Date: 4/17/26 10:50 am From: Harry Armistead <harryarmistead...> Subject: [MDBirding] Ferry Neck, April 12-14, 2026.
FERRY NECK (Rigby’s Folly), APRIL 12-14, 2026. Liz, George & myself.
APRIL 12, SUNDAY. Along Route 481 near its junction with Route 309 maybe 800 gulls, ring-billed and lesser nos. of laughing, following 2 huge plowing rigs.
Arrive at 5 P.M. A gem: fair, 72, S 10-15. 9 deer in Field 1. gray squirrel 2. bald eagle 4, red-tailed hawk 1, Cooper’s hawk 1, black vulture 4, turkey vulture 12, osprey 3, mallard 2, wood duck 4, great blue heron 1, killdeer 2 (possibly breeding [again?] in Field 1), eastern bluebird 4, mourning dove 1, brown-headed nuthatch 2, Carolina chickadee 4, Carolina wren 2, fish crow 7, American crow 3, common grackle 55, American goldfinch 1. The start of a forecast extended dry period.
George drives me around the fresh berms of Fields 1, 2, 4 and 6 that enclose new wetlands. Those are still a little rough but will be smoothed over soon.
APRIL 13, MONDAY. warm, 57-72, SW 15-20, fair or mostly overcast
46 species (from George’s 3 eBird lists & my own miscellaneous observations, attempting to minimize duplications):
greater yellowlegs 12 (in 2 of the new “wetlands”. previous high 8 on April 16, 1995). lesser yellowlegs 1 (previous early date April 20). killdeer 2 (Field 1). mourning dove 4. tree swallow 2. purple martin 1. American crow 5. fish crow 9. blue jay 4. Carolina chickadee 8. tufted titmouse 5. brown-headed nuthatch 2. Carolina wren 4.
pileated woodpecker 1. red-bellied woodpecker 1. northern mockingbird 3. American robin 4. eastern bluebird 8 (5 eggs in the yard nesting box, photographed by George). European starling 28. pine warbler 2. house finch 1. field sparrow 1. chipping sparrow 4. white-throated sparrow 40. northern cardinal 7. American goldfinch 3. common grackle 55. red-winged blackbird 5. brown-headed cowbird 6.
Right next to the south side of the house: a 16” bald eagle primary feather; as chance would have it years ago I found a 14” such feather in exactly the same place. George queries iNaturalist with an insect photograph = idd as a Horned Passalid Beetle. Lots of unIDd bumble bees around. A big Cope’s gray tree frog chorus at dusk on the south side of Field 1. George sees a northern watersnake in the cove. The 3 of us spot a muskrat swimming in the cove. A mere 4 diamondback terrapin. George and I revisit the same berms we drove on yesterday.
APRIL 14, TUESDAY. Snowy egret on the dock NW post busy preening for an hour+. George sees a sharp-shinned hawk. A very fat Fowler’s toad next to the west-outside of the house and nearby a baby toad the size of as small lima bean. A singing ruby-crowned kinglet in the yard.
Leave for PA at 10:36, calm, 70 degrees F., fair. Forecast 60-80 degrees F. today. Out Ferry Neck Road a ways a wild turkey and a red fox d.o.r. 100s of mostly ring-billed gulls following the plow at milepost 103, Route 301.
TICK. Found 1 on me April 9 that had been in residence there since at least April 6. Not many so far in 2026.
Best to all. - Harry Armistead, Bellevue & Philadelphia.
600 words. April 17, 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/<LV8PR84MB38809ECEEDFACE5669103697CF202...>
