dueling Flickers, some butterflies and a possible Winter Wren

For the last couple of days, there has been a small, dark wren in the tangles at the head of the marsh -- the very area where Irene did most of her damage (and created great wren habitat). I am quite convinced that this is a Winter Wren and not a House Wren. Although September 14/15 is early, it is not unprecedented for this species which may have arrived together with another northerner, the Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Speaking of Red-breasted Nuthatches, there were a few in the Chickadee flock foraging in the Pitch Pines between the house and the water this morning. As the Chickadees kept up their familiar 'chick-a-dee-dee-dee', the Nuthatches kept pace with a continuous series of low, rolling, purling sounds quite different from the toy trumpet call usually associated with these birds. This vocalization, which does not seem to be mentioned in the field guides, may be a contact call similar in function to the Chickadee's 'chick-a-dee-dee-dee'.

There was some kind of elaborate contest going on between two male Northern Flickers. I watched them work their way up and down tree trucks and limbs in an extraordinary series of displays accompanied by low-pitched whimpering sounds. They would point their beaks upward, flick their wings open (displaying the yellow undersides) and generally threaten without actually seeming to make any contact. Usually one Flicker was above the other, facing downward, while the lower bird would indulge in all sorts of wing and tail flashes and keep advancing as if to push the other bird out of the way. The upper bird would then back up but continue to face its opponent while literally holding the upper hand. This continued for quite a while with both birds seemingly oblivious to their onlookers (initially just me but afterwards I was joined by a neighbor who came out to see what I was looking at). I gave up before they did so I don't know the outcome.

We don't have any flowering Butterfly Weed to attract butterflies but we do have Seaside Goldenrod coming into bloom and it definitely attracts. Today's lepidopterans: Gray Hairstreak on the goldenrod and -- rare for a hairstreak -- opening its wings in the sunshine to show the upper side of its wings with two orange 'eye-spots' at the base of the hindwing. A Question Mark was sunning itself on a nearby treetrunk with open and closed wings in alternation. Also a very tatty Red Admiral and a Clouded Sulphur or two in the vicinity. No sign of the Red-banded Hairstreak or the mystery skipper of a few days ago.

Eric Salzman