FERRY NECK, BLACKWATER N.W.R. & SWAN HARBOR, OCTOBER 19-24, 2011, a time of kinglets and eagles. also: The Big Year.
OCTOBER 19, WEDNESDAY. Arrive c. 3:45 P.M. overcast, very humid, E 10-15, 71¡ãF. and steady, light rain mostly. From the dock: 870 Canada Geese, 9 Forster¡¯s Terns, 2 Snowy Egrets, a Common Loon, and, Larry, 2 Mute Swans (in later days to be 6). Has dried out a lot lately, or else, simply maintained the same moisture levels as a week ago.
EVEN IN DEATH. To my astonishment there is a dusk roost, 6:15 P.M., of Bald Eagles in this majestic, dead oak that died in 2010, 7 adults and 3 immatures. This tree has a girth of 13¡¯11¡±, a Shumard Oak I believe it was ID¡¯d as. We do not see the roost later in our visit. Nor have we seen anything like this previously.
OCTOBER 20, THURSDAY. An awful day in spite of abundant sunshine with strong, blustery winds 25-30 m.p.h. and a high tide that almost covers the dock, today¡¯s low tide the equivalent of a normal high tide. I stay away from the Choptank River trail, certain I¡¯d be sickened by the erosion (that turns out, on inspection Friday, to be considerable but not as bad as anticipated). Breakers in the cove break diagonally on the rip rap on the N side of the cove, ripping along the shore like the Wabash Cannonball. Flags on two poles on Deep Neck blow upwards, a sure sign of strong winds. 57- c.65¡ãF.
There¡¯s compensation in a WESTERN SANDPIPER, a new Yard Bird, species 269. Other stuff: 2 Snowy Egrets (very tame), 5 Royal Terns (2 fly by over the fields, low, calling, at 6:30 P.M.), 6 Mute Swans (3¡á, 2¡â, one grown youngster). Both kinglet species heard by Liz. 2 Great Black-backed Gulls (unusual in the cove). A mystery raptor goes by at head level in the gathering darkness, 20 feet away, shoots by, at 6:40 P.M., probably a Merlin or a sharpie.
Am on the dock 8:45-11:15. We walk the Olszewski Trails. They are in good shape but lack grass cover almost entirely ¡ too much shade. We sit in the SE corner of Field 4 11:45-1:30. 4 deer, 1 Gray Squirrel.
Raptors: 30 Turkey & 10 Black vultures, 14 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, 4 Ospreys, 9 Bald Eagles, and 1¡â Merlin. I watch the site of yesterday¡¯s eagle roost 5:45-6:45 but ¡ no eagles. This summer¡¯s Osprey nest platform at the head of the cove has a lonesome Jimson Weed growing in it.
Butterflies: 3 Monarchs, 5 Buckeyes, 2 Orange Sulphurs, 8 Cabbage Whites & 5 unID¡¯d sulphurs.
OCTOBER 21. FRIDAY. In contrast to yesterday¡¯s outr¨¦ high tides today the water lets out to the end of the dock, sheer mud. Best are 7 Semipalmated Plovers, a flock out over the Choptank River mouth headed west, a new late date. Ten Surf Scoters are slightly early. Three Chimney Swifts, widespread in the middle Atlantic this fall, in good numbers, and getting late. Three Ruby-crowned Kinglets foraging in the American Hackberry in front of the house.
Butterflies: 2 Buckeyes, 6 Cabbage Whites, 2 Orange Sulphurs, 2 Monarchs plus a few dragonflies (Green Darners?).
INTRUDER. Get up at 6:15 A.M. Right after I turn on one of the lights there¡¯s a knock on the door. Still pitch black outside. Scary. We¡¯re real isolated. A young man, Bruce, in socks, says his car has broken down. Liz calls his mother, who lives somewhere between Easton and Oxford, yet doesn¡¯t know where Royal Oak is. Then Liz calls the police. We send him on his way out the drive. 15 minutes later I investigate all of Ferry Neck but see neither him nor a broken down car. On the way back there he is with a police car. Bruce has broken into a neighbor¡¯s garage.
One neighbor suggests he is a victim of acquaintances who take Bruce from their party, remove his shoes, and dump him out in the middle of nowhere, apparently a not-uncommon practice (that has a name not suitable for mentioning in this forum) of teens who tire of one of their own, a prank or cruel form of ostracism, tantamount to kidnapping. Liz and I are interviewed by a policeman later. Bruce¡¯s father has been bellowing BRUCE, BRUCE, through the woods to the bewilderment of another Bruce, Bruce Olszewski, who is hunting our woods with our blessing, having shot a 7-point buck on Thursday.
