A personal note: I've been out of action for a couple of days because I had a cataract operation. I've now had it successfully on both eyes and I can go back to 3-D bird-Watching as well as bird-Listening!
Case in point: we had a humid and somewhat buggy morning that turned out to be good for silent flycatchers. Two Eastern Phoebes turned up in the dead and dying oak trees on the edge of the pond and marsh and I had a good time tracking them down: big headed, smudgy breast, weak wing-bars, long waggy tail, no calls. In the background, the Green Heron continued to gulp all morning and both our resident warblers, Common Yellowthroat and Pine Warbler, continue to call regularly.
The list of summer flowers continues to grow. The Catalpa trees are in full bloom; their massed orchid-like flowers make quite a show (Catalpas are actually in the pea family and the seeds are in long pods). Vine Honeysuckle is also at its peak and, on the heels of the Multiflora and Marsh Rose, Rambler Rose is coming in. Small but attractive flowers include the Venus's Looking-Glass, Deptford Pink and the enigmatic Sheep's Bit, a flower whose identification eluded me for years (it is not in the Petersen Wildflower Guide;. Also try saying the name several times very quickly). Other flowers around -- Sundrops, one of the loosestrifes -- appear to be garden escapes.
Eric Salzman
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment