grassland birds and a toad

Went up to EPCAL with Eileen Schwinn. As most of the readers of this blog know quite well, EPCAL is the ex-Grumman testing site and it has two runways -- one accessible, one not -- which are flanked by the finest remaining grasslands on LI (and possibly NY State). The site also includes some excellent woodlands and wetlands and is surrounded by unspoiled natural areas including the main flow of the Peconic River and a chain of ponds. The whole area has the feel of a long-ago Long Island and some of the wildlife that has been extirpated elsewhere still survives here (skunk and mink for example). This is also THE place to see breeding Grasshopper Sparrow and Eastern Meadowlark.

We went up there because of a reported nesting of a Black-billed Cuckoo which we did not find (neither the cuckoo nor its nest) but we did find breeding Eastern Bluebird at its nest hole (see photo of the male), Grasshopper Sparrows (singing away; see photo), a Horned Lark family (see photo of a young Horned Lark with its mama), and another cuckoo, the Yellow-billed. Also Turkey Vulture, Prairie, Pine and Blue-winged Warblers, Field and Chipping Sparrows, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Tree and Barn Swallows, White-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped Chickadees, all three mimids (Mockingbird, Catbird and Brown Thrasher), House Wren, American Goldfinch. No skunk or mink (although I saw the latter a week or so ago) but a handsome Fowler's Toad near one of the ponds (see photo).

Eric Salzman