The Boreal Pewee

Both yesterday and today I saw a medium-large rather dishevelled flycatcher with a big dark head, few field marks (the barest traces of wing bars), a good-sized beak and a rather short tail (occasionally pumped). Yesterday's bird was hunting close to the ground at the edge of the woods; today's bird was moving from tree-top perch to tree-top perch. Even though it is not supposed to hunt near the ground or, for that matter, wag its tail, I think both birds were Olive-sided Flycatchers, a species that is not so easy to ID in the fall when it is silent. The 'boreal pewee' (a good alternate name for this bird), breeds to the north and comes by twice a year in migration. I only have a few records but I'm sure it's overlooked.

There was a very large collection of birds near the head of the swamp in an area that was badly hit by Sandy. Someone has been cutting into this area from a neighboring property making it more accessible than previously and a major selection of our local birds were either feeding or roosting in the dense thickets that have sprung up in the wake of the hurricane destruction. Among them were all the warblers of recent sightings: Yellow, Yellowthroat, Black-and-White, American Redstart and Northern Waterthrush.

I found a burst of Honey Mushrooms (Armillaria mellea) this morning on one of the trails. Also a few Meadow Mushrooms (Agaricus campestris) as well a few Chanterelles. The Chanterelles are the last of the summer fungi; the others represent a late summer, early fall crop. They'll all go into the dinner pot.

This has not been a particularly good summer for mushrooms, probably due to a relative lack of rain (in spite of the regular passing thunderstorms and many overcast days). However some of the wild flowers have done well. Earlier this year, I noticed a large number of Evening Primrose plants coming up and, when we cut the grass, made sure to avoid cutting them down. These stalks grew up to five and six feet in height before most of them toppled over in a rainstorm; they were top heavy with flower buds but even as the stalks hit the ground, they continued to flower. The result is an amazing burst of these buttery yellow flowers (see picture).

I am currently wrestling with the ID of a pretty blue flowering plant with a cluster of blue stamens jutting out from each flower head. It might be Hyssop otherwise known as Hyssopus officianalis. It's odd that I never noticed it before. Other curious flowering plants are probably garden escapes. A large lily-like yellow flower in an area off one of our right-of-ways (where locals dump garden refuse) is probably a curcubit of some kind (a squash, pumpkin or cucumber type). A ragged composite with large somewhat-sunflower-like flowers and huge pie-shaped leaves is blooming near the blue flower in an area that might once have been gardened; there's nothing like it in the wildflower books.

Eric Salzman