FERRY NECK/RIGBY¡¯S FOLLY and BLACKWATER N.W.R., FEBRUARY 25-MARCH 1, 2011. Liz and Harry Armistead.
FEBRUARY 25, FRIDAY. Only 38 Turkey Vultures on the way down due to wind and rain. At routes 309 X 481 5000 Snow & 46 Blue geese, and 2 Tundra Swans. Two Bald Eagles near their nest at Frog Hollow. Present at Rigby¡¯s Folly only from 4:45 P.M. until dark. Has rained a lot. Big oak limbs down on the driveway as one comes out of the woods. All of 8 Canada Geese in Field 2. A ¡á American Kestrel. Fair, 47¡ãF., 25-40+ m.p.h. winds. ¡°March¡± winds in my experience can occur any time from late January and on into May.
FEBRUARY 26, SATURDAY. Out at Lucy Point moderately good visibility only: 980 Surf Scoters, 30 Long-tailed Ducks, 8 Common Goldeneyes, 1 Horned Grebe, 35 Buffleheads, 32 Tundra Swans. In Field 1 (the Big Field) are 101 Ring-billed Gulls, many of them attracted to the big manure pile. 230 Canada Geese in Field 7. See the kestrel again. 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk. Only 1 American Pipit, in Field 7. 1 American Goldfinch. Mostly overcast becoming partly sunny, 37-47¡ãF., N5+ becoming S 10+, raw, cold. A Red Fox on the drive in fine pelage, probably the same one seen during the last visit.
FEBRUARY 27, SUNDAY. On the N side of the Route 50 bridge in Talbot County near the marina there is an Osprey on the nest platform adjacent to the wiring and poles, my first of the year.
Egypt Road: 130 Tundra Swans in a field to the W, 50 Mourning Doves, and 3 Horned Larks.
Blackwater N.W.R., 7:15 A.M. ¨C 12:15 P.M. A bird walk (10 of us) with Jane & Bill Hill, Barbara Knapp, Sally Neilson, Charles & Dot Low, Charles Andrews, Liz Armistead, and Elin Quigley. A little later we get completely outclassed by the Talbot Bird Club, who see a Golden Eagle, a Cackling Goose, and some Short-eared Owls nearby, all of which we missed.
But we do see: the 5000 Snow Geese (refuge estimate), 48 Blue Geese (my actual count), 225 Tundra Swans, 22 Gadwall (a lot for here), 2 American Wigeon, 40 Northern Shovelers, 20 Northern Pintails, 110 Green-winged Teal, 40 Ring-necked Ducks (Pool 1), 3 Hooded and only 3 Common Mergansers (they¡¯d peaked at c. 705 a few weeks ago when there was still a lot of ice), 6 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS (rose out of Pool 5 and settled down in the Blackwater River), 25 Bald Eagles, 3 Northern Harriers, 4 Red-tailed Hawks, 2 Killdeer, 2 Greater Yellowlegs, 4 Forster¡¯s Terns (my first of the year), 2 Fish Crows, 4 Brown-headed Nuthatches, 6 Eastern Bluebirds, and 3 Eastern Meadowlarks. Landbirds remain scarce.
40-50¡ãF., dead calm, 90% cloud cover, tidal waters low, ideal weather.
Rigby¡¯s Folly. Present only from 1 P.M. onwards. Nice ¡°sea watch¡± from Lucy Point 1:45-3:45 P.M. when mostly calm, overcast, 53¡ãF. When conditions are like this phrases from Matthew Arnold¡¯s ¡®Dover Beach¡¯ come to mind: ¡°The sea is calm ¡ the tide is full, the moon lies fair ¡ Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay ¡ ¡° Never mind that the main theme of that poem is completely inappropriate for what is going on in front of my shoreline chair.
Good results: 2460 Surf Scoters, 160 Long-tailed Ducks, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, 85 Buffleheads, 17 Common Loons, 24 Common Goldeneyes, 18 Lesser Scaup, 5 Horned Grebes, 2 Great Black-backed and 168 Herring gulls, almost all of the latter sitting on the water in the midst of the scoters.
The red conical channel marker 8 has been dislodged by the high winds and is up against the shore N of Holland Point. Only 3 three boats out on the Choptank River. Also see 14 deer including 3 does visible at Holland Point and 2 bucks in Field 4. 350 Canada Geese in Fields 1 & 2. Out in the cove in front of the house are 11 elegant Red-breasted Mergansers, 7 of them drakes.
