returnees

Gorgeous blue-sky day with just a light breeze from the east/southeast.

Yellow Warbler was back, right on schedule -- singing and moving around somewhat closer to the house (but not really that far from the head of the marsh, his previous favorite spot). Another returnee -- after a longer period of absence -- was the Red-eyed Vireo, the Q&A bird singing from various oak trees over a wide stretch of territory (possibly two birds but most probably the same bird on the move).

The morning's Belted Kingfisher was definitely a male -- giving hope to the idea that the female is somewhere not too far away sitting on a nest. These birds used to breed in an inactive portion of the East Coast Mines, a sand-mining operation in the moraine just north of East Quogue and this breeding pair claimed Weesuck Creek as its exclusive hunting area. This is probably no longer the case and, in any case, the East Coast Mines are now inaccessible so it's impssible to check.

Another returnee: Black-crowned Night-Heron. No sign yet of the Yellow-crowned which was a familiar presence in past summers.

Flying with the Purple Martins and the Barn Swallows over the pond are a pair of Rough-winged Swallow. And just to complete the picture, six male Mallards drop in, one after the other, to do . . . what? I have no idea. Just the duckish equivalent of an ol' boy's club, I guess.

Eric Salzman