May Day! May Day

I'm back in residence in East Quogue and blogging almost daily. The following are the blogs from the past week:

May 1st, 2013

May Day! May Day!

We arrived yesterday afternoon and opened up the East Quogue house to the welcoming trills of the Pine Warbler. This morning I was able to greet the month of May  with a full circle of the property, the first since Hurricane Sandy. The line of debris -- sea wrack, tree branches, litter of all sorts -- shows how far the water came up during the storm and there are toppled trees, mostly Pitch Pine and Red Cedar, all along the open edges facing the water or marsh. The worst damage by far is at the head of the marsh far in from the bay (but not near the house) where the water and wind must have pushed in mightily; the landscape there is unrecognizable. Otherwise the damage is confined to a few severed tree limbs.

Actually it will be a few days before the full extent of the hurricane's after effects is shown by the number of dead trees and bushes, killed by salt water and spray. Even now, it is striking how much of the ground appears to have been scrubbed clean. Will there be new growth?

On the far side of the debris line, the signs of spring are everywhere. Perwinkle, Cinquefoil, Dandelion and dreaded Garlic Mustard are all in bloom along with the Forsythia and Saucer Magnolia. The trees are a further behind with only the Old Apple Tree fully leafed out and ready to bloom. The green on the Norway Maples comes from the color of their flowers; the leaves are not yet in full display. Some of the other shrubs, bushes and trees show some green; this is, in fact, an early spring compared with the May Days of years past.

The Pine Warbler is easily the most incessant singer with his constantly repeated trills as he makes his appointed rounds on his very well defined territory. Around the marsh and a ways into the surrounding woods, the Red-winged Blackbirds are active, with complicated chases -- territorial disputes? amorous chases? -- in every direction. A male Eastern Towhee is singing away; there's always hope for a towhee nesting here if the feral cats don't drive them away.

Osprey are back but haven't started nesting yet. Our neighbor has put the Purple Martin gourds back up and the birds are back from their winter quarters, already investigating nesting sites. Great Blue Herons are still around (most will leave shortly for their nesting grounds) along with Great Egrets (which nest on the bay).  A pair of Red-tailed Hawks appeared over the creek, attracting the attention of a screaming gull which attempted to chase them away. Will they stay and nest or are they migrants passing through?

Eric Salzman