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