a foggy day in East Quogue town

It was so foggy this morning that I could not see the other side of the creek -- not to mention the bay or the barrier beach beyond. All the local birds were vocalizing non-stop in the extended low light, giving a good survey of who was around, defending territory and trying to nest: Willets, Common Yellowthroats, Yellow Warbler, Purple Martins, Barn Swallows,, Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, Song Sparrows, Pine Warbler, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, American Robin, Baltimore Oriole, Carolina Wren, Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, American Crow, N. Cardinal, House Finch.

Mourning Doves seen in flight and probably nesting. Calling Fish Crow flies over regularly and is probably nesting somewhere to the north. Also calling in flight: American Goldfinch and Cedar Waxwing, both gulls and Common Terns (the goldfinch and waxwing, probably not nesting yet; the others nest on the other side of the bay).

No sign of the woodpeckers although I suspect that the Downy young are out and both Red-bellied and N. Flicker are probably nesting as well. Osprey (the nest is in sight on Pine Neck) are probably trying to re-nest (I suspect their first attempt failed due to high winds and rain this spring).

Those three interlopers -- Rock Pigeon, Common Starling and House Sparrow -- are also around and certainly nesting somewhere in the neighborhood.

The Common Yellowthroats on territory are two loudly singing males at the marsh edge some distance apart; there was a third but he has not been heard from for the past week or so. The two males that carry on seem to do a lot of responsive or alternate singing and they are not shy, often taking high and quite visible posts where they can show off their bright yellow throats/breasts, black masks and white eyebrows. But they continue to sing regularly even while moving through the foliage and feeding. Although Yellowthroats are commonly thought of as shrub warblers, these birds are consistently high up in the branches ot the (admittedly not very tall) trees at the marsh edge -- perhaps the better to broadcast their presence.

The Yellow Warbler is much more sporadic in its singing habits but I do hear it regularly; I'm not clear as to whether it has ever succeeded in breeding on the property (there are many Yellow Warblers breeding in the area on both sides of the bay and we appear to have good Yellow Warbler habitat). Another occasional singing visitor is Red-eyed Vireo but it never seems to stay.

Eric Salzman