some visitors

I thought there would be some migration last night with the change in weather but it appears to have been shortstopped by the rain. At any rate, the only visible evidence of migration this morning was the presence of a Great Crested Flycatcher working the edge of the woods facing the marsh -- and thereby contradicting what I said recently (that the Great Cresteds had all headed south and were no longer around). Well perhaps not quite. Unlike the resident birds, which work the woodlands, this one was probably a migrant headed on through.

The creek is now dominated (if that's the right word) by Forster's Terns and Laughing Gulls, adult and sub-adult. The latter is a recent arrival and, until recently, was actually quite rare around  here. Like the Forster's Tern, it is a southern Larid (the catch-all term for gulls and terns) and was not traditionally much of a player in our birdlife. Even now, it is more of an off-season visitor.

Eric Salzman