birds by the glassful

Somewhere I recall reading about a birding contest for the most unusual collection of birds seen in a single binocular field at one time. Well, it wouldn't win any global competitions, but this morning I had a Yellow Warbler, an American Goldfinch, a Song Sparrow, a Black-capped Chickadee and a Downy Woodpecker in one glassful, all on a scraggy little dead Red Cedar covered with lichen at the edge of the marsh. They didn't hang out together very long but long enough for me to get them all in a single glance. Additionally, the woodpecker was a juvenile with a reddish forecrown -- a plumage seen only on young birds. The Yellow Warbler was a bright female.

Another somewhat unusual sight this morning was the presence of two Belted Kingfishers on the dock. This is a species that one usually sees one at a time or in noisy aerial combat, the local stakeholder chasing away an intruder. These birds seemed amicable enough (and, for kingfishers, not very noisy). I wasn't able to get a good look at them to determine if they were a male-female pair or, just possibly, a couple of young birds of the year. What do young kingfishers look like anyway? I suspect that by time they come out of their nesting holes and learn how to fly, they look like the adults. After not being much in evidence this spring and early summer, kingfishers have reappeared and have now become regular on the creek. They often sit on the local docks or on the dead cedar 'look-out' over the pond. The baitfish are running in some numbers (good-sized schools of silversides and possibly killifish as well), providing excellent prey for kingfisher fishing.

Eric Salzman