some nice birds on a cool northerly wind

The tide was low this morning and the air fresh with northerly winds. The sun was a bit tardy in coming up over Pine Neck (and gets tardier and tardier every day). So it was a perfect morning to make my way across the marsh to the best vantage point for overlooking the open area -- more mud than water at this stage -- just before sunrise. And, sure enough there was a rail moving along the muddy edge at the opposite side of the opening. A Clapper Rail? No, it was a SORA in juvenal plumage: conical bill, light colored breast, long yellowish legs, no face mask (and too big and too early to be a Yellow Rail). I have seen Soras in flight over the marsh a couple of times in the past but only once before did I see a bird on the ground (or, more accurately, on the mud) for an extended period. Also my previous sightings of this species were later in the fall so this August date is certainly early. However I found Soras breeding in one of the sewage ponds at a duck farm in Riverhead a number of years ago and, while I don't know if they still breed there, it is likely that they are breeding somewhere on Eastern LI!

An Ammodramus sparrow again popped up from the marsh and perched nicely on a stick of wood right in front of where I was standing. It had a a flat head, a dark cap with a thin streak running down the middle, a faint but definite eye-ring, a rather heavy beak, a buffy chin and slightly orangey cheeks; also the short tail typical of Ammodramus sparrows. In fact I think it might well have been the same juvenal Grasshpper Sparrow I saw -- in this exact spot -- two days ago.

At the head of the marsh there were a few warblers including, notably, a yellowish confusing fall warbler with a distinct eye stripe and lighter yellowish undertail coverts. I have seen this warbler quite regularly in the last half of August and, many years ago, I mistakenly called it an Orange-crowned Warbler (another yellowish eye-striper). Bad call. It was pointed out to me that there are no substantiated records for Orange-crowned any earlier than September (and even that is early for this bird). I'm happy to report that this was undoubtedly a fall Tennessee Warbler with the lemony undertail coverts as the giveaway.

Oh yes, there was also a plain Yellow Warbler and an American Redstart fanning its tail. Also in the area were two or three hummingbirds; I even saw one of them feeding on a Pokeweed flower. Don't know if this was the family that bred on the other side of the property; hummers are definitely on the move so these could have been migrants. Migration is definitely well underway and we finally have the weather to match.

Eric Salzman