the vanguard

Tuesday's  1-day hot spell may have felt like the beginning of summer but it was still fall for many birds. Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles are now forming roosts and groups of a dozen or more fly out in the morning to feeding grounds in a typical fall/winter behavior. Also small groups of American Robins -- not quite yet big flocks -- are moving around feeding on Tupelo and Pokeweed berries along with good numbers of Gray Catbirds and small numbers of American Robins. Not many long-distance migrants but the Common Yellowthroats and Great Crested Flycatcher that have been active in the past few days are probably migrants along with a few Purple Martins and Barn Swallows. Most of the Osprey on the creek are gone and so, seemingly, are the Northern Waterthrushes which spent most of August here. A similar group of birds were in the outer edges of the marsh this morning along with a couple of American Redstarts, many Song Sparrows, a Green Heron, a fly-by Belted Kingfisher and a White-breasted Nuthatch in the woods. Some of these birds have been here most of the summer but many of them are on the move -- the vanguard of the fall migration.

Eric Salzman