BLACKWATER N.W.R. & FERRY NECK, APRIL 28-30, 2012.
Been away April 13-24 on trip to Cuba, then to a wedding at West Point, NY, April 26-28.
APRIL 28, SATURDAY. Drive from West Point, NY, to Rigby’s Folly, 278.3 miles. Arrive at 3:45 P.M. 11 Common Loons, a late pair of Long-tailed Ducks, a Canada Goose pair with 3 adorable, fluffy goslings on our lawn, a singing Eastern Bluebird. Out at Lucy Point a 6’ long 2”X4” has 10 live land snails on its underside. One Diamondback Terrapin. Black Cherries are in full bloom, and – yet another sign of the early vegetative spring - Lillies-of-the-Valley are already up and in flower. There has been a lot of rain since the last time I was here, when it was very dry.
APRIL 29, SUNDAY. Bird Walk at BLACKWATER N.W.R. with participants Thomas Falk, Ph.D. (from Marburg, Germany), Scott Baron, Karen Caruso, Mary Ellen & Roman Jesien, Gordon Jennings, Ellen Levinson, Jason Platt, and Levin Willey. 6:45 A.M. – 1:30 P.M. (bird walk from 8 A.M. – 1 P.M.)
102 species. Some of the species and/or numbers below seen before or after the official birdwalk. In addition 2 of our group became disconnected early on and submitted their own list, which has been incorporated into that below with an attempt to eliminate duplicate sightings, plus other “editing” decisions. Thanks to Karen Caruso for her careful record keeping.
This is the most successful birdwalk here I’ve ever been associated with in terms of hours, effort, birding skills, and the resulting species list. None of us saw or heard all 102. I missed quite a few myself.
Overcast becoming fair, 48-62°F., winds calm or light and variable becoming NW 10 then lessening, tidal waters low, impoundments high.
COMPLETE LIST: Canada goose 3. wood duck 2. gadwall 2. American black duck 1. mallard 56. blue-winged teal 8 (4 pairs). northern shoveler 5. green-winged teal 20. wild turkey 7 (Egypt Road). double-crested cormorant 7. AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN 1 (all the way on the S side of Blackwater River, fishing; probably the flightless bird that has been present for 3 years). great blue heron 10 (1 with a captured, rather large carp). great egret 7. green heron 2.
black vulture 4. turkey vulture 20. bald eagle 16. northern harrier 1. sharp-shinned hawk 1. red-shouldered hawk 1. red-tailed hawk 4. osprey 14. Virginia rail 2. American coot 1. black-bellied plover 2 (still in winter plumage). semipalmated plover 12. killdeer 3. greater yellowlegs 4. lesser yellowlegs 22. semipalmated sandpiper 1. least sandpiper 5. BLACK-NECKED STILT 3. spotted sandpiper 2. dunlin 225. short-billed dowitcher 40 (this may be a surprising thing to underscore and highlight, but it is actually a lot for here in the spring; the May counts sometimes miss them completely).
laughing gull 50. ring-billed gull 3. herring gull 1 (Cambridge). great black-backed gull 1 (Cambridge). least tern 14. Forster’s tern 12. mourning dove 4. belted kingfisher 1. red-headed woodpecker 3. red-bellied woodpecker 3. downy woodpecker 2. hairy woodpecker 1. northern flicker 3. pileated woodpecker 2. great crested flycatcher 8. eastern kingbird 4. red-eyed vireo 1. blue jay 1. American crow 8. fish crow 1. horned lark 1.
tree swallow 45. barn swallow 26. bank swallow 1. purple martin 14. Carolina chickadee 5. tufted titmouse 4. white-breasted nuthatch 1. brown-headed nuthatch 5. Carolina wren 4. blue-gray gnatcatcher 3. ruby-crowned kinglet 1. eastern bluebird 6. wood thrush 3. American robin 30. gray catbird 3. northern mockingbird 4. European starling 14. cedar waxwing 10.
blue-winged warbler 1. ovenbird 5. common yellowthroat 6. prairie warbler 1. black-and-white warbler 5. pine warbler 10. yellow-rumped warbler 6. worm-eating warbler 1. northern parula 1. yellow warbler 3.
chipping sparrow 10. Savannah sparrow 10 (Egypt Road). song sparrow 1. white-throated sparrow 2. northern cardinal 6. summer tanager 1. scarlet tanager 1. rose-breasted grosbeak 1. red-winged blackbird 55. eastern meadowlark 2. common grackle 40. brown-headed cowbird 10. orchard oriole 12. indigo bunting 1. blue grosbeak 1. house finch 1. American goldfinch 6. house sparrow 6.
NON-AVIAN TAXA. Gray Squirrel 1, Eastern Cottontail 3, Muskrat 1, Redbelly Cooter 8, Painted Turtle 10, Northern Watersnake 1, Red Admiral 2, Cabbage White 1, Red-spotted Purple 1, Pearlcrescent 1.
RIGBY’S FOLLY, 2:45 P.M. until dark, part of the time spent dozing in the sun on the dock: wood duck 1, black vulture 10, bald eagle 3, Cooper’s hawk 2, greater yellowlegs 1, herring gull 2 (1 an adult with a small Blue Crab which, over the course of 15 minutes, it kills, dismembers, and swallows while on top of our new Osprey nesting platform, which is otherwise, alas, unoccupied), barn swallow 12, purple martin 2, cedar waxwing 2, yellow-rumped warbler 2, American goldfinch 1. Tide low and below normal.
APRIL 30, MONDAY. An uneventful trip home. Leave at 10:15 A.M. A Woodchuck in the middle of Route 481 that goes galumphing off of the road in response to the car horn. A mere 35 Turkey Vultures on the way back.
May 12 DORCHESTER COUNTY SPRING BIRD COUNT, Saturday. There are still some uncovered areas in this big, marshy county. Please contact me if you are interested in helping.
Best to all. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.
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