OCTOBER 22, SATURDAY.
I am in Dorchester County most of the day but these get seen here, mostly by Liz: A Common Loon captures 2 Hogchokers. A Great Egret late in the day at the head of the cove. Two Ospreys, one with a fish. 2 kingfishers. 2 phoebes. 195 unID¡¯d crows. 12 Ruby-crowned & 6 Golden-crowned kinglets, hover-gleaning like all get out. A catbird. 20 yellow-rumped warblers. 19 waxwings. 2 brown creepers. 30 robins. 3 hermit thrushes. A great horned owl calling at 6:35 P.M. 35 species. A Gray Squirrel and a Red Fox.
OCTOBER 23, SUNDAY. Big Sit out at the end of the dock, 8:15 A.M. ¨C 7 P.M. Wind calm almost all day, otherwise light & variable 5 m.p.h. or less, 48-61¡ã F., clear, the few clouds being off to the N or NE, sometimes to the W. A gem. 51 species, the most surprising misses: Carolina Wren, Northern Cardinal, Royal Tern, Mourning Dove, & Great Horned Owl. A few years ago a Big Sit on the other side of the house netted 60 species.
Eleven raptor species, 137 total, 63 of them vultures, 74 otherwise). Their direction of flight is to the S; most of them first located by looking NE. High tide c. 1 P.M.
Of most interest: 8 small groups of Northern Rough-winged Swallows spread out through the day in configurations of 2, 3, 4, 2, 2, 5, 8 & 3 for a total of 29. These graceful swallows come through low and in direct flight to the S in contrast to today¡¯s Tree Swallows that are high and dipsydoodle around a lot. One of the trees - pugnacious little devils - is quite aggressive toward one of the roughies. This eclipses the previous property high of 15 on September 18, 1970, as well as the previous late date, October 18.
Also nice are 3 Cackling Geese mixed in with a flock of 24 Canada Geese. On first glance in the distance I am amazed to find they are not ducks, they¡¯re so small. Earlier there are 2 adult Blue X Snow Goose intergrades. Chimney Swifts are seen each day of this visit, with 3 today, surpassing each day the previous late date of October 16.
Others (complete list): common loon 6 (4 in high, migratory flight). double-crested cormorant 34 (incl. a high flock of 30 that circles in a kettle for several minutes). great blue heron 3. snowy egret 2. Canada goose 550 (260 drop in right in front of us at c. 100 yards, and are later joined by 16 small groups for a grand total of 370 in the cove). mute swan 6. mallard 1¡á. wood duck 12.
turkey vulture 55 (47 in sight simultaneously). black vulture 8. sharp-shinned hawk 39. Cooper¡¯s hawk 4. red-tailed hawk 5. red-shouldered hawk 3. bald eagle 12. northern harrier 3. osprey 3. American kestrel 4. merlin 1.
herring gull 12 (often successful partial diving for crabs, which seem dead). ring-billed gull 2. laughing gull 95 (many of them aerial hunting). Forster¡¯s tern 17. belted kingfisher 1. northern flicker 3. pileated 1, downy 1 & red-bellied 2 woodpeckers. eastern phoebe 3. tree swallow 20. American crow 60. fish crow 105. crow unID¡¯d 300.
blue jay 3. American robin 4. eastern bluebird 6. hermit thrush 1. northern mockingbird 1. cedar waxwing 55. ruby-crowned kinglet 2. European starling 16. yellow-rumped warbler 20. yellow palm warbler 1. common grackle 2. red-winged blackbird 30. song sparrow 1. white-throated sparrow 1. American goldfinch 2. Also: 1 Gray Squirrel, 2 deer.
Seen nearby by Liz: Carolina chickadee, black-throated green warbler (I leave the dock to see this but am unable to relocate it from the dock), savannah sparrow, Carolina wren, common yellowthroat, northern parula, and Red Fox.
OCTOBER 24, MONDAY. Coffee on the dock early where we see 25 species in < an hour incl. the 2 snowy egrets, 40 turkey vultures, 2 killdeer, a Carolina wren, 9 flickers,7 blue jays, 30 robins, 42 waxwings, 35 yellow-rumped warblers, and 12 bluebirds, most of these surpassing yesterday¡¯s all-day counts. Get under way for Pennsylvania at 10:45 A.M. 127 Turkey Vultures on the way north.
DORCHESTER COUNTY, Saturday, October 22:
Egypt Road. 49 Savannah Sparrows, many of them on the wires.
