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Ferry Neck, Pickering Creek, Blackwater & Ocean City, February 24-27, 2012.

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Harry Armistead

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Harry Armistead

Date:

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:27:03 +0000

FERRY NECK, PICKERING CREEK, BLACKWATER N.W.R. & OCEAN CITY, MD, February 24-27, 2012.  Liz & Harry Armistead.   Record numbers of scaup off our shoreline.
 
Any late February visit that sees: a Virginia¡¦s Warbler, 38 white pelicans (at least), a juvenile Golden Eagle right overhead, 3 Harlequin Ducks, 2 Blue-winged Teal, an Eurasian Green-winged Teal with an apparent Eurasian X American Green-winged Teal hybrid nearby, and 2 Piping Plovers plus an otter is a terrific trip to my way of thinking.  Winter, such as it is this year, is slipping away; I¡¦ll miss it. 
 
FEBRUARY 24, FRIDAY.  A ¡ñ Common Merganser in Wissahickon Creek where it is crossed by Stenton Avenue is unusual there on this small stream just outside the Philadelphia city limits.  We see 72 Turkey Vultures on the way down from PA.  In the vicinity of the 301 Plaza, Middletown, DE, we find 450 Canada, 500 Snow & 4 Blue geese, 2 Northern Pintails, 8 Mallards, and 25 Fish Crows.  Thousands of Canada Geese fill the skies around the intersection of routes 301 and 213.  c. 2000 Ring-billed Gulls in the fields along Sharp Road on the way in to Pickering Creek Audubon Center.  
 
At Pickering I finally, after 4 visits, get a good look at the VIRGINIA¡¦S WARBLER for several seconds, thanks to Carol McCollough.  That¡¦s enough to see the yellow on the breast and watch it pop its tail a few times as it perches briefly in full view c. 150 feet away at the top of a small tree.  How bizarre that this diminutive warbler, perhaps 2000 miles from its normal summer range, has chosen an area of only a few acres in which to spend the winter, when others of its kind would normally be in central Mexico, or even farther S.  
 
Also see an adult Bald Eagle.  There are impressive Spring Peepers choruses in the impoundments W of the entrance road, perhaps the biggest I¡¦ve ever heard, plus a few New Jersey Chorus Frogs.  Parked here are 8 birders¡¦ cars; we see Mark Hoffman, Colin McAllister, Lester Coble, and Carol.  Right after we leave there is thunder and lightning and an intense deluge that lasts half an hour.
 
Arrive at Rigby¡¦s Folly at 4:45 P.M., by which time it has become calm though still overcast, and 56¢XF. - just enough time to look around a little before dark.  45 Canada Geese are in Field 4.  Visibility is c. 2 miles or less but out from Lucy Point and in Irish Creek are: 710 Ruddy Ducks, 690 Canvasbacks, 2 Horned Grebes, 95 Herring Gulls, 975 Surf Scoters, 2 Red-breasted Mergansers, 110 Buffleheads, 85 Common Goldeneyes, 2 adult Tundra Swans, 675 Canada Geese, and 930 Lesser Scaup.
 
This scaup total surpasses the previous high for here, which was c. 750 seen by George and me on March 28 & 29, 1986.  But best of all is a River Otter today that swims the breadth of Irish Creek from Holland Point over to Lucy Point, diving repeatedly as it comes.  The tide is going out so fast that a long log offshore is moving almost as fast as the otter.  There¡¦s been so much rain that there is some current even in the nearly horizontal drainage ditches of the Big Field.  Four deer.         
 
FEBRUARY 25, SATURDAY.  Mostly overcast becoming fair, 41-46¢XF., strong winds 25-40 m.p.h. (a little scary), some virga at 4 P.M. (at Ocean City today there was a little snow).  The winds make landbirding nearly impossible.  The Choptank River becomes ¡V to employ a phrase I often use for such conditions ¡V a seething mass of whitecaps.  A good drying out day for the land.  The huge duck raft remains in the lee far up Irish Creek.  
 
