midsummer trifecta

I was planning to do a walk this morning but even as early as 8 am it was hot, hot, hot (most of the circuit is in full sunlight) so I thought I would try another approach. I moved one of the chairs that I keep by the pond a short distance into the shade where it was facing the wooded area between the pond and the house (the tide was quite high so there were no muddy edges in the pond -- the usual source for early-morning avian life). This was going to be The Big Sit.

Sure enough, almost immediately I picked up two or three Green Herons, a White-breasted Nuthatch and the usual collection of titmice and chickadees. An auspicious start for The Big Sit. Then, nothing. Suddenly there was a dink...dink...dink from the Red Cedar directly in front of me. Even without my binoculars I could see a small yellow- or cream-colored, streaky bird bouncing up and down on a branch like a child's toy. The first Northern Waterthrush of the season!

This completes the trifecta of midsummer arrivals that come every year like clockwork in mid- to late July: Royal Tern, Spotted Sandpiper and, now, Northern Waterthrush. These are not true migrants but might be called summer residents: the terns moving up from their southern strongholds, the sandpiper from who knows where (a few probably breed somewhere on the bay) and the Waterthrush from north of us. Each of these species will hang out for a while with us before moving on to winter quarters.

Eric Salzman