tail end of migration & tailed by a deer

A cool, overcast, quiet morning with little bird activity. I think I can say that, absent a straggler or two, spring migration 2016 is over. We didn't have a bad season (at least compared to recent years) with the following warblers seen:

Northern Parula
Tennessee Warbler
Yellow Warbler (resident)
Chestnut-sided Warbler (Western Suffolk)
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Cerulean Warbler (Hunters Garden)
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green (heard only)
Prairie Warbler
Pine Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird (resident in Pine Barrens)
Common Yellowthroat (resident)
Wilson's Warbler
Canada Warbler

Nothing really exotic but that makes 20 warbler species, a high number for recent years).

Other migrants or visitors of note included the following:

Spotted Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Forster's Tern
Least Tern
Royal Tern
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Black-billed Cuckoo (maybe; heard only)
Chimney Swift (migrant flock & resident birds)
Hairy Woodpecker (resident in woods; visitor here)
Belted Kingfisher (now uncommon)
Least Flycatcher (western Suffolk)
Eastern Wood-pewee (resident in woods; visitor here)
Great Crested Flycatcher (resident)
Eastern Phoebe (resident?)
Red-eyed Vireo (resident in woods; visitor here)
Fish Crow (becoming more common resident)
White-breasted Nuthatch (1st breeding recorded in these precincts)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (resident in woods; visitor here)
Hermit Thrust (still resident in woods; visitor here)
Brown Thrasher (resident in woods; visitor here)
Cedar Waxwing (increasingly resident)
Scarlet Tanager (resident in woods; visitor here)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (uncommon resident on LI; visitor here)
Indigo Bunting (uncommon resident on LI; visitor here)
Eastern Towhee (resident in woods; visitor here)
Swamp Sparrow (uncommon resident on LI; visitor here)
White-throated Sparrow (winter visitor and migrant)
Eastern Meadowlark (EPCAL)
Brown-headed Cowbird (here and there)
Orchard Oriole (uncommon resident on LI; has nested here but mostly just a visitor)
American Goldfinch (resident)

Everyone knows that we are overrun with deer and that they have become completely tame. The truth of this was brought home to me yesterday and again this morning when a a young deer -- a yearling I assume -- actually followed me around for a good part of my walk both days! This creature would walk almost next to me in adjacent cover and sometimes actually come out into the open just behind me, always alerting me to its presence by loud snorting. It would bound across a large opening but then stop and face me head on to see what I was doing. On a couple of occasions, it actually circled around the house from front to back to find me and continue to follow me. It was impossible to chase away; at times it actually looked like it was expecting something from me! A handout? A few kind words? Some directions to a good feeding ground? Information on where to find a mate? Very strange indeed!

Eric Salzman