Nelson's Sparrow

A couple of Nelson's Sparrows in the marsh this morning were the first of the season for me. These were both from the Atlantic subspecies, identified by the blurry breast streaks on a well defined washed-out-orange upper breast, a well-defined bright white belly, gray nape and back with white back stripes and a rather shortish bill. They were accompanied by a very well-marked Marsh Wren.

There were only five yellowlegs on the Weesuck Creek bulkhead (opposite Aldrich Boat Yard) this morning but I thought at least one of them was a Greater; the others were then Lessers. 

The flock of White-throated Sparrows was in its usual place at the head of the marsh along with a handful of American Goldfinches. A few Royal Terns are still coming in up the creek; this southern coastal nester arrives in mid-summer and stays here well into the fall.

One bird I forgot to mention from yesterday's Dune Road expedition was a Brown Creeper on the trunk of a couple of scraggly Red Cedars at Ponquogue.

Eric Salzman