FEBRUARY 28, MONDAY. Overcast, S 20-5, 57-53¡ãF., rain, sometimes heavy, from 12:50 P.M. until dark. The place is one big bog. Two Painted Turtles in the low, vernal pool area of Woods 4. 260 Canada Geese in Field 4. Lazed around and read today. In the yard, a propos of nothing, such as corn, are 11 Northern Cardinals, 1 Northern Flicker, 6 White-throated Sparrows, 1 Fox Sparrow, and 3 Blue Jays. Because Ferry Neck is somewhat insular (peninsular, really), Rigby¡¯s Folly even more so, there are usually small numbers of the commoner landbirds here. So it is a treat to even see this many, and these, almost simultaneously.
MARCH 1, TUESDAY. Leave at 11 A.M. but first galumph along in chest waders from the Schlines¡¯ dock to ours, which takes 15 minutes; out in the middle of the cove the mud is soft with uncertain footing. Earlier in the morning Liz sees 2 gillnetters taking in their very long net at the mouth of the cove; they look suspicious but for all we know may have the proper licenses.
As a boy I remember seeing Horned Grebes that had become entangled and drowned in such nets. A spectacular, immaculate, breeding plumage Common Loon that had been mounted but was hanging by one foot used to ornament the side of a chimney in my grandparents¡¯ home, ¡®Tranquility¡¯, adjacent to Rigby¡¯s Folly. My grandfather and name sake, Henry Tucker, M.D., had a deep interest in reptiles and birds, and I suspect he¡¯d found it in one of these nets and had it mounted.
On the way home, 68 Turkey Vultures. Just N of routes 309 X 404 there are 910 Snow and 10 Blue geese foraging. At the little pond/temporary wetland just N of routes 309 X 481 are 155 Canada Geese. In the Hope area along Route 481 are an additional 890 Snow Geese plus 9 Blues..
Along Route 301 there is a roadkill Wild Turkey in the center strip at mile 101.5 plus 5 deer in a field W of 301 and an ad. Red-tailed Hawk attracted by a roadkill furball of some kind. Two Bald Eagles engage in an energetic chase at mile 104.0. In the many wet fields between Easton and Route 301 via routes 309 and 481 are loads of Ring-billed Gulls, perhaps as many as 4000. E of Wilmington there¡¯s a Bald Eagle, in Delaware, over the Delaware River as seen from Route I-495.
A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN-A ROSE IN SPANISH HARLEM DEPARTMENT. At the 301 Plaza near Middletown, Delaware, which is basically a depressing paved area of several acres, there¡¯s a little strip right in the middle perhaps 6 feet wide and 75 feet long with some bushes, yews, etc., and a high, solid white fence down its middle.
When we stop for lunch a Song Sparrow is singing away in this tiny vegetated area. When we leave after lunch he¡¯s still there, still singing away. The sparrow has numerous, slumbering 18-wheelers on one side, a batch of parked cars on the other.
Every bit as compelling as Thomas Hardy¡¯s ¡®Darkling thrush:¡¯ ¡°So little cause for carolings of such ecstatic sound/Was written on terrestrial things afar or nigh around/That I could think there trembled through his happy good night air/Some bless¨¦d Hope whereof he knew and I was unaware.¡± You go, bird. And you, very appropriately, have one of the most mellifluous binomials: Melospiza melodia.
PATRICK O¡¯BRIAN. After years of hearing from others, and getting tired of it, about how wonderful Sanibel Island, the Galapagos, Costa Rica, and Patrick O¡¯Brian all are, when one actually gets to these, they ARE wonderful. Bob Lukens finally got me going with Patrick O¡¯Brian¡¯s, indeed, wonderful novels concerning Royal Navy ships of-the-line in the early 19th century. There¡¯s quite a bit of bird commentary.
For instance Capt. ¡°Lucky¡± Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin chow down on, of all things, Honey Buzzards (Buteo apivorus or Pernis apivorus, I don¡¯t know which is the current nomenclatural standard) and of course there¡¯s lots of seabird mention. But I am still trying to sort out the rich but endless nautical terminology, to distinguish among athwart, amidships, abeam, abaft, avast ¡ and that¡¯s just some of the letter A. Great Auk, various albatrosses and petrels, White-tailed Eagle, and many other birds come in for mention, all accurate as far as I know. At one point Dr. Maturin delivers a lecture on the extinct avifauna of the island of Rodriguez.
Best to all. ¨C Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.
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