Long Island Power Authority and its House Sparrows

LIPA -- or whatever our electric company is now called -- has a metal box on every street pole. I don't know what the electric company thinks these boxes are for but I do know what our local House Sparrows think. Every box seems to have a sparrow nest inside and these boxes have quadrupled our local populations of this urban wildlife.

In the meanwhile, the Common Yellowthroats seemed to have stopped calling. Perhaps they are nesting or perhaps they have given up nesting for the season. In the meanwhile, all of our blackbirds -- crows, Red-wings, Common Grackles -- have young and are keen to let you know it. White-breasted Nuthatch paid a visit and vocalized a bit to let us know.

More wildflowers: Privet, Yarrow, Bird-foot Trefoil -- all introduced. The Sheep's Bit is taking over the meadow in front of the house and the Pokeweed, now flowering, is everywhere; it is, in spite of what you may have heard, a favorite of the local deer which have clipped off many of the growing stems.

Eric Salzman