Hazy day in late spring

Last night's heavy thunderstorms were followed by a relatively bright sunrise. Almost as soon as the sun rose, so did a heavy haze as if the warmth of the sun lifted the moisture off the vegetation, leaving it suspended in the sultry atmosphere. As the day progressed and the sun climbed higher, the haze dissolved but the overall humidity remained elevated. In this summery ambience of late spring, bird activity was fairly high

Both our resident warblers -- Pine and Yellowthroat -- were active and singing. The Yellowthroats have been silent for the past few days but now resumed a lively Weech-ee-Weech-ee-Weech. There was at least one flight song, an unfamiliar and fairly rare jumble of song, given as the bird jumps straight up into the air and flutters down again (most of the song is nothing like their usual signature tune but there was a single identifying Weechy-weech at the end of the display). Most warblers have a flight song but you have to be lucky to be there when it happens. Until now our Yellowthroats seemed to be attached to a specific territory but this bird or another was not staying put as its songs would issue now from one bush over here and then from another and then yet another quite some distance away. Also at least two Pine Warblers were calling from different points in the piney woods north of the house and, to some extent, responding to each other. The Green Herons -- there are at least two -- were busy and noisy, sporadic but insistent, and all over the place from the marsh up into the oaks and pines, and even around the house. Somewhere in the woods, there is (or will be soon) a Green Heron nest.

Loud Osprey calls as well. The Osprey nest in the Pine Neck marsh, barely visible beyond the far tip of land, is quite far away but it appears that the adults are feeding young. Perhaps with my new spotting scope, I can get a better idea of what is going on at that nest.

The bird of the morning was a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird working its way along the bushes facing the marsh. It was not feeding on flowers but appeared to be picking insects off the bush bark. Could it be feeding young somewhere nearby (nestlings need protein)? We get hummingbirds regularly in migration but I have never yet found a nest in the vicinity.

The wild roses are starting to bloom. These grow in open areas near the marsh where there is fresh water close to the surface. Nevertheless, I think they are Virginia Rose not Marsh Rose -- it is not easy to tell these two closely related species apart. Catalpa trees are in full bloom with their orchid-like flowers. These trees are actually in the pea or legume family and they are an introduced species but their historic range is near enough that I regard them as 'near natives'. At another extreme, the vine honeysuckle -- the notorious Japanese Honeysuckle, a non-native with large white blossoms fading to yellow -- is also in bloom right now.

Butterflies and skippers are flying in the warmth but, as usual, it will take a little effort to identify them all. Tiger Swallowtail is easy. A less obvious ID was a skipper at the edge of the marsh with a white or yellowish marking on the underwing (not well seen) and when perched, noticeably long dark brown wings with white spots. I suspect that it was a Salt Marsh Skipper; it was new to me and I never got a good look at the under parts which might have helped cinch the case.

Eric Salzman