warm October katydid

A katydid of some sort has been singing all day right outside the front door on this toasty warm October morn: mostly two two syllables but sometimes three (ka-ty, ka-ty, ka-ty, ka-ty-did). We're talking about broad (if overcast) daylight on the last day of October -- not exactly the time you expect to hear a nighttime singer of late summer. It's a rather rough, robust call but definitely similar to the familiar nighttime katydids. I'm wondering if there is a late autumn species that sings in the daytime.

I'm still a long way from figuring out the singing insects of summer and fall.

Eric Salzman

hawk breakfast

This morning's hawk story:

There is an area by the head of our marsh where hurricanes have created a jumble of fallen trees and broken branches surrounded by a dense brush of vines (especially catbriar and wild rose) with various forbs and shrubs. This impenetrable thicket has become a favorite overnight spot for many of the small passerines including various sparrows, Yellow-rumped Warblers, American Goldfinches, kinglets, etc. I have discovered that this is the place to watch these birds emerge shortly after sunrise from their nightly slumbers. But I am not alone in this discovery. Every morning, one or two accipiters hangs out in the surrounding trees hoping for easy pickings. This morning, an accipiter came zipping in at top speed, lower than eye level, to pick off a hapless little bird, carrying it up to a bare branch on one of the surrounding trees to pluck and eat. The hawk had its back to me but I could see that it was an adult male Cooper's Hawk with a blue back, a rounded tail with broad white tips to the feathers, a pale orange-buff nape and a large, slightly flat-topped head. What I could not see was what it had caught and, when I tried to circle round for a better view, it simply took off clutching its prey.

Carl Safina writes in with his own hawk story: "I was surfcasting the other morning and a merlin caught a passerine right in front of me over the breakers." Oddly enough, I had a similar experience years ago on a pelagic trip that left Montauk well before dawn. I was at the back of the boat during first light and over the ship's wake I was able to make out a Merlin who, while holding his position hovering in midair in the updraft from the boat, was nibbling on a breakfast passerine that he had just caught!

Eric Salzman

hawks for Hallowe'en?

Two accipiters came zooming in together over the marsh early on this morning. I don't think they were a pair but rather one appeared to be chasing the other. The smaller one, the chasee, veered off. It was an adult bird with horizontal red stripes on its breast; I think it was an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk. The other, the bigger of the two and the chaser, kept going and landed in a tree at the head of the marsh. It hung out in the area for a while, occasionally taking ofter potential prey, and generally showing the features of a juvenile Cooper's Hawk (somewhat flatish head, lots of white spots on the brown back, longish rounded tail, puffy white undertail coverts). The same or another Cooper's Hawk was crossing the creek from west to east a bit later in the morning. I'm beginning to wonder if these hawks are simply passing through or whether they've set up shop in the vicinity.

Hermit Thrushes are definitely on the move; there were several around this morning eating bittersweet and other berries. Both kinglets were in evidence (with Golden-crowned the more common) and there were White-throated Sparrows everywhere.  

Eric Salzman

more frost, more Robins

The frost was on the ground again this morning and once again a big flock of Am Robins came in, accompanied as before by a few N. Flickers. Are these flocks passing through on their way south or is this simply a big flock of roamin' Robins moving around the area? A good-sized flock of Common Grackles is probably of the roamin' variety; as long as the weather stays mild (and, in spite of the morning frost, the day turned sunny and warm), they will likely stay in the area and wander about looking for sustenance.

Otherwise the bird list was pretty much as its been in recent days: Hermit Thrush (seemingly whistling a little fragment of song, something I never heard before!), plus sparrows, Golden-crowned Kinglets (no Ruby-crowned today), many Yellow-rumped Warblers, a nuthatch (heard only; White-breasted probably), Eastern Phoebe, American Goldfinches, etc. On the creek, a single Greater Scaup -- undoubtedly the same one that was seen a couple of days ago.

