reappearances

First really warm day that we've had.

Hairy Woodpecker finally turned up. They were active here last year and I was expecting to see/hear it sooner this year what with all the dead standing wood around the place. Enough dead wood for all the woodpeckers. We'll see if he/she hangs around.

There was no sign of the singing Yellow Warbler yesterday so I assumed that last week's bird was just passing through -- a late migrant or a local bird that had moved on. But there he was again this morning, as gorgeous as ever, bright yellow with reddish streaks on his breast and singing away at full force and full speed. Was this the same bird or a new arrival? Impossible to tell but he was in the exact same area near the head of the marsh and often perched right above my head (it almost seemed as though he was following me around!). His performance was in concert with the two male Common Yellowthroats that have divided up the edge territory between the head of the marsh and the shrub/woodland edge facing east. There may be a third Yellowthroat as one was singing on the other side of the pond -- a possible new territory.

Another bird that reappeared after a couple of days absence: the Red-eyed Vireo (i.e. the Q&A Bird). Should I say re-appeared or re-sounded? I never actually saw it but its professorial question-and-answer routine is unmistakeable.

Eric Salzman