Date: 4/11/26 9:45 am From: Harry Armistead <harryarmistead...> Subject: [MDBirding] Ferry Neck, March 28 - April 6, 2026.
FERRY NECK, MARCH 28 - APRIL 6, 2026, mostly at Rigby’s Folly.
MARCH 28, SATURDAY. Between Royal Oak and Rigby’s Folly groups of 4 and 15 deer. Arrive 5:15 P.M., clear, near calm, 47 degrees F. Not as much standing groundwater as I had hoped. Ponds c. 1/2 full.
MARCH 29, SUNDAY. 35-54, clear, south winds 20-25, rather cool. tidal water clarity as good as it gets. Adult male pine warbler at 30 feet, drinking from the bird bath, later singing. 9 of the 29 brush piles in the fields, consisting of bradford pears cut weeks ago as part of the Conservation Reserve Program, all cut and then moved, nevertheless have blooming segments. 4 gray squirrels.
A distant immature bald eagle. 3 spring azures. A common loon in full breeding plumage. Mostly did chores around the yard. Not much to see. A male cardinal and a white-throated sparrow drinking at the bird bath as late as 7:36 P.M. Canada goose 0: winter birds continue to depart earlier than usual. One year on April 30 I saw c. 1,000 Canada geese at Blackwater N.W.R.
MARCH 30, MONDAY. Fair, 50-65, SW 15. osprey 2 (overdue), bald eagle 1 adult, common loon 1, ruddy duck 3, black vulture 8, flicker 3 (probing for ants in the yard and driveway start), downy woodpecker 1, fish crow 1, brown-headed nuthatch 2, bluebird 2 (at the yard nest box, she entering it w/ nest material), cowbird 3, hermit thrush 1 (in yard), 6 white-throated sparrows (as with past visit, with clean, bright white areas on their heads; migrants from father south?).
3 spring azures. Looking out from yard to Lucy Point, 10 deer. 2 gray squirrels. 0 warblers. 1 wasp in the Bermuda Room. 4 robins working the yard. 0 gulls, terns.
Visit from Rob Berg, who has done good work on our outdoor shower. Continue to deal with the MANY fallen branches in the yard.
MARCH 31, TUESDAY. 59-76, fair, 15-20 NW. a gem. northern water snake 1, muskrat 1, bald eagle 1 immature (perches across the cove, then flies right overhead), osprey only 1, wood duck 5, ring-billed gull 4, Forster’s tern 1, Bonaparte’s gull 1, turkey vulture 12, 4 red-breasted mergansers, Canada goose 2 (in Field 1). Liz hears a pileated woodpecker in Woods 1. Anne, Derek and Alexis arrive along with their very lively Boston terrier Tallulah.
I learn of the passing of Dr. Mitchell A. Byrd, one of the great naturalists, ornithologists, and gentleman of our time.
APRIL 1, WEDNESDAY. another gem, 62-80, WSW 5-12, fair or clear but light rains developing late in the day with a little thunder and lightning. Some firsts of the year: 3 Cope’s gray tree frogs calling, 2 barn swallows, a 4” skink. We all did a lot of yard maintenance (mostly) just in time for the 1st mowing of the year.
bald eagle 1 immature, great blue heron 1, fish crow 2, brown-headed nuthatch 1, pine warbler 1. All of the skink photos here that George has sent to iNaturalist have been IDd as broad-headed skinks. Bluebird nest in the yard nest box seems completed but no eggs yet. Again, only 1 osprey. Gray squirrel 2.
APRIL 2, THURSDAY. Cool verging on cold, overcast, windy, 48-63, E 15, a good day to do chores, some of them indoors paperwork (beef up the bibliography/references for my book). 3 house finches at the feed, first ones this visit.
Considerable rain last night, evident in the ditches, but ponds not to the rim, vernal pools still look mostly dry, but the new “wetlands” in our fields quite full, some standing water in the yard. Bellevue dead at 1 P.M., a ring-billed gull, 2 gray squirrels, and 4 deer nearby. Derek, Anne & Alexis go to Hurlock so Alexis can go horseback riding.
APRIL 3, GOOD FRIDAY. 43-70, overcast and foggy to begin, early, then becoming fair and clear, 4-10 m.p.h. A beauty. Mary, David and Lucas arrive so there are 8 of us now. diamondback terrapin, first of the year, up to 28 snouts in sight at the mouth of Poplar Cove. gray squirrel 7 (5 Liz sees going out the driveway). bald eagle, 1 immature, 2 adults.
A measly 1 osprey. Beautiful breeding plumage Forster’s tern in the cove, then a winter plumaged one. Canada goose 1. black vulture 3. Mary kelps me, gathering some oysters for a photograph in 365+ days… common loon 2, horned grebe 1.
APRIL 4, SATURDAY. 61-78, sunny, 5-15 mph, close to calm early on. Millions (yes, millions) of small, white petals adorn the north lawn, from the bradford pears remaining around the yard. The willow oak has developed catkins. 42 diamondback terrapin.