I make a transit along - in this sequence - the Warbler Trail, the W sides of fields 4 and 3, N side of Field 3, E side of fields 3 & 4, N side of Field 4, and, finally, E & NW sides of Field 2, cutting most of the overhang on the fields¡¦ edges ¡K after all, this is a working farm.  
 
In the east-center of Field 3 (also called the Clover Field) are, incongruously, 70 Turnips, some the size of softballs.  The clover ¡§crop¡¨ is rich and thick, although low-growing; the deer should be happy with it.  During this walk, in the vicinity of Field 4, I see a Black and 7 Turkey vultures, a mockingbird, 8 Mallards, 70 starlings, 8 Red-winged Blackbirds, a flicker, and 3 American Crows.     
 
Most notable are huge, by local standards, numbers of scaup: 530 Lessers in Irish Creek, 155 more in upper Tar Creek, and 995 seen from the ferry landing at Bellevue, where there are also dozens of Greater Scaup plus 1500¡Ó Canada Geese and 500¡Ó Ring-billed Gulls.  I can¡¦t find any Greater Scaup, for love or money, on Irish Creek, but there are 2 Red-breasted Mergansers, an imm. Bald Eagle, a Pied-billed Grebe, 7 Common Goldeneyes, 25 Buffleheads, 970 Canada Geese, an adult Red-tailed Hawk, and 4 Tundra Swans in that area.  The eagle swoops up and down ominously over the big duck raft but nobody flushes.   
 
Today Greg Inskip witnessed a Golden Eagle near Blackwater N.W.R. capturing a Fox Squirrel.
 
FEBRUARY 26, SUNDAY.  Clear, NW 15-5 becoming SW 15, 35-50¢XF.  
 
Choptank River, Malkus Bridge.  We miss the big Snow Goose flock but they are seen by Dave Palmer et al. as part of his Talbot Bird Club field trip.
 
Egypt Road: 9 Horned Larks, 1 Savannah Sparrow, 2 Red-tailed Hawks (both redtails perched on wires).  
 
Blackwater N.W.R. 7:30-12;15.  A bird walk with Elin Quigley, Charlie Andrews, and Liz.  38 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS massed tightly on the S side of the Blackwater River.  I count them 4 times, Elin once, and each time we estimated 38.  Other counts today ranged from 36-40.  Hard to tell exactly, unless we seen them fly.  The big Snow Goose flock is also present and flushes once, calling and circling until they land again.
 
GOLDEN EAGLE.  A spectacular juvenile seen over Hog Range at the end of Wildlife Drive.  For a minute or more it¡¦s right overhead and low.
 
Also: 1 Mute Swan flies in and lands with 80 Tundra Swans in Pool 3B.  Gadwall 20, American Wigeon 2, American Black Duck 1, Northern Shoveler 160 (there¡¦s been a recent influx), Northern Pintail 38, Green-winged Teal 16, Ring-necked Duck 24 (Pool 1), Red-breasted 9 and Common 12 mergansers, Black Vulture 2, Bald Eagle 18, American Kestrel 1 (present all winter near intersection of Egypt Road & Key Wallace Drive), American Coot 3, Wilson¡¦s Snipe 9 (in front of the blind), Forster¡¦s Tern 5 (spring arrivals, probably), Eastern Meadowlark 6 & American Goldfinch 1.
 
One Sika Deer (Hog Range).  New Jersey Chorus Frogs calling from the ditches on the S side of Key Wallace Drive.
 
DeCoursey Bridge Road marsh: Tundra Swan 3 & Green-winged Teal 30.
 
OCEAN CITY, MD, area 2:15-5:30 P.M.:
 
Ocean City Inlet.  Run into Dave Brinker and Wayne Bell.  Harlequin Duck 3, Red-throated 22 & Common 6 loons, American Oystercatcher 3, Long-tailed Duck 25, Bufflehead 30, Northern Gannet 4, Surf Scoter 22, American Black Duck 20 (feeding on the N side of the S jetty), Purple Sandpiper 40, Ruddy Turnstone 1, Herring Gull 225 (actively feeding around the jetties, esp. on Mussels), Red-breasted Merganser 4.  The low tide now is c. 2¡¦ below normal.  
 
