Yesterday morning, Eileen Schwinn took this photograph of an Osprey (with a fish?) perched on a Chesterfield crane in Weesuck Creek near the mouth or exit channel from our pond. Chesterfield Associates is a dock building and repair company in Westhampton and the crane was there to help in the repair of our neighbor's dock which was mangled by Sandy last fall. Since this dock is not reachable by road, the crane was brought in through Shinnecock Bay and into Weesuck Creek, presumably from Westhampton. That afternoon, with the dock completely repaired, a tugboat pushed the barge and crane back down the creek and I did not expect to see it again. But to my surprise, barge and crane were back in the area this morning with, yes, an Osprey and its catch back on top. A little later, there were two Osprey at the summit, probably the young couple that have been active on the creek in the past few weeks.
With the newly repaired dock as a perch, I was also able to see an adult Yellow-crowned Heron feeding at the mouth of the pond and a Black-crowned NIght Heron or two circling around the pond and marsh. The Black-crowned Night Herons are almost certainly breeding on the bay along with other long-legged waders. The Yellow-crowned is more inclined to breed in isolated pairs and often on the north side of the bay. So there is probably a Yellow-crowned nest somewhere in the vicinity.
But the big news of the morning was the first appearance of Yellow or Golden Chanterelles. Cantherellus ciibarius, also known as Girolles, are probably our best edible mushroom. Most mushrooms come in the fall with very few in the spring (I have never seen Morels, the most famous spring mushroom, out here). However there are a number of summer mushrooms including a few good edibles among which Chanterelles take first place. Late June is about as early as they come but it definitely counts as a sign of summer.
Eric Salzman
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