slow season

In spite of the early breakout of spring vegetation, this has been a slow season bird-wise in East Quogue and environs (perhaps also in a wider area of Eastern LI). We have had visits from a few late arrivals recently. There was a Belted Kingfisher on the creek yesterday morning (about the second or third that I've seen). A pair of seemingly courting Common Terns were also on the creek and we have had visits from singing or calling Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Yellow Warbler and Pine Warbler in the past two or three days -- not in the creek but in the woods or woodland edge. But among the flycatchers and warblers only Common Yellowthroat appears to be firmly on territory (there is at least one male singing non-stop in the shrubs at the edge of the marsh). Even in the back woods, Wood Thrush and Veery are scarce and silent and no empidonax flycatcher has crossed my path this season. The sometimes wandering Cedar Waxwing seems to have wandered somewhere else. No Least Terns yet on the creek and, as of a day or two ago, they were not active at their usual sites down on the shore.

These are all birds that breed or have bred (although the empids are rather scarce as breeders). In the category of migrants, there have been only a few sightings, the best of which was a Hooded Warbler in Maple Swamp and a calling Common Loon passing overhead. Is this lack of migrants, a matter of weather patterns or are we talking about a drop in the overall numbers of migrants? In past years, mid-May or the third week of the month would have been the time of peak spring migration. And when will the missing breeders show up and begin to announce themselves? 

Eric Salzman