We see 4 winter jellyfish. Lucas and Alexis go for a dip. bald eagle, 2 adults, 1 immature. A northbound adult male northern harrier, definitely in migration. Liz sees 4 killdeer descend into the Field 1 north wetland and a pileated woodpecker goes over. common loon 2, Forster’s tern 2, horned grebe 1.
A Cope’s gray tree frog calls. gray squirrel 4. mourning dove 4. 3 house finches. John Swaine visits and we’re happy to have him take some of the bradford pear cuttings (logs). Still have not driven across Feld 1 to Lucy Point what with the new berms and wetlands partially blocking that access. Maybe tomorrow before the rains come. white-throated sparrow 7.
Mary photos a mud turtle out aways on Ferry Neck Road. Rather spectacular BIG chorus of Cope’s gray tree frogs at 8:30 P.M. with a few spring peepers, temperature drops from 72-70. Jupiter nicely visible to the SW. George home today after leading 2 tours in India for the past 5 weeks or so.
See 1st of the year (get out the champagne) sea roaches (Ligia exotica; 12 of them) on an exposed riprap rock, “… a common but rather unpleasant sight, for they look too much like obnoxious cockroaches.” Lippson, Alice Jane & Robert L. Lippson, Life in Chesapeake Bay, Johns Hopkins U. Pr. 2006, 3rd ed., p. 98.
APRIL 5, EASTER SUNDAY. 59-70-50, clear at start, S - SW - W - NW, overcast w/ 0.85” rain noon - 4:30, then partial clearing and cooler. Our visitors all leave at noon, do so much for us WE feel as if we’re guests.
killdeer 1, deer 6 (traveling from F5-F4), an eastern cottontail (the Easter bunny indeed), 6 gray squirrels. The rain nicely enhances the new CRP wetland areas, most already burgeoning from previous rains. A mud turtle on the driveway X Field 4.
Highlight: white-eyed vireo near the back porch, close, sings 11 times, a record early date (old early arrival was April 17). This is when I sit on the back porch from noon - 4:30 during the rain, but the weather boosts feeder attendance: white-throated sparrow 22, Carolina chickadee 6, tufted titmouse 4, cardinal 6, cowbird 5, grackle 2, goldfinch, 1 house finch 4 (1 male sings a lot), gray squirrel 3. No nuthatches. Lovely Forster’s tern in full breeding plumage actively hunting during the rain.
BELLEVUE, 6:30 P.M., 6 common loons, 2 gray squirrels. Liz sees groups of 10 and 5 small ducks leaving for the mouth of the Tred Avon River mouth (ruddies?).A red phase screech-owl in one of the Frog Hollow wood duck boxes; been weeks since I’ve seen one there.
APRIL 6, MONDAY. clear (REALLY clear), 47-57, 7-12 NW. 1st egg in the lawn bluebird nest box; previous early egg date 4.9.98. Christopher Seymour, a friend of John Swaine, gathers some more braford pear logs from along the driveway. He was a Ranger for many years at Assateague Nat’l. Seashore.
common loon 1, bald eagle 2 adults, osprey 2 (on our osprey platform; be fruitful and multiply you 2, but that seems unlikely because of the continuing decline and apparent over harvest of menhaden), goldfinch 1, blue-gray gnatcatcher 1 (a bit overdue), barn swallow 2, flicker 1, nuthatches 0, cowbird 6, chipping sparrow 2, pine warbler 1. Because our property is surrounded by water for about 270+ degrees, landbirds are often scarce.
Ospreys also have to contend with Canada geese usurping their nesting sites on poles as well as increased kleptoparasitism by the greatly increased bald eagle population.
BELLEVUE, 7 P.M. muskrat 1, eastern cottontail 1, gray squirrel 2, ruddy duck 20, common loon 6. On the way back home a good chorus of spring peepers near the junction of Bellevue & Ferry Neck Roads, and another in Field 4.
APRIL 7, TUESDAY. While putting away the feeders a brown-headed nuthatch, the first in several days, I swear is giving me “what for” for so doing. Sassy little guy. Leave by 10:30, clear, 55, NW 20-25.
South of Ruthsburg, Route 481, a pileated woodpecker, high up, flying to the west, and 1 horned lark the only other bird along that route, but typically we just motor through and do not stop. We’re up high on the Delaware-Chesapeake Bay canal bridge, DE, and fun to look DOWN on an adult bald eagle, carrying something. At the Philadelphia Naval Yard there is an osprey flying east carrying a fish.
Best to all. - Harry Armistead, Bellevue and Philadelphia.
1,572 words. April 9, 2026.
--
-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Group 'Maryland & DC Birding'.
To view group guidelines or change email preferences, visit this group on the web at http://www.mdbirding.com Unfamiliar with a hotspot mentioned on this list? Quickly locate it here - http://www.mdbirding.com/hotspot.html ---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maryland & DC Birding" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to mdbirding+<unsubscribe...>
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mdbirding/<LV8PR84MB38803AFB2211C5579D73E5C2CF262...>
