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