Fourth of July: spectacles large & small

Last night, instead of lightning flashes, we had our annual Fourth of July fireworks display on the far side of Pine Neck. This modestly impressive show always has enough oomph and sparkle so that it rises above the trees of Pine Neck to be visible from our side of the creek. The strange part is that this display has been going on since my childhood (many years ago, I assure you) and I still don't know who, what or where (although I do know why). In a way, I like the fact that this spectacle is a mysterious natural emanation of our national holiday, almost as if the fireworks go off of their own accord.

On the back roads between East Quogue and the South Fork Natural History Museum, there are two Osprey nests. One of them is on a telephone pole on Scuttlehole Raod and the other is on a specially erected pole near the turnoff between Head of Pond Road and Deerfield Road. I previously reported that the telephone-pole Ospreys had been persuaded to move to the Osprey pole which they then afterwards abandoned. But as I drove by after yesterday's Birding by Ear, both nests were active and appeared to have young. These two nests are striking, not only because they are on paved roads with a fair amount of traffic, but also because they are situated upland. However, as the Osprey flies, it is probably not a big stretch for the adults to reach either the South Shore ponds (Mecox. Sagg, Georgica) or Peconic Bay for their source of fish.

Back at the ranch this morning, there were at least three Common Yellowthroat males on territory and singing away. A female Mallard duck (the expression is actually redundant since 'duck' is the work for a female waterfowl) with six ducklings in tow was swimming in the pond this morning. Up to now, I've seen only a single duckling in the area so this is a rather late nesting or perhaps even a re-nesting. And I haven't seen any cygnets (young swanlets) at all.

A small group of Phoebes -- three birds, including adults and young -- was insect catching in the small meadow in front of our house -- now considerably opened up by being mowed. The birds would dive down to the ground from a tree branch and then pop up -- tails a-wagging, with or without a catch -- on a dead stick. Repeat performances by at least two birds at a time made a charming little spectacle.

Eric Salzman