Sandy

Hurricane Sandy hit us pretty hard starting on Monday, the 29th of October, with a good-sized morning high tide in which the pond and marsh overflowed their banks. The electricity went out about 3:30 in the afternoon (the phones went out later) and the winds kept increasing all day with boffo hurricane gusts and a second high tide after dark that pushed the water about two-thirds of the way up the open field toward the house. Oddly enough, the clouds mostly dissipated revealing the full moon that was not only collaborating in this apocalypse but also lighting it up. A setting for a scary early Hallowe'en opera.

Well the water did not reach the house but the dawn's not-so-early light revealed the piles of wrack and debris covering the area and stretching from one patch of woods to the other. However there was surprisingly little tree damage around the house (I'll have to survey the general damage to the property later on when things are more accessible).

I did manage to do a little birding in the morning but my conclusion is that Sandy caused a lot of trouble with few rewards. Unlike Irene (which produced some wonderful tropical and pelagic birds including a Bridled Tern right on the creek), there was no real exotica in sight. I did see a Lesser Blackback Gull riding out the storm along with the Laughing, Ring-bill, Herring and Greater Black-back Gulls perched on what remained of the Aldrich Boatyard docks and there were several raptors in sight: a Cooper's Hawk and two or three Merlins (chasing, of all things, Rock Doves a.k.a. Domestic Pigeons, and reminding me that Merlins used to be called Pigeon Hawks!). There were flocks of Dark-eyed Juncos and various sparrows investigating the tidal wrack for whatever it was that they were able to find. Blue Jays were also investigating the tidal wrack, apparently finding acorns that had been blown off the trees.

The tide finally fell back on Tuesday afternoon and by Wednesday we were able to pack up and head for the city as originally planned.

Eric Salzman