super storm

We had a major thunderstorm last night. It came right overhead, knocked out our lights (and all our electric), poured buckets of water on us and then moved on out -- very slowly it seemed -- to go over the bay and across Dune Raod out to the ocean; lightning flashes from that direction continued for a long time after. As the drama subsided but the electricity did not return, we elected to go to bed early; of course the lights then came back on shortly thereafter. There was a lot of debris scattered all around this morning and I spent some time clearing brush from the driveway and our two right-of-ways. There were no trees down on our place but one neighbor had a whole tree go over. It was either a Green or White Ash and luckily it tumbled on their lawn and away from their vehicles and the house. The base of the tree looked like it had been hit by lightning but, more likely, it was simply rotten out inside and the wind and rain applied the coup de grace. Another tree on Montauk Highway went over and was resting on the electric wires (curiously the police or fire department put out yellow tape behind the tree (the safe place to walk) while leaving the sidewalk under the semi-toppled tree quite open to passers-by. It was undoubtedly this tree fall or one like it that knocked out our electricity.

It was low tide this morning with the Yellow-crowned Night Heron perched on its favorite fallen log. Other birds frequenting the pond were Snowy Egret, Green Heron, Spotted Sandpiper and Belted Kingfisher. Just off the west bank of the pond, in a dense area of wetlands and other vegetation, the first Northern Waterthrush of the season popped up, identifying itself first by its signature 'chink' and then afterwards skulking not quite invisibly in the branches of a Red Cedar. This bird, the passerine equivalent of the Spotted Sandpiper (it also has a teeter-toy teeter-totter), generally arrives in mid to late July and hangs out for the rest of the summer. Since it doesn't breed on Long Island, it is another example of a species in its post breeding dispersal phase although, unlike some of the coastal birds (which are southern), this is a northern breeder on the first leg of its move south.

On yesterday's post, I suggested that the stand of Dodder by our pond was parasitic on grass. However I just didn't look closely. It is clearly wrapped around and sucking the life out of a small stand of Iva fructescens or Marsh Elder. Fortunately, we have a lot of Marsh Elder all around the marsh and can afford to sacrifice a few plants to Cuscuta.

Eric Salzman