bird vocalizations

A surprisingly long list of birds have just resumed vocalizing suggesting that either their young have fledged or their first nesting attempt failed and they are getting ready to try again. Some of the birds that rejoined the chorus in the past morning or two were Eastern Phoebe, Baltimore Oriole and Blue Jays. Blue Jays don't really sing, of course, but they are normally among the noisiest and most vocal of birds with as astonishing variety of calls, many of which are hardly recognizable as Blue Jay calls (my favorite is what my daughters used to call "the Man from Mars" call -- as in, "Beep, beep-a-deep" "Hey, Dad! The men from Mars are here!") But they are amazingly quiet and furtive in nesting season so the new burst of vocal activity probably means that their current exercise of raising young Jays is over.

Belted Kingfisher is a regular visitor but these days the bird that makes the rounds of the pond and creek is always a male. That leads me to the thought (and hope) that the female is sitting on a nest somewhere. The Yellowlegs that dropped into the pond and then noisily took off for the marsh was probably a Lesser -- by bill size and call -- but whether a he or a she I cannot tell.

Queen Anne's Lace is already in bloom along with a couple of blue guys: chicory and the little blue meadow button that sports the wonderful name of "Sheep's Bit". I had a lot of trouble IDing that one (it is not in the old Peterson "Field Guide to the Wild-Flowers) and I still find the name to be outstanding; try saying it a few times in a row very quickly.

Speaking of bird vocalizations, I'm doing a SOFO walk this Saturday at the Grace Estate on the very topic of "Birding by Ear". Hope the East Hampton birds are starting to sing and call again so we have something to hear. If you're interested call SOFO at 537-9735 or e-mail .

Eric Salzman