads, 20 American Wigeon, 4 Common Goldeneyes, 1 ♀ Long-tailed Duck, and a Horned Grebe. 
            Back at Rigby’s Folly from 10:45 A.M. until dark.  Conditions are very good and from Lucy Point with the scope I estimate 605 Surf Scoters, 20 Long-tailed Ducks, 1 Common Loon, and 75 Buffleheads but hardly ANY gulls.  In Irish Creek and seen from the dock are 6 Common Goldeneyes, 4 Horned Grebes, 22 Ruddy Ducks, 3 Mallards, 9 Red-breasted Mergansers, 14 Turkey & 2 Black vultures, 1 Bald Eagle, 23 American Robins, 60 Red-winged Blackbirds (going to roost in Phragmites at the head of the cove), a Bald Eagle, 22 Canvasbacks, 35 Common Grackles, and a Downy Woodpecker.  Also: 13 deer including an 8-point buck, and 3 Gray Squirrels.       
            Canada Geese have been hanging around the dock and close to our shoreline all day but when I throw 50 pounds of deer corn into the water they take off as if I’d shot at them.  Clear, 24-43°F., SW5 becoming calm, visibility excellent. 
            George and his fiancée, Laura Oppenheim, and Laura’s parents, Julie Kligerman and Jeffrey Oppenheim arrive for the weekend.  Dinner is at Mason’s in Easton. 
            SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12.  I take all 4 guests on a casual tour of some of Dorchester County, including a leisurely lunch at Old Salty’s on Upper Hooper’s Island.  Clear, 35-47°F., SW 10, chilly.   
            First off revisit the Oakley Street Canvasback spectacle where George finds 3 Redheads that I missed yesterday (2 ♂, 1 ♀) and a Cooper’s Hawk flies by.  Small group of 65 Lesser Scaup and 20 Canvasbacks across the road and slightly S of Old Salty’s in the harbor.  80 Tundra Swans shelter on the E side of Barren Island.     
            Very brief visit to Blackwater where there’s a ♂ Ring-necked Duck I missed yesterday plus 500 Common Grackles, some splendid with iridescence in the sunshine.  The big Snow Goose aggregation is still resting in Pool 3B, where they seem to be most of the time now; perhaps they do their feeding at night.  See a Sharp-shinned Hawk fly across Egypt Road.  Back at our place a Bald Eagle roosts in a tree at Frog Hollow; I am sure there’s a nest nearby.   
            SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13.  A low key, lazy day.  Overcast, 39-50°F., SW 10-15.  Leisurely breakfast with guests, who depart for touristy things in St. Michaels.  The American Pipit flock has increased from 33 on January 24 to 81on February 10 to 90 today, when Liz and I see them in Field 4 along with a beautiful Red Fox with a most luxuriant tail.  6 Eastern Bluebirds.  155 Canada Geese in Field 1.  2 Sharp-shinned Hawks flying together.  5 Gray Squirrels.  Laura’s scottie, Ida, unearths a young Black Rat Snake from a pile of leaves where I had buried it, either torpid or recently deceased – I could not tell which – earlier in the winter. 
            MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14.  Five ♂ and 3 ♀ American Wigeon consort with 14 adult Tundra Swans up towards the head of the cove.  That’s the way it used to be, all the time in the cold months, back before the grasses died out: the “baldpates” would hang around the big swans, gathering grasses that got away from the swans.  1 Fox Sparrow.  1 Northern Harrier getting blown S by the strong winds; under these conditions, and in the distance, it appeared quite like a nighthawk.  3♂ Wild Turkeys in Field 4.  3 Bald Eagles.  Five deer at dusk feeding on leftover corn out in front of the house.  5 Gray Squirrels. 
            Lucy Point.  What with the wind Liz and I see only 1 Surf Scoter (as compared with 605 on Friday), 8 Buffleheads, 1 Horned Grebe, 3 Common Goldeneyes, and 7 Ring-billed Gulls, the gulls apparently migrating N.   
            Liz finds a Brown Thrasher and 2 White-breasted Nuthatches along the driveway.  19 American Robins in Field 6.  90 Canada Geese in Field 4.   
