a passing storm

Very high tides synched with the full moon and flooded the marsh as well as Dune Road. A stormy night did not produce much rain although other parts of L.I. were flooded out! Stormy weather in the morning was followed by steamy sunshine.

The entertaining feeding flocks of the past few days have not been in evidence. Yesterday, there were a few Black-capped Chickadees and a messy warbler in molt that was almost impossible to identify (usually I call such birds young Pine Warblers but this one looked more like a young Black-throated Blue with a single white wing patch instead of a pair of wing bars).

There were at least two hummingbirds -- one female type and one possible young bird -- in different places near the head of the marsh. There are still White-breasted Nuthatches and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers around along with Spotted Sandpipers on the pond, visible only when the tide is low.

A Mourning Dave came shooting up and out across the creek followed by a fast-moving accipiter -- much larger than the dove and there easily ID'd as a Cooper's Hawk. It crossed the creek without catching the dove and disappeared into the Pine Neck woods.

Eric Salzman