Ferry Neck, Feb. 10-14 (plus Brigantine)

[Harry Armistead]

FERRY NECK, FEBRUARY 10-14, 2026.  “Rigby’s Folly” (also BRIGANTINE, NJ)  

… A lot of detail below.  Please remember that my field notes serve me as a sort of diary, an attempt to record what was going on at the time.

But first … BRIGANTINE NWR (Forsythe), NJ, Feb. 7, George and I see just 31 species.  Most all is froze up, bleak.  

brant 6 (browsing on the dikes), Canada goose 48, mute swan 4, mallard 6, black duck 12, pintail 3, green-winged teal 2, ring-necked duck 1, bufflehead 26, hooded merganser 6, common merganser 1, red-breasted merganser 3, dunlin 22, ring-billed gull 14, herring gull 38, gull unIDd15, American bittern 2 (one fellow here saw one of these catch and eat a live songbird, probably a sparrow), great blue heron 2, northern harrier 5, bald eagle 2 (near their nest), red-bellied woodpecker 1, hairy woodpecker 1, tufted titmouse 2, hermit thrush 5, robin 65, fox sparrow 2, white-throated sparrow 11, towhee 3, boat-tailed grackle 2, myrtle warbler 3, cardinal 2.

None of these at any feeder.  Surprised there was as much open water as there was.  ZERO: great black-backed gull, song sparrow.  One winter, when it was even colder and EVERYTHING was frozen, Ed Marshall and I drove around the c. 7-mile Wildlife Drive and did not see ONE bird.  Earlier on that day I spilled coffee on my hand, we stopped, and I stuck my hand into a snow drift.  

FERRY NECK, MD:

Both of us feeling lousy and also getting on each others’ nerves this Maryland visit.  Lately my fate, my gait, seems to be to hobble.  If I am destined to hobble, I’d prefer hobbling down here.  Many fields in the general area w/ hundreds of Canada Geese, many thousands in toto, grazing where the snow is shallow or in the few areas with exposed ground.  I am surprised this visit by how much open water there is. 

FEBRUARY 10, TUESDAY.  ROUTE 481, bleak, Canada goose 770, horned lark, 10, unIDd sparrows 15.  ROUTE 309 X 481, 12 tundra swans.  south and east of CORDOVA, c. 3,000 Canada geese.   variously from Easton to St. Michaels along Route 33, 880 Canada geese.  In John Swaine’s fields, 1,600 Canada geese.  

Arrive at Rigby’s Folly 5 P.M., calm, clear, 40 degrees, 20 or so American Robins.  The feeders have not been deployed since Dec. 30 so I am surprised at how quickly they get patronized today 

FEBRUARY 11, WEDNESDAY.  20 species, ones not found February 12: herring gull 1, tundra swan 5, Cooper’s hawk 1, downy woodpecker 1, northern mockingbird 1.  fair or clear, 31-47, NW 15-20.  fox squirrel 1, gray squirrel 2.  A FOX SQUIRREL will be present at the feed Feb. 11-13.  Often seen when a gray squirrel or two are also there.  Look to be at least twice the bulk of the grays.

BELLEVUE: ruddy duck 22, bufflehead 30, and ring-billed gull 7 plus 2 deer.

FEBRUARY 12, THURSDAY.  29-36, mid 30s most of the day, NW 15-20-10, mostly overcast becoming fair or clear.  cove frozen.  fox squirrel 1, gray squirrel 5, deer 2.  

Today’s effort, 7 A.M. - 4 P.M., is to document the paucity of birdlife after a prolonged period, several weeks, of snow and ice cover combined with brutal temperatures, often in the teens.  On January 25 John Swaine reported 5” of snow followed by a covering of ice, 1/8”, temps down to 12.  

This snow and ice ground cover lasting more than a few days is brutal for bluebirds and Carolina wrens, as well as field birds such as killdeer, horned larks, meadowlarks, and pipits not to mention deer, or anything else that gets its food primarily from the ground.  Under these brutal conditions many birds are more concerned with food than safety.

A mere 19 species today.  Compare to our all-time February day of 53 species, February 27, 1993.  Today’s list also fills in a gap in coverage in the book I am working on, 366+ days, wildlife of greater Chesapeake Bay.  It is day 264. …, so there are now entries for February 1-13 plus for Leap Day, February 29 (2016).  One hundred and 2 days to go!

Today’s list: ring-billed gull 1, Canada goose 210, turkey vulture 2, red-bellied woodpecker, American crow 3, blue jay 4, Carolina chickadee 8, red-breasted nuthatch 5, brown-headed nuthatch 2, Carolina wren 1, tufted titmouse 2, European starling 16, American robin 2, hermit thrush 1, white-throated sparrow 20, northern cardinal 3, slate-colored junco 2, golden-crowned kinglet 1, and myrtle warbler 5.

Notable: no ducks, no hawks.  Close-to-shore waters all frozen.  The Carolina wren, the only one seen in these five days, is at the feeders eating seeds.  Today’s effort cut short a little when, at 4 P.M., I found the car would not start.

February 13: Nice fellow from Grants’ Automotive (Easton) got the car started.  Let’s hear it for AAA.  Another very nice fellow from Easton Auto Zone took all of a minute to determine that the battery was O.K., but that we should recharge it with a long drive.  What better excuse than to drive to Blackwater NWR, where, following the catharsis that the battery was O.K., I spent about half what a new battery would have cost, blew it on books from the well stocked Visitor Center. 

FEBRUARY 13, FRIDAY the thirteenth.  clear and sunny, 26-35, NW 15.  These seen today only: a pair of bluebirds at the yard nesting box, a flicker nearby.  gray squirrel 5, fox squirrel 1.  

FEBRUARY 14, SATURDAY.  clear, very sunny, forecast is 26-48 today, calm.  pileated woodpecker calls in the front yard, 2 gray squirrels.  see red-shouldered hawk from bed.  leave at 10:45.  c. 3,000 Canada geese in John Swaine’s fields.  An adult female Cooper’s Hawk at Routes 50 X 309 perched next to a pole.  115 tundra swans east of Route 481 just south of Ruthsburg.

CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM developments.  Bradford pears (Pyrus calleryana) have been cut and removed from the north side of the driveway X Field 2 so that “hedgerow” is almost wide open.  Except near the house, they have also been eliminated from both sides of the driveway out to the bend.  The driveway X Field 4 likewise except down towards the mature forest.  Big “brushpiles” (some 10 feet high) consisting of the pears are in Field 1 (5 brushpiles), 4 in Field 2 (probably some will be consolidated) as are 3 in Field 7.  I did not inspect very carefully, but there has been some work done at our border with Tranquility.  The base of the pears is treated with a chemical to complete killing the trees.  Some CRP berms to create wetlands are in Field 1 and 4 especially; I am surprised they are as extensive as they are, and quite full (of snow and ice).  Good.  To my surprise poles have been removed from Fields 4 (including the bluebird house) and 2.  Adjacent vegetation was also cut (except for some in Field 2).  I did not check to see if the pole and vegetation (in 2 areas) were removed from Field 6.   Some personnel are present Wed. - Fri.  A big backhoe, a bulldozer, and 2 other pieces of heavy equipment are in the fields.

Utilizing the Flame-emission Spectroscopy application, version 3.00, I log 17 relevancy ratio matrix coordinates.  [Just kidding.  Wanted to see if you were still awake.]

l’envoi.

Best to all. - Harry Armistead, Bellevue & Philadelphia.