Hunter's Garden? Yes!

Hunter's Garden is a location inside the Pine Barrens in the Eastport/Manorville area just off the Moriches/Riverhead road. The area was long used and eventually owned by a local hunter's club which has held its semi-annual Eel Chowder events here going back more than a century (look it up on line for more on its history). This area, long known among birders as a prime birding site, was eventually taken over by New York State and incorporated into the central Pine Barrens; it is managed by the state Department of Environmental Resources (DEC) which recently installed locked gates to close off the local dirt roads to casual intruders. Eileen Schwinn, formerly president (and current vice-president) of the Eastern LI Audubon Society, obtained permission for the organization to get access; the key obstacle was a lock code which kept us out on Tuesday (they gave us the wrong code) and almost kept us out this morning (a second code did not, at first, seem to be correct either). Eventually we got in and, in spite of all the delays (and an overcast, drizzly morning), Hunter's Garden once again lived up to its reputation as the best warbler birding on the East End.

Is it part of the East End? It's right on the border between Southampton and Brookhaven so I declare it part of the East End.

What is unusual about Hunter's Garden is that it is a mostly deciduous area in the middle of a pine-dominated forest. Like Maple Swamp, it has a lot of surface water and this produces an open woodland with oaks, red maple, sassafras and many bushes and vines. At this time of year, the birdlife is a mixture of local breeders and migrants including those much sought-after warblers. Our warbler list this morning featured everyone's favorite, the  beautiful Blackburnian Warbler. Others included Ovenbird, Black-and-white, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Parula, Magnolia, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Pine, Yellow-rumped, Prairie, Black-throated Green and, best of all, a singing Tennessee. Fourteen warbler species in all!

There was a lot more. Scarlet Tanagers and Baltimore Orioles were singing and posing all over the place and Eastern Towhees were everywhere. Several Veeries were seen and there was a pair of Hermit Thrushes -- both local breeders and outstanding singers. Alas, no sign of a Wood Thrush, a species which should be here but has declined precipitously. Also missed were Red-eyed Vireos although there may have been one or two singing somewhere in the neighborhood along with a possible Yellow-throated Vireo (by song); also, a Blue-headed Vireo on its way north. White-throated Sparrows were still present (or still coming through) along with the inevitable Chipping Sparrows. Ruby-crowned Kinglet seemed like a leftover from winter amid all this springtime activity. 

Most of the flycatchers have not yet appeared; Great Crested was the only one to represent the clan.

Finally there was a real mystery bird: a largish dark bird with white patches somewhere flying up and through the woods; it was spotted by Eileen who thought it was nighthawk-ish. A Nighthawk seems unlikely but my guess is that it was a Whip-poor-will flushed up from the ground; this species shows white tail patches as it flies away (which the Chuck-wills-widow does not). In all my years in Whip-poor-will infested woods I have never flushed one in the daylight but there always has to be a first time!

Eric Salzman