cackles and warbles

Just before sunrise this morning I heard what I'm quite sure was a Descending Cackle coming from the marsh. What is a Descending Cackle you may ask? It's a call of a Yellow Rail, named by the only person to have studied the life history of this enigmatic bird and it is apparently a communication call, most likely to be heard in migration. I can send an article on my history with Yellow Rail and the little-known Descending Cackle to anyone who is interested. Almost exactly nine years ago, on October 15, 20052, I flushed Yellow Rail twice in the marsh just before dawn and both times heard this call as it was landing. This time I ran, or rather sloshed into the marsh in the direction from which the call had come but succeeded in flushing nothing at all. Ah well.

Also seen at first light, two crows and a Sharp-shinned Hawk chasing each other around. It was difficult most of the time to tell who was chasing whom but the size differential between the crows and the hawk was very noticeable.

As the sun hit the trees and bushes on the 'front range' facing east, the place became alive with small birds and I ended up dashing from one end to the other trying to keep up with the activity. Oddly enough, the Yellow-rumped Warblers did not show at first. In the confused arrival and displacement of small passerines, I managed to pick out a Black-throated Green Warbler, an Indigo Bunting, a Brown Thrasher and several Eastern Phoebes (alas, no Say's Phoebe). Plus the usual woodpeckers, Robins and Blue Jays. There were also three species of sparrows: many Swamps, a few White-throats and the usual Song. The Yellow-rumps gradually began taking over the scene until there seem to be nothing but Yellow-rumps around. Well, not quite. I managed to pick out a a very handsome first-year Parula female, the daily Redstart, a couple of Blackpolls, Red-eyed and Blue-headed Vireos and a White-breasted Nuthatch. Overhead flights featured mainly D-b Cormorants but there was one striking Canada Warbler V that was reminiscent of the old days when that bird was a truly magnificent wild creature and not just a lawn pest.

Eric Salzman