A few further thoughts about Wednesday's Orange-crowned Warbler (or Warblers; there were two sightings at two different spots). I have some old records for this species from late August and early September. But this bird is not an easy ID and all the reference books state flatly that this species does not appear before mid- or late September and all early records are suspect and probably referable to other Vermivora species (notably Tennessee Warbler). So I never actually counted it in my property lists. But Wednesday's birds were clearly first fall Vermivora warblers with gray heads, the appearance of spectacles (broken eye-ring combined with a white eyestripe that was strongest in front of the eye), mottled yellow below (lighter on the chin, lighter on the belly) with blurry streaking. I note that two Orange-crowns were reported from the Calvert Vaux park in Brooklyn, an area that -- like our East Quogue place -- looks out over a body of water towards the barrier beach. It was also striking that we had three of the four possible 'winter warblers' -- Orange-crowned, Palm and Yellow-rumped (the fourth, Pine Warbler, is a common local migrant and probably breeds on the property but I haven't seen around recently).
Yesterday morning, before the rain, was dry and cool and not very birdy. Even so, there were Cedar Waxwings in a Red Cedar (eating cedar berries no doubt), a Brown Creeper working its way around the trunk of a Pitch Pine (the first of the season in these parts), a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker working its way around a deciduous tree and substantial flocks of blackbirds -- Common Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds -- noisily foraging in the neighborhood.
Eric Salzman
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