yellow birds

Two immature Yellow Warblers on the edge of the marsh were almost certainly young birds which raises the possibility that they were born here. Every year, I hear singing male Yellow Warblers in May but then the singing abruptly stops. I was pretty certain that this meant that the singing bird did not find a mate and went somewhere else to find better luck. But it is possible that he stops singing because he finds a mate (I rarely see the females) and starts to set up and defend a nesting territory. With eggs or young in the nest, many birds stop singing so as to not give away the location of the nest. Whatever the explanation, it does begin to look like I can add Yellow Warblers to our list of property breeding birds -- not really a big surprise considering that they breed all around the bay.

Another yellow bird, the American Goldfinch, is singing away from high perches around the woodland fringes facing the marsh. Carduelis or Spinis tristis has a short song that is quite similar to a warbler song and even more like the related Indigo Bunting. Goldfinches are notorious late nesters supposedly so that the chicks may be fed on the late-blooming thistles that constitute their favorite food.

A noteworthy arrival was the first Royal Tern of the year, calling and flying around the mouth of Weesuck Creek. Mid-July might be considered a tad early for these arrivals from their southern breeding grounds but, judging by past appearances, this bird would be the first of a substantial number of birds that migrate north before they migrate south.

Eric Salzman