flutterbys, flycatchers and warblers

Many butterflies appeared after the Tuesday rains, some of them easy to ID (Tiger Swallowtail) and some of them quite difficult (skippers). The Tiger Swallowtails (there seem to be more than one) zip up and back in the open area in front of the house -- usually in the middle to late afternoon. I don't think this is a migration but perhaps it is a territorial or courtship display. A bright blue butterfly was probably an Eastern Tailed Blue. Some quite bright orange skippers active around the house are probably either Fiery Skipper or Delaware Skipper. A different skipper (Zabulon Skipper?) with a yellow hindwing spot enclosed by dark borders, occurs in the marsh where it perches on reeds;

Today's bird list included several flycatchers (Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Kingbird, one of the Empidonax flycatchers not identified as to species at a distance), several warblers (Blue-wing Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, several Common Yellowthroats, Yellow Warbler and Northern Waterthrush). The Black-and-white was the first of the season.

Eric Salzman