A wren trifecta -- Carolina, House and Marsh -- marked this morning's birding. That's three of the four expected Eastern wrens (the fourth, Winter Wren -- now considered a separate species from the Eurasian Wren -- is expected only in migration or winter). All three wrens are exceedingly vocal but the Marsh Wren took the prize in an almost continuous sequence of low-key bubbling singing that made its presence known long before it was seen. House Wren is a locally common breeder both in inhabited areas and in the Pine Barrens. Marsh Wrens are much less common as breeders than they used to be now that the South Shore bays are mostly tidal with Phragmites taking over their edges (Marsh Wren much prefers Cattails). Both House and Marsh Wren are migratory while Carolina Wren has become a very common permanent resident in recent decades with the warming of our winters.
Couldn't find any further evidence of yesterday's mystery marsh bird. Two warblers were seen: Common Yellowthroat (several) and a tree-top warbler migrant whose specific identity will forever remain a mystery. However there were Purple Martins and a few Barn Swallows moving overhead and lots of Catbirds along the marsh edge and in the Tupelos.
Here is Eileen Schwinn's photo of one of the young Green Herons on the edge of our salt pond. You can see the scruffy-looking crest as well as the streaky neck that mark this as a young bird, probably the one I have been calling the runt of the litter.
Eric Salzman
PO Box 775
East Quogue NY 11942
631 653-5236
www.ericsalzman.com
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