Date: 8/12/26 10:21 am From: Harry Armistead <harryarmistead...> Subject: [MDBirding] Ferry Neck August 1-7, 2026.
FERRY NECK, RIGBY’ FOLLY, AUGUST 1-7, 2026. A time of widespread growths of chicory (“corn flowers”) on road shoulders.
My reports have a lot of goodies. You’d think all is O.K., but it isn’t. I can hardly walk. When I do, my balance is SO poor. Lack of stamina. Liz is bothered by sciatica. We have other challenges that I won’t go into now.
Still, a lot can be seen by just sitting in one place or driving very slowly with the windows down.
The 1st summer I can remember when there have been no yellow-billed cuckoos in the yard.
JUNE 18, THURSDAY. Mary and David and their guests, Ali and Mason Lindemann, see, photo & video a rough green snake (Opheodrys aestivus), probably pretty common, but seldom seen because they blend in SO well when they are in a backdrop of vegetation.
AUGUST 1, SATURDAY. Arrive at 5 P.M. Overcast, 83, SW 10, some light rain. One each of calling eastern screech-owl, great horned owl, and green tree frog, plus several Cope’s gray tree frogs. Liz sees 5 or 6 fireflies.
AUGUST 2, SUNDAY. Liz sees a wild turkey hen with 2 young. 76-85, very damp, overcast, rain in the afternoon, winds S 10-15. See a hackberry emperor.
AUGUST 3, MONDAY. overcast, 77-83, SW 12, clearing around noon. 1.15” rain in last 24 hrs. With some difficulty, contortion antics, determine that the Magnolia grandiflora my mother planted in the early 1950s is now 107” in circumference (8’ 11”), with a diameter of 27”, these at 3’ up from the ground, at which point this tree bifurcates into 2 large segments. The state champion at Princess Anne has a circumference of 276”! (23’)
Somewhere I read that Brooke Meanley thought such magnolias are not found naturally north of North Carolina, but did allow as, with ALL his years there, he DID see what he thought was a natural one, but only once in Dismal Swamp.
Today there are tremendous cumulus clouds, the likes of which I have never seen, except in Florida. Some cumulus clouds are 7 miles in depth. They remind me of the fine paintings by Francis Lee Jacques, one with a large wheeling flock of white ibis. Lovely skyscapes today and in Jacques’ art.
One of only 2 here of which I am aware, the marsh hibiscus in the hedgerow of the driveway X Field 4 has disappeared. For years it got less and less sun. There’s another at Lucy Point. Locally many are blooming at various sites.
Tiger swallowtail 1. Chipping sparrow 4. Eastern cottontail 1. A great egret in Field 4, no doubt stuffing itself in the wetland there with the myriad baby Fowler’s toads that seem to be everywhere this summer. 3 spotted turtles basking in their favorite place, the vernal pool in Woods 4. Red-spotted purple 1. A male cardinal with an extremely bright green, large, insect. Out in the cove a Forster’s tern, a herring gull, and a laughing gull at 5:26 P.M.; larids can be so scarce at this time of year.
AUGUST 4, 2026, TUESDAY. RF. 75-86, winds NW 10 or E 15, fair and hot, low humidity, becoming overcast at the end. A 10-hour effort to document birds present during the “dog days” of summer, the mid-summer doldrums, 8 A.M. - 8 P.M., with 2 hours off for rest and nap in the afternoon.
Yesterday seen on the front porch 3 broad-headed skinks simultaneously, 11”, 10” and 10 ‘’. All the skink photos George has submitted to iNaturalist have been IDd as broad-headed.
48 species, representative, but could easily have been 4-5 more if typical early August migrant landbirds had been noted, e.g.: empidonax flycatchers, yellow (especially), redstart, and/or black-and-white warblers, post-breeding swallows, and bobolink. Also, good chance for a shorebird flyover, most all of them here are flyovers. Of those possibles only the gnatcatcher and red-eyed vireo are seen. 48 species, nice, but notable are their small numbers, in most cases. There just are not as many birds as there used to be.
Record August lists here: 85 species August 30, 1994, and 79 August 22, 1993. In both cases there was a big influx of warblers and other migrant landbirds. Likewise, also, August 24, 1955, 65 species.
A record 7 heron-types: snowy egret 3, great egret 2, cattle egret 4, great blue heron 2, green heron 1, glossy ibis 4, white ibis 1 immature.
The white ibis is headed in the direction of Poplar Island, is a new yardbird, species 274. New yard birds only happen once every 2-3 years.
the rest: blue-gray gnatcatcher 1, osprey 3, indigo bunting 3 (singing males), American goldfinch 2, tufted titmouse 2, Carolina chickadee 2, Carolina wren 4, great crested flycatcher 2, purple martin 12, mourning dove 2, American crow 3, northern cardinal 5, red-eyed vireo 1, wild turkey 1, turkey vulture 2 (surprisingly low), chipping sparrow 4, blue jay 2, fish crow 2, mallard 2, red-bellied woodpecker 1, bald eagle 1, pileated woodpecker 1, blue grosbeak 2, laughing gull 20, ring-billed gull 2, barn swallow 2, European starling 18, Forster’s tern also 18, northern mockingbird 2, common grackle 2, northern flicker 1, common yellowthroat 1, song sparrow 1, double-crested cormorant 2, house sparrow 1, chimney swift 1, mourning dove 2, tree swallow 2, wood duck 2, downy woodpecker 1, eastern kingbird 1, red-winged blackbird 12.
With this amount of effort it is surprising not to see much in the way of non-bird species: only 3 diamondback terrapin, 2 gray squirrels, and 3 deer.
AUGUST 5, WEDNESDAY. Mowers are here 8:10 - 8:50 P.M. Chesapeake Land Management. They do good work. 75-86, SW 4-11, fair, hot, some light rain. 0.25” the last 24 hours. Out just past the tire swing 2 small, spotted fawns browse for an extended period. Visit ‘Tranquility’ where neighbor Nancy Lytell has put the old place on the market after 31 years of loving residence. My grandparents bought ‘Tranquility’ almost exactly 100 years ago.
AUGUST 6, THURSDAY. 79-88, hot, fair, SW 10. Unusual for raccoon depredations on the feeders to be witnessed in broad daylight in the afternoon. Ugh! After all the rains a lot of mushrooms and toadstools pop up. Liz submitted a shot to iNaturalist of one particularly big one on the lawn that was IDd as: purple-spotted puffball (sounds like a child’s toy).
AUGUST 7, FRIDAY. 77-89 today (83 on leaving), SW 10-15, fair. A red-spotted purple. Leave for Philadelphia at 10:22 A.M.
Best to all. - Harry Armistead, Bellevue and Philadelphia.
1,128 words. August 12, 2026.
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