out of the nest

As I suspected, the Downy Woodpeckers have fledged. There are two young and each adult is moving around the woods with one youngster in tow. They move quietly now, poking around the mid-tree level for insects which they feed to the young birds, now in subadult plumage. Catbirds and Blue Jays both drop out of low branches to capture insects in the open area in front of the house; since they appear to carry the insects away, they are probably feeding nestlings. A pair of Willets continues to frequent the marsh and salt pond. One of them came flying right at me, calling noisily, this morning as I walked down to the pond. Sometimes I only see one bird but there are often two roosting in the half-dead cedar on the opposite side of the pond. Is this really a pair or are there two males watching over a territory where females are sitting? Are they even nesting on our marsh or is this just a feeding area over which they are trying to exert territorial rights. There must be a nest or nests somewhere; perhaps on Pine Neck, on the opposite side of Weesuck Creek.

The butterfly working the semi-enclosed area between the porch, kitchen and barn was back last night but, to my surprise, it was the Red Admiral again and not the Question Mark which had been there the day before. What is it about this (rather limited) area that is so attractive to these insects? If these are 'territorial' flights (both insects were making similar circular flights around the area) how can two different individuals of two different species 'own' the same territory? In fact, how do I know there were only two individuals. Perhaps there have been a whole succession of Red Admirals and Question Marks stopping by to survey the scene. But survey for what? It's hard enough to ask questions of the birds but asking insects is even more difficult.

Eric Salzman