end of the gloom

Finally an end to the string of gloomy days. Even before the early morning sun clambered up above the clouds, it was clear that the weather had turned from drippy, dark and dank to clear, cool and crystalline. The Purple Martins, which had been so seemingly absent that I thought they had deserted their colony, suddenly reappeared out of their martin houses. Do they go into a state of torpor when the weather is bad? The Barn Swallows were out in something like their usual numbers and the Bank Swallow that accompanies them was identifiable even without lifting the binoculars. As it came low and more or less straight at me, I could see the dark chest band across its white breast. This little swallow is actually, in structure, a kind of smaller version of the Barn Swallow with an aerodynamic shape, slender wings, something of a tapered body and even a slightly forked tail.

The biggest surprise of the day was a Great Blue Heron feeding in the marsh area near the mouth of pond. Great Blues are common most of the year but they do not breed on Long Island and the month of June is the least likely time of year to see them (they are, or should be, in their breeding colonies up north).

Our friendly local Mute Swan family -- two adults and four swanlets -- was in evidence again. They come into the pond between tides when the water is at a medium level that suits their feeding techniques. Although I mentioned that they feed on the algae growth in the pond, this is actually only a small part of their diet. Mostly one of the adults (the male, I think), rocks his body and whips up the pond bottom with his feet. All the birds, adults and young, then tip up to feed on whatever it is that has been stirred up. These birds keep at it even when I watch them from a near bank. I stare at them with my binoculars for long periods and I can see them chomping on something but I cannot see what it is. After a session like this, the female and the young occasionally turn to the algae floating on the surface and slurp some of it without diving or tipping up. Perhaps it's a swan's idea of desert.

Eric Salzman