a new route into Maple Swamp

At Jim Osterlund's suggestion, Eileen Schwinn and I tried a new way into Maple Swamp this morning. This is the 'official' marked trail (part of the larger Paumanok trail system). The trail head is on Pleasure Drive just past the junction with Route 104 (the Quogue-Riverhead Road) and it is clearly blazed. The first part of the trail goes through a series of morainal hills and kettles covered with classic pine barrens vegetation; eventually the rich Maple Swamp vegetation kicks in. This trail joins up with the old sand road running past the open water pond that serves as the main swamp drainage (all Maple Swamp water is spring fed from the aquifer and does not connect with the outside world although there are many outlier kettleholes in the area in addition to the main swamp). 

Bird life in the drier portions is also classic pine barrens: dominated by Ovenbirds and Eastern Towhees with a scattering of flycatchers (Great Crested and Eastern Kingbird), Am Robins, Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmouses, Pine Warblers and, a bit surprisingly, many Baltimore Orioles. Although there is damage throughout to some of the oaks from Geometer loopers, the affected areas already have a dense growth of young Pitch Pines coming up under the dead tree stubs. Big old Pitch Pines are scattered throughout. With all that dead wood, there should be woodpeckers and there they are: mainly N Flickers and Red-bellied. As you approach the wetter, more highly vegetated areas, other species begin to appear including Hairy Woodpecker, Eastern Wood Pewee, the ever spectacular Scarlet Tanager, Common Yellowthroat as well as Black-and-white and Blue-winged Warblers. At the pond itself, there are Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles and Yellow Warbler. Also Tree Swallows flying over the pond (migrants? local nesters in woodpecker holes?). Among the few certain migrants seen or heard were N Waterthrush and Yellow-rumped Warbler. Turkey Vultures soar overhead along with a few Red-tailed Hawks. The TVs are recent arrivals and one can guess that they are likely breeders here. Ovenbirds flushed from and repeatedly returning to a dense bed of pine needles next to the trail were probably in the process of building one of their famous Dutch oven nests on the ground; not willing to spook them any further, we cut short our over-eager inspection of the grounds without finding the nest. 

Somewhere on that sand road (probably at the open water pond), we lost the marked trail and ended up back on our familiar route to the old horse pasture and Pleasure Drive. We had anticipated this, parking one of our cars at the traditional place and, as we walked on Pleasure Drive heading to Car #2, we stopped to admire a big Wild Turkey tom displaying, strutting and gobbling away, apparently for the benefit of two birders, three turkey hens (including one light-colored bird that clearly had domestic turkey genes) and another displaying male. The explanation for this curious situation was presently revealed to us by Chris, the owner of the property, who emerged from his house, pleased to find some bird appreciators in the neighborhood. It turns out that the hens and the second male belong to him while the big gobbler -- the one that attracted our attention in the first place -- wandered in from the woods, challenged and triumphed over the resident male and took over the hen harem. Apparently the battles were savage and furious but once the issue was settled, Male #2 accepted his defeat with whatever passes for turkey gracefulness and was thereafter satisfied with his role as Second Turkey Banana. Such was the story that we were told and I see no reason to doubt it. 

Eric Salzman