            CORN: maximum counts of birds at the corn dispensed into the cove water: 1 Herring Gull, 80 Canada Geese, 2 Tundra Swans, 20 Ring-billed Gulls, and 2 Mallards.  A full 2 days passed from the casting of the corn to its exploitation by the birds. 
            Fair becoming clear then fair again, 43-60°F, then dropping from 52 to 50 by 8 P.M., SW 15-25 then NW 25-45.  I spent some time today removing oak limbs from the ditches then sawing them up for firewood and also cleared minor obstructions of honeysuckle, blackberry, fallen branches, myrtle bushes, et al. to make a clearer path up the driveway as well as along the Warbler Trail.     
            TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15.  Last night’s gale force winds pushed the water out of the Bay.  This morning at 8 A.M. the cove is exposed 93 paces (yards) from the base of the dock, the lowest tide I’ve seen in years.  However, in 1975 I was present for what I think was the lowest tide ever recorded in this region.  From my notes at the time:   
            “April 5, 1975.  4th day of gale winds; record low tide due to N. [undoubtedly NW] wind, whole cove empty; 168 paces exposed from end of dock towards [Edwards] point on other side of cove; 235 paces exposed from Lucy Pt. towards Springs’ point [i.e. Holland Point]; found beheaded 7 pt. buck in mid cove; big cedar on bank blew over … “  I can remember dry sand then, blowing in the exposed areas hundreds of feet out in front of Tranquility.  This was the tide when Warren Kucera walked around stretches of the Talbot County shoreline, finding Native-American artifacts and a flintlock pistol. 
              Clear, NW 20, 35°F. (and didn’t rise at all by the time we left at 10 A.M.).   
            a FESTIVAL OF FUR: Nine Gray Squirrels in the yard at the deer corn, a record number for the property.   
            HEADIN’ HOME:  An imm. Bald Eagle over Glebe Road X Rt. 322.  Just north of Routes 309 X 481 near the small wetland area to the E are 3000 snow Geese, 150 Blue Geese, 12 Tundra Swans, 2 Mallards, and 200 Canada Geese, all quite close.  Just S of Routes 481 X 301 are 75 Tundra Swans, 70 Ring-billed Gulls, and 150 Canada Geese.  At mile 121.5 Route 301 to the W c. ½ mile is another group of c. 3000 Snow Geese and 2 Bald Eagles, which have flushed them.  56 Turkey vultures along the way,   
            On the drive north the distant woodlands have a subtle, diffuse, light brownish cast in their upper branches indicative of the coming of spring, not noticeable a few weeks ago. 
            1979, A COLD TIME.  From my notes:  “February 17, 1976.  low of 8°F. (0°F. at the Campers’), high of 18°F., 6”-8” snow (many drifts to 1’+), 6”-8” on roof; Bay frozen to limit of visibility; drive had to be plowed; winds N 10-25; 1 rabbit, 1 deer; birds [3 White-throated Sparrows, 1 American Robin, 2 Red-winged Blackbirds, 1 Carolina Wren, 1 Northern Flicker, 35 Canada Geese, 1 American Crow “and that’s all”] desperately feeding on few bare areas; bright, crystal clear day; some snow accumulation in fireplaces & on porches; swans heard but not seen.   
            February 18, 1976, 5°F low A.M.; beautiful high, uniform Arctic gray cloud cover.”  Back then only 2 rooms in the house had winter heat, which seldom rose much above 60°F. … and there was no plumbing.   
            1982. ANOTHER COLD TIME.  January 29: “Ice to limit of visibility.  Locals say it went down to 0-8°F. earlier.  Dock at 45° angle lifted up several feet on end [by tidal ice action].  Ferry Neck Road extremely treacherous, glare ice, went off it last night 180° near the A-frame house. Ice on Frog Hollow [a pond just E of Rigby’s Folly] 1’ thick … ice heaves way up Broad Creek.” 
            On the same date in 1984 the temperature went up to 55°F. and I saw a bat, 3 Painted Turtles, and 2 Southern Leopard Frogs, and heard a big Spring Peeper chorus. 
            Best to all. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.