Ospreys and Goldenrods

I got up early enough this morning to get down to the marsh before sunrise but I was snookered; there was no sunrise. In the overcast gloom of the morning I could make out only a few things. One was that there were Osprey all over the place -- a clear indication that the fish hawks were migrating. Our local birds seemed to be in place -- perched on dead tree stumps on Pine Neck and occasionally venturing out over the bay to look for fish. But most of the Osprey, sometimes three or four at a time, circling over the creek -- sometimes diving and catching prey -- were almost certainly migrants moving south. A notable spectacle!

The only other event of note -- in a way, another kind of migration -- were the first flowers of the Seaside Goldenrod. Of the many kinds of goldenrod that we have, the Seaside is undoubtedly the most spectacular. It is a tall, hardy plant with generous sprays of deeply colored yellow flowers that typically bloom in late September and into October. The plants are almost succulent which presumably helps them grow in sandy soil near salt water. They can withstand a surprising amount of trampling by people and wildlife and even when beaten down they will recover and start growing upward again, often still managing to produce their floral display. Goldenrods have a bad and entirely undeserved reputation for causing hayfever. This reputation is entirely due to the fact that they bloom during hayfever season. Hayfever is, of course, caused by pollen in the air from plants which are fertilized by the wind and wind-fertilized plants like ragweed (the principal culprit at this time of the year) have unnoticeable green flowers. Goldenrod, as its very name suggests, has deep yellow floral sprays made up of dozens of small aster-like flowers and, as its brilliant colors tell us, they are meant to attract insect pollinators. Indeed they do. The goldenrod flowerheads are a perfect place to study insect life. They attract Monarchs and many other butterflies as well as bees and all sorts of smaller insects. Another kind of notable fall spectacle.

Eric Salzman