Yellow Warbler takes a day off

Today was the Yellow Warbler's day off. Both Yellowthroats were on territory and singing but there was no sign of the Yellow. The Yellow Warbler pattern of one or two days on followed by a day off has been regular throughout the month. Does the bird go somewhere else on alernate days? Maybe it's not the same bird but new candidates that keep arriving. Maybe these are just migrants passing through; this just happens to be the kind of territory that attracts Yellow Warblers. Or maybe some mornings, the male is active and singing very early in the morning and knocks off by the time I arrive (usually 7 or 7:30 am).

I notice that the Purple Martins tend to feed over the marsh and very often land right on the marsh itself -- usually on the patches of rubble from last year's vegetation (the new growth is just beginning to come in). This might be just a resting point but I think they might be finding things to eat inside the rubble at a time when there are few flying insects (or when strong winds keep the insects down). The Barn Swallows also fly low in cool, windy weather but they tend to hunt later in the day, most often working over the pond and surrounding marsh.

New flowers are coming in, mostly native, mostly white: Blackberry, Black Cherry and Big-leaf Magnolia. This last-named is native, not to LI, but to the south and probably should be counted as a garden escape; it is growing here in a patch of woods and there are at least half a dozen plants. This is a spectacular plant with what it reputed to be the biggest leaves of any North American tree. It also has giant floppy white blossoms which must be among the biggest flowers as well. 

Eric Salzman