Swan Harbor Road, 10 A.M. ¨C 12:30 P.M. Clear to partly cloudy to mostly overcast, 60-67¡ãF., NW 5-10-15, seemingly good conditions but hardly any flight resulting. Raptors: 11 Sharp-shinned, 3 Cooper¡¯s & 2 Red-tailed hawks, 2 Ospreys, 22 Turkey & 3 Black vultures, 14 Bald Eagles (probably all resident birds). A few of the raptors are very high. Flight direction of these and the flickers is to the N, into the wind.
Also: Virginia Rail 2, Great 1 & Snowy 3 egret, 22 flickers, Great Blue Heron 3, Forster¡¯s Tern 6, Brown-headed Cowbird 425, 1 phoebe, Blue Jay 2, Laughing Gull 275, Tree Swallow 475, Song Sparrow 1, cormorants 7, American Black Duck 3, and Yellow-rumped Warbler 3. Also, 3 Buckeyes.
Swan Harbor per se. Sanderling 2, Dunlin 2, Brown Pelican 3, Herring 175 & Great black-backed 50 gulls, Common Loon 1, Bald Eagle 6, Ruddy Duck 12, cormorant 60, tree swallow 35, and Canada Goose 12.
Route 335 X Blackwater River: Ruddy Duck 2, Snowy Egret 2, Bald Eagle 4, and Forster¡¯s Tern 2.
Blackwater N.W.R. (the work on the dikes is almost complete, may be so at this time of writing; in any case, the entire Wildlife Drive is open on weekends, except for the end of the Observation Site, where a low observation platform is under construction).
Forster¡¯s Tern 91 (many of them at the Sewards causeway), Chipping Sparrow 12, Bald Eagle 9, 9 comorants, 2 Northern Pintails, 1 Northern Shoveler, 1 Gadwall, 4 Blue-winged Teal, a killdeer, a kingfisher, a Great & 3 Snowy egrets, and 330 starlings.
Non-avian taxa: 9 Red-belly Cooters, 10 Painted Turtles, 3 Buckeyes, and a Fox Squirrel.
TWO COMMON ERRORS I frequently see: Semi-palmated Plover or Sandpiper, should be semipalmated. Forester¡¯s Tern, should be Forster¡¯s Tern. Then there is my erratic use of capitalization of bird names¡¯ 1st letters, placing numbers before or after their names, etc.
OCTOBER 25, TUESDAY. THE BIG YEAR. When I first heard about this waves of apprehension and dread swept over me. As someone said on one LISTSERV they anticipated birders being made to ¡°look like a bunch of clowns.¡±
This was not the case for Liz and me, who saw it in a theater today, with one other person present (a theater that does not advertize and even top box office movies draw few there, which makes it delightful [Plymouth Meting Mall cinema]).
Sure, there are plenty of birds in the wrong places, a Great Gray Owl in Virginia, a Pink-footed Goose in a tiny pond on top of a mountain), but like Winged Migration, or whatever it was called, it is the symbolism and general drift of the story that matter most.
Last night we also saw the preview of ¡®Happy Feet 2¡¯, which features a puffin in Antarctica.
There¡¯s good acting in The Big Year. The 3 main characters are well-crafted with some nuances. Angelica Huston is effective as a Debbie Shearwater type (a type consisting of one person). This past weekend ¡®The Big Year¡¯ didn¡¯t make the top 10 but it was 8 the previous weekend.
I especially liked some of the birds getting good billing. A pair of Bald Eagles talon-clasping, cartwheeling through the air. A paean to the golden plover¡¯s heroic migration. The Sooty Shearwater is featured also but in a less definitive light.
What I imagine is the communal grunge, if not squalor, of Attu comes across well. High Island, an unbelievable place when blessed with a fallout, gets one here that is unbelievable, in a different sort of way.
The Big Year could have used more good music, during the movie, such as Rockin¡¯ Robin, a great song in 1958 when I was a college freshman. The best music, as often happens, is after the movie during the credits, crafted to make one feel great when you leave.
One of my good friends, among the top 10 of North American listers, called last weekend; he¡¯d just seen it for the 2nd time, planned to buy the CD. Some other hard chargers I know think The Big Year is O.K.
It has been overbilled as a comedy. There are a lot of comedic touches but it tells the stories of the 3 main characters well, very different people, and we get to see their relationships, all with attractive women, and how these change, or don¡¯t, through the course of the year, and also brief glimpses of their personal aftermaths to their big years. Brian Donnehey (sp?) is the skeptical father of one of the three fellows. Their relationship is especially affecting.
Is ¡®The Big Year¡¯ good for birding? I think so.
Best to all. ¨C Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.
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