The young Red-winged Blackbirds (and there are a lot of them hereabouts) make a kind of chuckling or clucking sound and, as they escape (or are ejected) from their parental bonds, they seem to associate with others of their age and kind; the sound itself may be a flocking signal. The young Flickers continue to remain together -- with or without the adults -- and they also have a distinctive sound by which they seem to be signaling their location. Young Yellowthroats are becoming more and more visible as they gain strength and flying ability but their parents are still nearby and still providing some of their food; Yellowthroats have two or three different chips and I think the differences are between the male, female and young.
The young hummingbirds are growing at astonishing speed. Both of their heads are now visible above the edge of the nest and they are being fed regularly. A neighbor on Randall Lane has seen a female hummer at his neighbor's flowers but it's a distance away and it is not clear if it's the same bird. Hope to have more videos soon to add to the three already on Youtube (look for 'Quogue nest').
This has not been a good year for butterflies with the exception of Tiger Swallowtails which seem to flourish in the heat. The other common lepid (lepidopteran?) is the Gypsy Moth which peaked a couple of weeks ago but is still flying in smaller numbers.
Eric Salzman
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment