herons & warblers

A first-year Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was standing motionless in the neck of the pond this morning making it my personal Y-c N-H of the year. It seems odd, but the Yellow-crowned, in one plumage or another, is more common here than the Black-crowned although the Black-crowned nests in island colonies on the other side of the bay while the Yellow-crowned only nests in individual pairs who knows where?

The Green Herons are still belching away -- distinctive burping or belching sounds seems to be a big part of their courting rituals -- and occasionally seen flying out from the oak trees near the house. In spite of my concerns, it doesn't look as though the human and dog activity around the house is scaring them away -- so far, at least. We'll keep monitoring the situation.

Our local three warblers seem to be well established on territory and they sing extensively every morning. They are Yellow Warbler and Common Yellowthroat (both on the fringes of the upper marsh) and Pine Warbler (active in the upland woods where there are apparently still enough surviving Pitch Pines to keep their interest). The male Pine Warbler, although not as brilliant yellow as the Yellow Warbler or the American Goldfinch, is still a rather striking mustard yellow especially on the throat and breast with a yellow eye-ring and spectacles and fairly bright white wing bars. It is as typical of our Pine Barrens as the Osprey is of our waterways.

Eric Salzman