armchair lifers

I got two new life birds this morning without getting up from my seat. These 'armchair lifers' (as they are known) arrive courtesy of the American Ornithological Union which has decided, in its infinite wisdom, that the American Common Moorhen, formerly the Common Gallinule, is no longer the Common Moorhen but is indeed the Common Gallinule, otherwise now to be known at the Gallinula galeata. Got it? The two birds (Old World Moorhen and New World Gallinule) were lumped together but now have been split apart and, having seen both of them in the appropriate land masses, I can count them as two separate species on my life list rather than as one single tick. The same holds for the birds variously known as the Snowy Plover and the Kentish Plover, the former a Western and Southern American species, the latter a widespread Eurasian bird. They already had different common names and were considered subspecies; now they are species splits as well. Oddly enough, one of the differences between these two is that the Snowy male is supposed to lack the reddish cap that distinguishes the Kentish male but I have seen presumably Snowy males with a reddish cap on salt pans in the Antelope Valley in California; I assume that this is an inland race which might be different yet from the coastal birds. Yes, Virginia, life can be complicated.

There are other changes but nothing for American birders to worry about. The Old World chats (Stonechat, Whinchat, Nightingales, Wheatears, Common Redstart, etc.), formerly considered to be thrushes, are now officially allied to the Old World Flycatchers (not related to our flycatchers!). And our wood warblers have been drastically rearranged but, thankfully, this affects mostly the scientific or Latin names and the order or grouping of the birds into genera but not the English names or current species allotments. For example, the name and classification known as Dendroica has completely disappeared but luckily the birds themselves -- Yellow Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, et al -- are still with us; they're just not Dendroicas any more. A rose by any other name...

One of the Goldenrods and a sort of Geranium have started to bloom; not sure of the exact species name in either case (the goldenrod might be tough but the geranium shouldn't be difficult to figure out). Other bloomers at this season are the inevitable Queen Anne's Lace or Wild Carrot and Bouncing Bet, both common introduced aliens that love our ragged edges. Wineberries are ripe (I picked a bunch) and more Chanterelles have popped up in the wake of last night's storms.

There were three Barn Swallows working the marsh this morning thereby disproving my previous assertion that they were all gone (of course, these might have been mere passers-by). The Purple Martins continue to be active and noisy; wonder how long it will be before they move out. The season advances apace.

Eric Salzman