P.S.: The Cape Charles, VA, Christmas Bird Count will be on Friday,
December 27, 2002.
"Rigby's Folly", Armistead property on Ferry Neck, Talbot County, MD, near
Bellevue. Mostly did errands & chores, installing storm windows, etc.
October 20, 2002, Sunday, overcast, cool, mid-high 50's all day, light NE
wind to calm. Seen 4 p.m. - 6:30 P.M.: 30 Common Loons, 45 Forster's
Terns, 225 Laughing Gulls, 1 Great Horned Owl, 1 imm. & 1 ad. Bald Eagle, 8
Surf Scoters, 1 Brown Thrasher, 475 Canada Geese (still not like the CG
heydays of the 1970's and early 1980's). Mammals: 1 Red Fox, 2
cottontails, 2 Gray Squirrels, 9 deer (incl 1 small buck). 1 dead female
Box Turtle.
2 Wild Turkeys just outside of Royal Oak.
Upper Tred Avon River from Easton Point Marina down to marker 15, a 7.5
mile roundtrip: 4 Common Loons, 5 Double-crested Cormorants, 185 Laughing
Gulls.
In late Afternoon the Choptank River was beautiful and calm with numbers of
loons, gulls & terns busy feeding.
At Kiptopeke, VA, I crawled out of my tent one morning (I think it was
Sept. 29) and told neighbors Hal Wierenga & Lynn Davidson I had just heard
a Great Blue Heron. Hal said: "And it was with 38 others that didn't
call." That 39 GBH flock was the only one I heard of during my recent
17-day stay there and I neglected to mention this in my report to VA-BIRD.
For MDOSPREY folks who might be interested in notes on this period (Sept.
27 - Oct. 14) see VA-BIRD, which I like to access via: birdingonthe.net
(then see the various states under "list archives index"). Hal & Lynn are
featured in an article in the "Philadelphia Inquirer", Sunday, October 20,
2002, pp. B1 & B7, "Wildlife-watchers spending big in Cape May, region" by
Joseph A. Gambardello. A hard copy is on the way to you Hal & Lynn.
Non-bird notes from yesterday. Finally there is abundant, standing
groundwater following the terrible drought. John Swaine has harvested 5 of
the 7 soy bean fields (fields F3 & F4 still unharvested) which are now
lovely and green with an abundant growth of onion and other grasses and no
sign they ever held beans, which never even reached a foot high this
summer. The lawn has just been cut, as green as it's been all year. Lower
than normal tide today. Ran boat for the first time since June 9. Some
start up problems but after treating carburetor with some witches' brew,
ether-based stuff and dumping a little water-absorber potion in the fuel
tank it ran like a champ. Ready to go striper fishing now. The gentlemen
I spoke to about my engine problems at Easton Point Marina and West Marine
(also in Easton) were most helpful. I wish every store in Philadelphia had
folks this nice. Two dead mice found in house.
Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA
19119-1225. 215-248-4120. Please, any off-list replies to:
harryarmistead@xxxxxxxxxxx
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