natural history bulletins from Weesuck Creek

Young crows have fledged. The adults, who have been flitting around the woods very silently, are suddenly very agitated and noisy at my approach. This almost certainly means that there are young just out of the nest in the neighborhood, a supposition that is supported by the hoarse calls heard later in the day -- the sound of young crows (and not Fish Crows with which they are sometimes confused).

Other birds are hatching as well. Madame Mallard swam out of the pond early this morning with six minimallards in tow. A small flock of Black-capped Chickadees almost certainly included some recently fledged young.

Along with the Purple Martins and Barn Swallows that hunt insects over the marsh, I have had quite consistent glimpses of a smaller brown swallow. The small size, the fast, continuous wingbeats and the bullet-like jizz of the bird all led me to think that it was a Bank Swallow. But one Bank Swallow does not a summer make. This is a bird that travels in flocks and nests in colonies and I would expect to see Bank Swallows in the plural. However this morning I had a good view of the black collar as the bird flew right towards me with the rising sun over my shoulder. Also, this time I had the impression that there was more than one Bank Swallow zipping about. Which brings up the interesting question of where these birds are coming from. Right now they should be nesting in sand cliffs and banks. They used to breed (along with Belted Kingfisher) in the East Coast Sand Mines in the moraine north of East Quogue but I have the impression that those Bank Swallow banks have long since been dug up and it is not possible to get back there to check things out as the owners have become very wary of visitors. Perhaps these deft little aerial aces are coming over from the cliffs facing Peconic Bay where Bank Swallows do nest. It's a bit of a trek perhaps but not an impossible distance as the swallow flies.

One more nature news bulletin. There is still a butterfly doing territorial flights in the semi-enclosed area between our parch, kitchen and barn but the Red Admiral that was there in May has now been replaced by a Question Mark -- easy to identify because of its size and the details of its colors and markings. After doing a series of circular flights, the butterfly landed right outside the kitchen window on a shady bit of open ground allowing for a close inspection of this striking lepid.

Eric Salzman