flashes and rumbles

Last night's thunderstorms provided a magnificent spectacle. As usual, the storm came from the east in two parts. The first passed over quickly but, after a deceptive pause, the second round arrived with pounding rain and furious, dazzling lightning flashes. Instead of passing over quickly the storm seemed to stall over over the bay. I could see the actual streaks of lightning from our second floor window. Although these huge bolts seemed to be right over the bay, there was a pause between the flash and the roar of thunder so the bolts may have been streaking down from the clouds over Dune Road or over the ocean (and wind from the ocean may have caused the storm to stall).

This morning dawned bright and clear and the birds seemed very active in spite of the wet vegetation. Flocks of Titmice -- family groups no doubt -- were everywhere. Common Grackles are beginning to flock uo; they don't wait long to form those big aggregations that mark the changing of the seasons; curiously enough, unlike many other birds, they have no special markings to signal "follow me"; perhaps their raucous calls perform this function. Both flycatchers -- Great Crested and Eastern Phoebe -- were very active and very vocal.

Tomorrow: Birding By Ear starting at 8am at the South Fork Natural History Museum on the Bridgehampton/Sag Harbour Turnpike.

Eric Salzman