Eric Salzman

a warmer morning

Much warmer this morning. The Robins seemed to have largely passed through but Yellow-rumped Warblers are still everywhere along with a good scattering of the common sparrows (Song, Swamp, Whited-throated), a few Ruby-crowned Kinglets (no Golden-crowned seen or heard), a lagging Eastern Phoebe or two and at least one Hermit Thrush. Royal Terns are still patrolling the creek along with Belted Kingfisher and the two remaining species of herons (Great Egret and Great Blue). Only one raptor seen: a juvenile Cooper's Hawk darting among the trees and avoiding the unwanted attentions of some crows.

Penny Moser writes to tell me that the Sag Harbor Fish Crows have been gathering in and around the Sag Harbor Post Office. Around here, there are a small number of Fish Crows but they are easily outnumbered by the American Crows.

Eric Salzman

the frost is on the pumpkin and the raptors are flying

The frost was on the pumpkin (or, more accurately, on the marsh grass and shrubs) this morning and the raptors were flying. There were at least three accipters (one Cooper's Hawk, the others Sharp-shinned). The big show was a Merlin playing footsie with a bunch of crows in and around the trees at the edge of the marsh. As often as the crows tried to chase the lil' ol' Merlin, Falco columbarius would always turn the tables and go charging fearlessly after the much bigger crows.

Eventually, seemingly tiring of this game, friend Merlin whipped out over Weesuck Creek where, by some magic, it turned into an eagle! Good trick, no? This was an immature eagle which now pulled all the attention of the crows as it soared up and down the creek. I did my best to turn it into a Golden Eagle (such things are not beyond the realm of possibility) but the white markings on the brown were much too splotchy and I had to 'settle' for a young Bald Eagle. This has been the best season for Bald Eagles that I can recall with adults (always exciting) and young birds (reassuring for the future of the species).

Other activity on the creek: a single Royal Tern, at least three Greater Yellowlegs, a Great Blue Heron or two, a noisy Belted Kingfisher. On the land side, there were several Field Sparrows mixed in with the more usual Song, Swamp and White-throated. Yellow-rumps everywhere. In spite of the cold, there are several wildflowers still blooming including Evening Primrose and some white asters.

Eric Salzman

Robins, Robins, Robins

There was a major flight of Robins last night and the birds were everywhere this morning. Otherwise the birds of this morning seemed to be the same as the birds of yesterday morning -- or was it the day-before-yesterday-morning? Yellow-rumped Warblers everywhere with three or four species of sparrows, a small flock of Cedar Waxwings (mostly this year's crop of immatures), a lost Catbird or two, a single Flicker (no other woodpeckers), a few American Goldfinches, the usual squawking Great Blue Heron (disturbed from his canopy perch by my intrusion), Belted Kingfisher and...well, you get the idea.

Eric Salzman

a warbler scrum and then some

Yesterday's bird numbers were down a bit but back up today with Yellow-rumped Warblers and several species of sparrows all over the place. There were a few new appearances for the season as well: a flock of half a dozen Wood Ducks on the open water in the marsh and a single immature Greater Scaup in the creek near the boat yard; also a Greater Yellowlegs calling loudly from the opposite side of the creek and some small flocks of Double-crested Cormorants on the move. On the land-bird side, there was a moderately late Gray Catbird eating chinaberries alongside an overdue Dark-eyed Junco (first one I've seen around here this season). A fledgling Cardinal couldn't have been more than a couple of days out of the nest; that should make the fourth brood of the season! That was all from yesterday morning. This morning featured a first-of-the-season Hermit Thrush at the head of the marsh along with a super-scrum of warblers. One lingering Eastern Phoebe. Except for a couple of Flickers eating juniper (i.e. Red Cedar) berries with the warblers, the woodpeckers all seemed to have vanished along with the creepers and kinglets.

Eric Salzman

a flock of woodpecker?

Have you ever seen a woodpecker flock?

There were at least five (maybe six) woodpeckers all working the same grove of dead and dying trees this morning: two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, two Downies and one or two Hairy Woodpeckers. They were definitely aware of each other, sometimes even chasing each other around as if to assert their claims on the best infected woodpecker wood. Somewhere back in the woods, a Flicker was calling but neither Flickers nor Red-bellied Woodpeckers seem to have any inclination to join in with the others.

There was probably no diminution from the past two days in the number of birds around on this warm Indian Summer morning but instead of being spread out all along the ecotone between the woods and the marsh, they had mostly melted back into the shrubs and woods. I had two Brown Creeper sightings -- two birds or one mobile bird in two different places -- plus Yellow-rumped Warblers everywhere and a good scattering of both kinglets, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned (at least one showing its ruby crown). A small vireo with a distinctly dark cap and wide, white eyestripe (but no dark eyeline) was a Warbling (not a Red-eyed) Vireo, a first of the season.

I complained yesterday about our lack of a good open area for sparrows but there was a franzy of sparrows at the far edge of our far right-of-way -- an open grassy strip of driveway bordered by a dense area of shrubs and forbs. The sparrows were working the edge of this and even dropping down into the open area affording some good looks. And, sure enough, there were some immature White-crowned Sparrows along with White-throated, Swamp, Song, Chipping and Field. Curiously enough, I went back to this spot perhaps 20" or half an hour later and it was completely dead!

Eric Salzman

the berries of October

Another brilliant sunny blue-sky morning with birds all over the place. Like yesterday, the dominant species was Yellow-rumped Warbler with dozens -- perhaps hundreds -- flitting hither and yon along the edges. They were accompanied by some numbers of kinglets, both Golden- and Ruby-crowned. Lower down, in the marsh vegetation itself, there were a few Common Yellow-throats and lots of Swamp and Song Sparrows. White-throated Sparrows, many whistling their familiar tune, were further back in the dense hurricane damaged debris. A surprise was a small group of immature Cedar Waxwings high in the standing dead wood around the hurricane debris. What were they finding to eat up there? Poison Ivy berries most likely. There are a lot of berries around right now; besides Poison Ivy, there are Pokeweed berries and juniper berries on the Red Cedars, the latter a favorite of the Yellow-rumps.

Eric Salzman

a clear blue October morn

A beautiful birdy autumn morning with brilliant sunshine in a clear blue sky and just enough wind to make it feel like fall. The bird list starts with two Black Ducks in the pond and continues with a swarm of Yellow-rumped Warblers all along the front edge -- shrubs and woods -- facing the marsh. Sparrows everywhere; I was able to identify Song (most of them migrants, I'm sure), Swamp (many), White-throated (some singing), Chipping (winter plumage) and Field (these last two, Firsts of the Season). There were other sparrow possibilities but we don't have any open sparrow habitat so these birds have to be pished from under cover and I don't always get a good look at them. All of the five woodpeckers were in action including Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Both kinglets: Ruby-crowned in the shrubs at the edge, Golden-crowned back in the tree canopy. There were a few Eastern Phoebes and I could hear (but didn't see) nuthatches (probably White-breasted).

On and around the water, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Double-crested Cormorants and Belted Kingfisher continue. Osprey appear to be gone but there are still a few Royal Terns around.

Our local mammals, squirrels, White-tailed Deer and Raccoon, were out and about along with a few early-rising Sunday Homo Sapiens..

Jean Held suggests the confusion about who produces the rasping sounds -- raptors or jays -- is due to the fact that jays like to imitate hawk calls!

Eric Salzman

at last a Sapsucker!

It did get colder last night and, as I hoped, the change did bring in some new migrants. The long-awaited Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (everyone's favorite bird name if not actual favorite bird) appeared on one of our many dead pines, completing the local roster of five woodpeckers. A handsome specimen he is too! Another FOS (First of Season) was a Winter Wren hopping around in and among the fallen wood near the head of the marsh. There were Yellow-rumped Warblers, quite a few Eastern Phoebes, Swamp and White-throated Sparrows. Tufted Titmice reappeared after not being seen for a few days (where did they go in the meanwhile?). And, most obviously of all (although I can't call them migrants), the Gray Squirrels are in a frenzy to store up nuts for the winter (there are almost no acorns at all but hickory nuts are abundant).

Eric Salzman

follow the squawks

As I walked down to the water this morning, a series of squawks from the other side of the woods suggested that there was a raptor in the neighborhood. The tide was up again and the trails were flooded but I sloshed on through (I had my boots on) and was able to see a Sharp-shinned Hawk playing footsie with a small troupe of Blue Jays. The Jays would dive at the hawk until the hawk turned the tables and started to chase the chase the jays around. The Hawk is no bigger than a Blue Jay so the adversaries looked rather evenly matched. Eventually the Sharp-shin just took off -- to try his luck at finding some jay-free pastures, I suppose. My question is: who makes that horrible squawking sound? The hawk or one of the jays? I've heard it before, always in a hawk-jay contest.

It was a beautiful warm, sky-blue day with rather strong winds shifting to the east/northeast. My guess is that it will get colder tonight.

As in the past day or two, there have been very few land birds around -- as if the local birds all left for the south and the expected northern visitors never arrived (or passed on through). All four woodpeckers -- Hairy, Downy, Red-bellied and N. Flicker -- were still present along with a few Yellow-rumped Warblers,  Black-capped Chicadees and the usual Red-winged Blackbirds and American Crows. On the water: Belted Kingfisher, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, cormorants, a few gulls. We need a little bad weather to bring in some new birds!

Eric Salzman

back in action

After being out of action for a few days, I spent an abbreviated morning walking around the place. Because of the very high tide, many of the marshside trails were under water but some creek watching paid off when a small flock of Royal Terns was followed by two raptors streaking across the creek: a dark narrow-winged falcon (a Merlin for sure) and a small broadwinged accipiter (Sharp-shinned Hawk). Only a few land birds including Red-eyed Vireo and White-breasted Nuthatch.

Eric Salzman

eagle alert

A call this morning from Eileen Schwinn sent us racing down to the water to find the soaring Bald Eagle that she had spotted from the other side of the creek. It was an immature bird but unmistakably an eagle as it soared over the creek, eventually settling in a dense, leafy tree almost directly opposite. Shortly thereafter, Eileen appeared at our doorstep and we took out the spotting scope to try and find the perched bird -- this time with no luck.

With the weather turned to fall, I searched the place for a sapsucker, also without any luck (Eileen tells me she had one on the other side of the creek). A large flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers was still patrolling the front line between the marsh and the woods and there were a few Swamp Sparrows to be seen. Ospreys are on the move and the occasional accipiter -- mostly Sharp-shinned Hawks. Three or four species of asters -- some blue, some white -- are everywhere. 

Eric Salzman

a migratory morning and where to find Monarchs

When I got down to the pond shortly after sunrise and two Eastern Phoebes and a small group of Yellow-rumps came zipping by, I knew I was in for a good birding morning. The extension of trees and shrubs that juts out into the marsh and the edge running from the pond all the way back to the head of the marsh catches many migrants when the weather turns -- as it did last night. Unlike the last one, this influx contained few Common Yellowthroats and only a handful of kinglets of both flavors. However there were Swamp and White-throated as well as Song Sparrows, many Downy Woodpeckers (suggesting that they are also on the move), Red-eyed Vireos and one FOS in the form of a Brown Creeper (first seen by Lorna from the 2nd floor bathroom window!). As earlier, there were numbers of American Goldfinch and Black-capped Chickadees (no Titmice though); I'm never sure if these were locals or migrants. A Great Blue Heron flies out from its nightly perch back in the woods and there are still a few American Egrets in view. A loud, spooky, squeeze-doll call alerted me to the possibility of a raptor and, sure enough, a Sharp-shinned Hawk appeared being chased by a couple of American Crows.

John Turner says that he has has heard that the drought of Monarch butterflies in the northeast is due to the drought in the American southwest where the returning Mexican birds normally pause to lay their eggs on local milkweed thus creating another generation which continues the movement north. No milkweed, no Monarchs. An ironic footnote to all this is that on our trip to Ecuador, we saw Monarchs in the Intag highlands of the Andes at El Refugio -- the property owned by our friend Peter Joost. Guess what they were feeding on? Some nice healthy milkweed!

Eric Salzman

a few birds, some Box Turtles and missing Monarchs

A few leftovers from last week's migratory influx are still around including a few Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers and White-throated Sparrows. Also small flocks of American Goldfinches, probably feeding on the Iva seeds (no Pine Siskins this year). The woodpecker influx of a few weeks ago also seems to have died down. I saw one Red-bellied Woodpecker with a large nut in his beak apparently looking for a knothole to stash it (something his Western cousin, the Acorn Woodpecker, would do).

Box Turtles have been out in the warm, damp weather feeding on the new crop of mushrooms. At least three different turtles with clearly marked orange-and-black, dusky orange-and-black and yellow-and-black markings.

I received several cries of anguish about the failure of the Monarch migration on Eastern LI this year. I wonder if this paucity of Monarchs is widespread in the northeast and, if so, what its cause might be.

Eric Salzman

a hummer in Sag Harbor

Thursday morning was full of birds. Friday still active. This morning they were, except for Phoebe or two and a few Yellowthroats, all gone. Guess they were just pass-throughs on their way south.

Mike Bottini writes to ask about Monarch migration in these parts. Of course, I missed a couple of weeks in September but this was, I would say, as poor a Monarch migration as I have ever witnessed. Apparently it was the same elsewhere on the East Coast. Wha' happened?

On a more positive note, Ellen Stahl reports that, for the second year in a row, she is again host to a Rufous (or, at any rate, Selasaphorus) Hummingbird at lest since late August. The odds of another of these Western hummers finding their way to Sag Harbor are small enough but two years in a row cannot be a crap shoot! The likelihood is that this is the same bird who, after last year's excellent reception, simply decided to return. Remarkable as it may seem, such feats of navigation are well within the powers of the hummingbirds tiny brain!

Eric Salzman

an Indian Summer day

A few birds from yesterday that I forgot to mention in yesterday's post: Eastern Phoebe, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Belted Kingfisher, various woodpeckers. This morning -- a mild Indian summer day -- was far less birdy but featured all of the above (including a singing Phoebe!). Yellow-rumped Warblers which were everywhere yesterday were nowhere to be seen this morning. Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a minor player yesterday, was a major presence today while there were only a few Golden-crowned Kinglets (by sound only). What else? Several House Wrens and White-breasted Nuthatch, White-throated and Swamp Sparrows, Royal Tern (a few), Double-crested Cormorants (a few) but a surprising lack of gulls. 

Eric Salzman

back from Ecuador

Got back from Ecuador late Tuesday evening. It was a great trip but exhausting and it literally took me all day Wednesday to recover -- at least enough to do my morning walk, run a bunch of errands and now write this post.

The Ecuador report will be along shortly. In the meanwhile, migration has progressed notably around here in the past two weeks and many of the birds of October have arrived. This morning everything was wet with dew but a surprising number of birds popped out to greet the sun, dry off and begin the endless search for food.  I can't say for sure when they arrived but I suspect that most of them came in last night. The dominant birds were Yellow-rumped Warblers and Common Yellowthroats, both literally by the dozen plus almost as many Swamp Sparrows. A handsome winter-plumaged Bobolink came up right in front of my nose, giving excellent looks of this sparrowy but quite distinct yellow winter plumage of this unusual bird. There were also several Golden-crowned Kinglets and at least one Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Other birds included a Palm Warbler, several American Goldfinches, a few White-throated Sparrows (detected by their 'chink' calls), several Brown Thrashers, a Great Blue Heron and the usual locals (Carolina Wren, Mourning Doves, Blue Jays, Crows, etc.). No terns at all although I did hear Royal Terns later in the morning.

On the floral scene, the Seaside Goldenrods are still blooming but are now well advanced. Baccharis is now in its most attractive phase -- not the flowering which is dull and well gone by but the white seed bundles. And various asters are in full bloom.

On the mammal front, there is a Woodchuck (Groundhog or Marmot; seen around here only once before) in the area. And the deer, missing for much of the summer, have come back. Wonder where they were.

Eric Salzman