a migrant mushroom and an FOS bird

I thought that Tuesday's thunderstorms followed by yesterday's change of weather would bring in migrants but the only immediately noticeable effect was the appearance -- in a major fruiting -- of a mysterious mushroom that sprouted up in dense clusters on a dirt pile just inside the woods and only a short distance from the house. Co-credit for this mushroom has to go to Sandy as this dirt pile was in fact part of the debris deposited on our front meadow during last fall's storm and cleared off into half-hidden dirt piles! The mushroom, with its buttony cap, white spores and ring, had a familiar look but I couldn't place it. It first showed up a week ago or so -- also after thunderstorms -- at the same time as the Honey Mushrooms (Armillaria mellea) appeared. After deciding that it wasn't a Honey Mushroom or even a close relative, I tossed it out. Yesterday morning it reappeared in even more dense clusters and this time I decided to try and track it down. The reddish brown cap with scales (staining my hands), a touch of yellow turning reddish on the gills or where it was bruised, the club-shaped slightly woody stem were all clues as was the dirt-pile habitat. One of the most popular edible mushrooms is the Parasol or Lepiota rhacodes but we always complain that we find just one Lepiota at a time. Well, this mushroom turned out to be Lepiota americana, a relative of the Parasol but in clumps of hundreds! Although these mushrooms appeared to be dirty, the dirt (which discolored my fingers) turned out to be mostly the brownish-red scales and they were not that difficult to clean. I grilled a few of the larger caps and we tasted them cautiously just to make sure there was no mistake. It turns out that this is one of our best edibles. Thank you, Sandy!

I didn't find any migrants yesterday but I actually didn't have much time to look. This morning's walk was more leisurely and featured a few migrants, most notably a flock of 14 or 15 birds that flew in over the marsh announcing themselves with their characteristic flight call: pink-pink-pink, pink-pink-pink. Then, to make sure there was no mistake, they perched and posed prettily on the Phragmites. BOBOLINKS! These were all in the non-breeding plumage: stripy on the back, very yellowish on the breast, reddish bill, black cap, blank face -- said to be sparrowy but big and yellow and more like a European bunting than one of our sparrows.

Raptors are also on the move. This morning's hawk was a Sharp-shinned which was first chased by a Crow and then turned around and took after the Crow -- affording a useful size comparison. Lots of Gray Catbirds and Common Yellowthroats suggesting that these birds are also on the move. All four woodpeckers again along with White-breasted Nuthatch (an honorary woodpecker), another legacy of Sandy.

Eric Salzman