rain and sun

Rained hard last night but there was a lot of bright sunshine and blue sky this morning -- April showers and May flowers all in a few hours. There were a few new birds, notably a Spotted Sandpiper on the marsh along with a Lesser Yellowlegs, a Black-crowned Night Heron and, overhead, a few Barn Swallows and a Chimney Swift flying with the local Purple Martins. A large tern flying up the creek might have been a Royal Tern but I was looking into the sun and the bird disappeared before I could get a good fix on it. The Common Tern pair -- feeder and being fed -- were again on a pylon at the boatyard, presumably the same birds that have been there every morning for the past three days.

Male and female Blackpoll Warblers were joined by Yellow Warblers as well as the by-now more familiar Pine Warbler and Common Yellowthroat on territory. There are at least two House Wrens singing away merrily on opposite sides of the property. American Goldfinches may be late nesters and non-territorial but our local birds appear to be paired up as I regularly see a male and female together, usually flying up from the inside edge of the marsh into fringing bushes or trees.

If the weather stays warm, I can keep the windows open and listen for warblers and other migrants; May 15th used to be considered the height of migration but it's difficult to tell of this year's crop is early (because of global warming) or late (because of late winter weather). A bit of both, I suspect.

Eric Salzman