springtime gladness

Warblers arrived at our place in East Quogue this morning along with a singing male Scarlet Tanager. Oh joy! Oh springtime gladness!

The warblers were Pine (several of them singing away), Prairie (in a cedar by the pond), Black-throated Green, Black-and-white, Ovenbird, Yellow-rumped (in another cedar near the house) and a Common Yellowthroat (heard only in a single unmistakeable song). Seven warbler species in all. A nice surprise was a singing White-eyed Vireo, a sort of honorary warbler (although not at all related).

The Scarlet Tanager had positioned himself high in an evergreen where he was facing the rising sun which lit up his incandescent scarlet breast. He sang for a long time from this perch, eventually moving around to different spots in the area, always in full song. This was a FOY male (we saw a female in Maple Swamp on Sunday).

Other arrivals were the two large flycatchers: Great Crested and Eastern Kingbird. Both have bred on the property and might do so again. Swamp Sparrow appeared with a gaggle of White-throated Sparrows making six sparrow species in two days.

Eric Salzman