I've been hearing a whistle call from the woods between the house and the creek and trying to figure out what it is. Unfortunately, with my twisted ankle, I haven't been able to dash out and locate the source. My guess is that it's a raptor call but it's not a Cooper's Hawk nor a Red-tail nor any kind of falcon (definitely not a Kestrel). Bald Eagle? Outside possibility. Those are the main LI breeding hawks. So what is it?
Lorna reports seeing an Osprey chasing a Broadtail Hawk near the Peconic River in Flanders and that seems to me to be the solution. There is a huge Broadtail migration in the fall but most of it travels inland and we see rather few birds here. But there is a history of Broadtail Hawk breeding on Long Island and I once found an injured juvenile Broadtail by the side of the road in East Quogue (it has probably been hit by a car as I was able to capture it easily and bring it to the Quogue Refuge for rehab). There was a breeding pair in Maple Swamp and others in the Pine Barrens and N. Shore woods. So the possibility of a comeback (or an attempted comeback) is quite real. And Broadtail is the best match for the whistling call that I have been hearing.
Eric Salzman
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A bird and nature blog with regular posts describing the natural history of the land, wetlands and waters of a site on Weesuck Creek in East Quogue,NY.Wider excursions on LI and to other parts of the world are sometimes included.
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