This morning dawned clear, humid, dry, dewless, blue sky (a haze of clouds gradually appeared) with on-shore winds from the south (carrying the sound of surf) but otherwise very quiet and not very birdy. Where were the birds? Everyone seemed to be lying low as if in anticipation of the coming storms. If there's a hurricane in the offing, it still seems very far away but there is a rather ominous tropical aura about the weather; something, it seems, is about to happen. Although the swallows and martins continued to be conspicuous by their absence, there were herons (two Great Blues, a Green on the dead cedar by the pond and at least one Great Egret). Both the Spotted Sandpiper and Northern Waterthrush reappeared and there were Brown Thrashers in the woods and a few Gray Catbirds here and there. A few calls from the Jays and Crows. An occasional cicada trying to get its motor started. But mostly the background was only the sound of the wind in the trees.
In yesterday's post, I forgot to mention that Rocky Raccoon -- actually Rocky Jr. -- was back on his formerly favorite sleeping post in the crotch of a big old Pitch Pine. In fact, he wasn't sleeping at all but doing his toilette and eyeing me a mite suspiciously. No sign of him this morning.
Above is one of my point-and-shoot photos, this one of Evening Primroses. I managed to save a number of these plants from one of our rare attempts at 'mowing the lawn' and now I am rewarded with a burst of yellow blossoms. The yellow is much more intense than it shows in the picture. In spite of the name, the peak of flowering is not in the evening but early in the morning although I imagine that the yellow color is designed to attract moths. Not long ago, I watched a Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding on these flowers which stay quite bright until late in the morning when the full sun hits them.
Eric Salzman
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