chats 'n' chucks

This morning's highlight was a Yellow-breasted Chat in the hurricane-battered trees at the head of the marsh. There was, in fact, a whole hive of activity here starting shortly after the appearance of the sun and ending abruptly at about 8 am. Most of the action was in the tupelo trees and adjacent oaks surrounding the head of the marsh. Numbers of Gray Catbirds reappeared with Black-capped Chickadees, a few Tufted Titmice, Am Robins, young Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers, a Flicker or two, N Cardinal and Starlings. Most of these birds appeared to be eating Tupelo and Poison Ivy berries (I specifically saw one of the Downy Woodpeckers take a Poison Ivy berry). In the warbler department there were, besides the Chat (which is probably not a warbler anyhow), two or three Black-and-whites and a couple of Am Redstarts (not eating berries). Also an Ovenbird seen burrowing through the piles of fallen oak leaves in another location.

Rocky Raccoon (or rather, Rocky Jr.) was at his occasional daytime sleeping post in the crotch of the big old Pitch Pine, his striped tail hanging down one side and his masked face and head on the other. But the mammal of the season was seen yesterday afternoon from my studio spot on our screen porch when I happened to catch a very large fat squirrel coming by the edge of the woods. Wait a moment, I thought, that's not a squirrel. It looked huge as it lumbered along the ground and clambered up a woodpile. A beaver? Well, no. It had a furry tail, a reddish brown glow to the back fur and it was quite paunchy. This was an animal that we usually see upright in open areas but that is quite capable of moving quickly through the woods. It was nothing less than a Groundhog, a.k.a. Woodchuck -- the very first I've ever seen on the property. Now I understand the attraction of that woodpile: a Woodchuck in the woods on a woodpile. Wow! How much wood do you think that Woodchuck could chuck? Alas, before I could find out, he clambered down the other side of the wood pile and dashed (well, lumbered as fast as he could go) into the woods.

Eric Salzman