FERRY NECK, TALBOT COUNTY, MD: July 26-30, 2010.  Gordon, Liz & Harry Armistead.
            A time of oppressive heat but with a couple of thunder and lightning storms at night, only one of which resulted in much-needed precipitation.  Bring on some more!  A Muskrat and at least 1 Snowy Egret seen each day.  And a spectacular Spicebush Swallowtail checking out the flowers a couple of feet away from us by the front and back porches.  Each day 7-8 or more Pearlcrescents course over the lawn, a couple of inches above the grass.  1 Mute Swan present in the cove.  Fields still not planted but John Swaine’s armamentarium of heavy equipment is in place, ready to plant soy beans.  
            JULY 26, Monday.  Arrive 3:15 P.M.  46 Turkey Vultures on the way down.  Best of all, a Cooper’s Hawk in flight over fields and hedgerows near Ruthsburg.
            On arrival there’s a Cooper’s Hawk on the lawn by the garage, eating something.  A Coop or two has been present since early May.  3 Spotted Sandpipers.  17 unID’d peep.  2.2 mi. boat trip out into the Choptank River and the mouth of Irish Creek.  1 imm. Bald Eagle.  4 Ospreys seen carrying fish.  2 Diamondback Terrapin.  
            Clear, 93-80, NW5 or clam, high tide at 4:52 P.M.  
            Yesterday there was a sudden squall with winds nearby clocked at 60 m.p.h.+ but with little rain.  It is very dry now. 
            JULY 27, Tuesday.  Clear becoming mostly overcast, ENE-NW5, 75-88-82.  37 species.  
            RAPTORS:  1 imm. & 2 ad. Bald Eagles, 2 ad. & 1 imm. Red-tailed Hawk, 16 Turkey & 5 Black vultures (3 of the latter perched on the 2nd floor balustrade of the for-sale house at the head of the cove, which can be yours for $1,999,000), 2 migrating American Kestrels, 12 or so Ospreys.  
            4 Wild Turkeys.  6 Snowy Egrets, incl. a formation of 5 coming from the direction of Poplar Island.  4 Cedar Waxwings.  1 Great Egret kettling at dusk over the area where I’m barbecueing hot dogs, hamburgers, and steak.  2 Common Terns.  
            1 doe and her fawn at Holland Point.  1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo.  A Great Horned Owl, perhaps a young one because the call is rather undeveloped, calls from the yard area in broad daylight, where I sit out by the dock 8 A.M. – noon.  56 Canada Geese.  A 4-mile boat trip up Irish Creek.  
            BUTTERFLIES:  2 Tiger Swallowtails, 3 Red Admirals, 12 Cabbage Whites, 2 Delaware Skippers, 7 Pearlcrescents, 4 Red-spotted Purples, 1 American Lady.
            Marsh Hibiscus.  The only one I’m aware of on the property has a cluster of 6 or 7 stalks on the south side of Field 4 in the driveway ditch.  Didn’t bloom last year but now has a dozen, big white  blossoms.  Beautiful.  Until a few years ago there were a couple well up from the shoreline at Lucy Point, which have died.  4 mile boat trip up Irish Creek.  
            JULY 28, Wednesday.  Cloudy becoming fair, SW 10-5-15, 79-94.  Phew!  Our largest tree, a huge oak on the driveway on the south side of Field 4, seems to have died.  All the leaves, suddenly, are brown.  Its circumference is 13 feet, 11 inches.  This has affected me rather profoundly.  1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird.  2 does, 2 fawns.  1 Common Tern.  A Gray Squirrel leaps across the main road from Woods 4 to Woods 3.  1 ad. Bald Eagle.  A 6-mile boat trip up Irish Creek again.  
            JULY 29, Thursday.  Fair, SW 10-15-NW 10-5, 81-94°F., a hot one.  A brief thunder storm at 3 P.M. with 25 m.p.h. winds and a little rain.  After sunset a good storm with up to 35 m.p.h. winds and substantial rain, at last.  See an Opsrey chase an ad. Bald Eagle.  23 Laughing Gulls.  A Gray Squirrel in the yard.  2♀ Wild Turkeys accompanied by 8 half-grown poults on the Warbler Trail next to the Waterthrush Pond.  Gordy sees a young Five-lined Skink with its bright, neon-blue tail.  Common Whitetails haunt the driveway, their favored locale here.  A Common Wood Nymph.         
            JULY 30, Friday.  A leave-taking.  Blast off for PA c. 10:30 A.M.  1 Rock Pigeon (seldom seen here, maybe 1X-3X annually).  1 ad. Bald Eagle.  See 6 Ospreys carrying fish.  The cold front last night brings us 5 Bank Swallows.  11 Barn Swallows.  11 Purple Martins.  5 goldfinches.  1 Snowy Egret.  2 does with small fawns seen from the dock all the way over on Deep Neck.  A flock of 25 House Sparrows, like a cloud of filth, settles on a neighbor’s lawn.  That’s a new property high count (seen from property, at any rate), sports fans.  Get out the champagne.  Fair skies, lowered humidity, NW15, 70°F., essentially an early fall day, and a beauty.  A Monarch at Liz’s flowers by the back porch. Haven’t seen many Monarchs so far.
            HEADIN’ HOME.  50 Turkey Vultures.  
            BALD EAGLES.  Recently received Maryland birdlife, 2005, vol. 61, nos. 3-4, Sept.-Dec. 2005, has a great article by Glenn Therres, “Recovery of Maryland’s Bald Eagle nesting population” (pages 35-45).  For those of you who don’t receive MB, this covers the period 1977-2004.  In that period the number of nesting pairs has increased from 44 to 390, with Dorchester County having the most pairs for each of the 5 time periods shown in Table 3, from 17 pairs in 1977 to 84 in 2004.  During the period when efforts were made to band the eaglets, from 1977-1986, 456 nestlings were banded.  This is a great summary article.
            TEDDY ROOSEVELT BOOK.  “The wilderness warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the crusade for America,” by Douglas Brinkley (Harper, 2009, 940 pages).  This is a fascinating read that focuses on TR’s intense interest in birds, his big game hunting, and his tremendous contributions to conservation, establishing national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges, lobbying for sensible hunting regulations, etc.  Wonderful book full of information on TR’s illustrious contemporaries, including Frank Chapman, George Bird Grinnell, Elliott Coues, C. Hart Merriam, Fairfield Osborn, William Hornaday, Gifford Pinchot, and many others, a pantheon of great naturalists 100 or so years ago.    
            I’m somewhat limited in mobility this visit because a rash, on my left foot since July 11 (picked up in uptate New York), suddenly becomes much larger, and brighter (scarlet), perhaps due to its exposure on Monday to Deep Woods Off and/or salty tidal water.  All the local dermatologists are either too busy with cosmetic surgery, one “doesn’t do rashes,” or on vacation, so I visit Your Doc’s In out on Route 50.  Initially put off by the flashing neon sign that proclaims “OPEN,” but once in there am impressed with their professionalism.  A sort of almost drive-through clinic, or what neighbor Ben Weems refers to as “Doctor-in-a-box.”  I’m prescribed an antibiotic and hydrocortisone cream regimen.
            Best wishes. – Harry Armistead, Philadelphia.