Castaways at end of Eagles Nest Road.  Huge expanses of flats due to the extremely low tide.  PIPING PLOVER 2, apparently not seen by the M.O.S. conventioneers.  They are somewhat earlier than usual even by Eastern Shore of Virginia standards (fide Alex Wilke, Pam Denmon, Ruth Boettcher).  Also: Black-bellied Plover 12, American Wigeon 50 (foraging on the W side of Assateague Island), American Black Duck 75 (likewise), oystercatcher 8, cowbird 12, Bufflehead 6, Red-breasted Merganser 5, Dunlin 475, Herring Gull 600 (taking advantage of the exposed flats and shallow waters; how they love a good, lower-than-normal low tide)
 
West Ocean City Pond: late in the day, 2 Blue-winged Teal at close range.  Will look over the pond more carefully tomorrow.  
 
We lodge at the Francis Scott Key Motel, where I¡¦ve stayed before.  I recommend it.  $73.42 got us a spacious room 4 buildings back (quiet), with HD television, a basin almost enclosed by a little alcove, a table with 4 chairs, a fridge, a microwave.  Any motel room with 3 scrap baskets is outstanding.  A Bald Eagle over the motel.    
 
FEBRUARY 27, MONDAY.  Outside our room Canada Gees on the motel grounds bugle reveille.  We rise not especially early and breakfast at the 19th Hole on the E side of Route 611.
 
Ocean City Inlet: about the same as yesterday, but the birds are farther away and there are only 2 Harlequin Ducks visible plus, not seen yesterday: 1 Double-crested Cormorant, a Black Vulture, 3 Horned Grebes, and a ¡ñ Boat-tailed Grackle.
 
West Ocean City pond: not as loaded as sometimes but there is a ¡ñ EURASIAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL, a ¡ñ apparent hybrid Eurasian X American Green-winged Teal, 27 standard issue Green-winged Teal, 24 Canada Geese, 11 Gadwalls, 18 American Black Ducks, 12 Mallards, 2 shovelers, 165 Canvasbacks, 2 Lesser Scaup, 18 Hooded Mergansers, 1 Pied-billed Grebe, 7 Great Blue Herons, 8 Ring-billed and 2 Great Black-backed gulls.
 
Skimmer Island.  High tide. 11-11:30 A.M.  Not much ¡V an oystercatcher, 30 Buffleheads, 3 ¡ñ Boat-tailed Grackles, 4 imm. Double-crested Cormorants, 8 Red-breasted Mergansers, 1 ad. Lesser Black-backed, 8 Great Black-backed & 265 Herring gulls, a few of the later in immaculate breeding plumage and already working on nest construction.  
 
Castaways-Eagle¡¦s Nest Golf Course Road, 11:45 A.M.:  The pond is rather empty: Gadwall 8, Pied-billed Grebe 3, Mallard 10 & Northern Shoveler 3, then out at Castaways (missed yesterday): a Double-crested Cormorant, 2 Common Loons, 3 gannets in the distance just offshore from Assateague Island, 3 Eastern Meadowlarks in flight over the island, and 3 ¡ñ Boat-tailed Grackles.  
 
Assateague State Park, Assateague I.  We walk through a charming, enchanted maritime forest with Loblolly Pines and some deciduous trees, too, some of the trees plastered with lichens.  No luck finding the Northern Saw-whet Owl found here during the M.O.S. convention.  Most of the trees to the E of the shell road here are very wind-sculpted.
 
We visit biologist Tami Pearl in her National Park Service office.  Tami believes ¡§our¡¨ Piping Plovers to be the first of the year.  She has just been checking out a stranded and dead Harbor Porpoise.  This species is not listed in Mammals of Maryland by John L. Paradiso (U. S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife [North American fauna 66], 1969, 193p.).  
 
Neither is Gray Seal, one of which once gave birth on Assateague I., perhaps after this book was published.  The Harbor Porpoise, sometimes known as Common Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), is North America¡¦s smallest cetacean according to the Peterson mammal guide, averaging 4.5 feet and 90 pounds (Sea guide to whales of the world: a complete guide to the world¡¦s living whales, dolphins and porpoises, Lyall Watson [E. P. Dutton, 1981], p. 192-193).  
 
