swallow migration still in progress

I was on Dune Road this morning and was surprised to see hundreds -- no thousands -- of swallows still moving along the outer beach. As far as I could tell, these were all Tree Swallows and mostly young ones at that. It's always a remarkable sight with clouds of birds bouncing up from the dune vegetation and whirling and swirling over the road and marsh.

There weren't many shore birds to be seen even on a falling tide but there was a nice line-up of Yellowlegs on the opposite bank of the inlet at Dockers: about a dozen Lesser Yellowlegs with two or three Greaters for contrast. Also small flocks of Least Sandpipers, some Semipalmated Plovers, a Black-bellied Plover or two, and quite a few egrets of both flavors.

There were a great many butterflies moving along the beach, most of them Painted Ladies (also Monarchs and Cabbage Butterflies). Among the wildflowers in bloom (some of them much frequented by the butterflies) are Smartweed or Water-Pepper (a big stand of it at the little Quogue boardwalk refuge), Knapweed, Canada Thistle (and possible one or more of the other thistles), Pearly Everlasting, Evening Primrose, Salt-marsh Fleabane, and at least two or three of the Goldenrods.

Yes, I did write that I ran outside yesterday in my bathroom (to look at a fox). The question was, did I run out of the bathroom or in my bathrobe. The correct answer is both, in fact!

Eric Salzman