a burst of activity

A burst of activity at sunrise this morning right across the 'front range' -- the bushes and trees facing the marsh between the pond and the corner where the marsh makes a right angle turn. Most of it was due to Yellow-rumped Warblers but there were other birds in the mix. Just before the sun came up, I saw the silhouettes of arriving birds that were probably sparrows and sparrows is what I saw shortly thereafter: both Chipping and Swamp Sparrows newly arrived. Eastern Phoebes were popping up all over the place and several were singing, alternating the two phoebe songs -- FEE-bee and a longer version with a trill on the end. As was the case yesterday, there were a few Palm Warblers mixed in with the Yellow-rumps. Other warblers included Prairie, Blackpoll, Black-and-white and a handsome male Black-throated Blue. Also Red-eyed and Blue-headed Vireos. A few Monarchs and quite a few large dragonflies -- mainly, as far as I could tell, Green Darners and Black Saddlebags.

The open area in the middle of the marsh has been filled up with water in the early morning but that did stop our friendly neighborhood Clapper Rail who just swam across. A swimming rail is almost unrecognizable as a rail but Clappers do swim and they swim very well.

Eric Salzman