A good visit to Ocean City but surprising not to see: Peregrine Falcon, Brant, Sanderling, Common Eider, Bonaparte¡¦s Gull, or kingfisher, and we dip on the Razorbills and Iceland Gulls.
 
Mile post 33, Route 113, 14 American Coots in the borrow pit on the E side.
 
BACK WHEN.  For a stretch I participated in the Ocean City Christmas Bird Count before I changed stamping grounds to 3 coastal Virginia and 2 coastal North Carolina C.B.C.s. each December, maybe 25 years ago.  Back then such as Ira N. Gabrielson and John H. Buckalew were regulars.  Compiler Chan Robbins called them Gabe and Bucky.  Gabe always seemed to come up with a Red-necked Grebe (not too long after the species was known as Holboell¡¦s Grebe).  
 
He often had a folded newspaper stuck in his jacket pocket.  Will Russell and I referred to Gabe, just between ourselves, as Pot-bellied Ira.  David Bridge was sometimes there, having once spotted a ¡§mystery bird,¡¨ a nightjar.  Vernon Kleen, also, who later became a regional editor for the Illinois region for American birds.  
 
Once before count day Chan said that John Terborgh and John Weske would get the most species of any group, adding ¡§and they would work the hardest for them, too.¡¨  And they did.  Later, as an insufferable teen preppie and later Ivy League punk, me and my cohorts would work the Ocean City party area hard, too, very hard, once finding 114 species.  Will, Carl Perry, Jared Sparks et al.  
 
At one compilation dinner Jared took the remains of his chicken dinner up to Chan and asked for an ID, as if it had been some interesting roadkill.  Hilarious.  You had to have been there.
 
The inlet was always good, and we saw single Dovekies there twice, once a Red Phalarope, another time a Common Murre, or a kittiwake sitting on the beach.  Then there was the mythic Bewick¡¦s Wren in the brushy tangles and slums that used to be West Ocean City.  One year we took a boat offshore when I remarked to Dave Cutler that we were probably outside the count circle; Dave replied: ¡§I don¡¦t care; we¡¦re seeing birds.¡¨  
 
One cold morning, with Chuck Cremeans, I was starving, ate 3 full orders of pancakes before we ventured forth on the Coast Guard boat.  A Eurasian Green-winged Teal was for several years at then Heine¡¦s Pond, later known as Jenkins Pond; I don¡¦t know what it is called now.  It then counted as a separate species, as did Blue Goose and Ipswich Sparrow.  
 
We¡¦d lodge at the old, wooden Hastings Miramar on the beach, the sort of place my mother called a fire trap.  Those were good times.  Today¡¦s are good times also.     
 
OFF TOPIC:  At the Northeast Philadelphia Sewage Treatment Plant Northern Rough-winged Swallows have been overwintering since 2005.  They feed on midges which form swarms in the vicinity of the rich organic material.  On this year¡¦s 26th Annual Philadelphia Mid-winter Bird Census, January 7, a total of 142 roughies were found.  This is nicely summarized by Philadelphia ¡¥Inquirer¡¦ environmental writer Sandy Bauers on pages A1 & A4, Tuesday, February 21.  
 
The bird census, beautifully organized by Keith Russell, had 95 participants, who found 107 species, incl. 2 Cackling Geese, 20 Cooper¡¦s Hawks, 230 coots, an Iceland Gull, a Snowy Owl, a Northern Shrike, an Ovenbird, 3 Orange-crowned & 1 Yellow warbler, 30 screech-owls, 11 raptors, 9 sparrows (not counting towhee and junco), and 21 waterfowl ¡V all within the city limits.    
 
TIMBERDOODLE VISITATION.  On Feb. 21 a woodcock flushed from our Philadelphia backyard, species 109 for the yard list.  It had been probing the soil, apparently, in an area out of the wind and in the sun where there is abundant leaf cover on the ground.  Years ago I caught one barehanded in Washington Square here in the city.
 
Happy Leap Year.  Best to all. ¡V Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.   		 	   		  

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