There were at least half a dozen Chimney Swifts over the marsh and adjacent woods this morning along with a small flock of swallows that included all the common species: Barn, Bank, Rough-winged and Tree, not to mention Purple Martins. This flock, strongly suggestive of migrating birds, was hunting in big semi-circles before disappearing in mid-morning.
Later this morning, a horrible squawk, repeated at least twice, sent me running down to the water. I put up an Osprey and a Great Egret from the trees in front of the pond but I doubt that either of these birds was responsible for the noise. Oddly enough, there were the remains of a Blue Claw Crab on one of the sitting chairs set up by the pond. My guess is that one of the herons -- possibly a Great Blue or a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron -- had picked out the crab from the pond, landed on the chair and was working on the crab when it was scared off by the arrival of the Osprey; as it (the heron not the Osprey) flew off, it dropped a crab claw and a bit of shell in its haste to get away. Just a guess.
I finally succeeded in finding enough Canterellus cibarius -- otherwise known as Chanterelles, Golden Chanterelles or Girolles -- for a meal. In spite of the fact that we have had some heavy thunderstorms, there has actually not been enough rain to kickstart mushroom season. The one exception has been the Chicken Mushroom, Laetiporus sulphureus (formerly known as Polyporus sulphureus); I've found three or four of them already but hardly any other mushrooms have appeared so far this season.
Eric Salzman
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