The View From East Quogue 2017

5/5/17

We arrived back in East Quogue on Thursday, May 4th, a few days later than usual. And, as usual, it took a couple of days for Verizon to get the phone and internet working so this is a make-up blog to kick off the season!

There were several reasons for the delay, one of which was that we just returned from eleven days in Firenze (Florence, Italy). This was not a birding trip but, even so, there were a few ornithological observations worth reporting. The biggest deal is that Florence, an ancient city that retains much of its medieval and Renaissance architecture, has a lot of ancient eaves under its roofs, perfect habitat for the nesting of the European Swift. With a spring more advanced than our own, the skies over this Mediterranean city were filled with calling Swifts, apparently happily catching their insect prey over the houses. Their buzzy call and larger size -- very different from our Chimney Swifts -- made them easy to identify and quite fascinating to watch. This bird has the reputation of spending more time in the air than any other species; they even sleep on the wing!

The two most unusual birds seen were in the gardens surrounding San Miniato del Monte -- an ancient church adjacent to the Boboli Gardens of the Pitti Palace on the green hills in the leafy Transarno region of the city. One of them was the European (or Eurasian) Redstart, a very different bird from its American namesake. It was formerly considered a relation of the thrushes but it is now assigned (along with many others) to the Eurasian flycatchers, equally unrelated to our flycatchers. It has a red or reddish tail (that's what the name 'redstart' means); the breeding plumage males also have a reddish breast and rump, black cheeks and throat and a white forehead and a rather squeaky song. The other was a singing Serin, the European equivalent of the Canary (the cage bird is derived from a closely related species found on the Canary Islands). Strangely enough, it is not a very impressive singer (it has a sort of squeaky trill) and it is not a very easily identified bird. I first called it a Yellowhammer, then a Siskin before finally figuring out its true identity (pushed-in face, small bill, streaky sides, white belly below the yellow breast, bright yellow rump). This is an uncommon bird in northern Europe (I had only seen it once or twice before) but a year-round resident around the Mediterranean.

Other birds seen in Florence were more familiar: Eurasian Blackbird (a true Turdus thrush and common garden bird like our Robin), Jackdaw, Hooded Crow, Wood Pigeon, some unidentified swallows and gulls. A very pretty warble was probably attributable to Garden Warbler or Blackcap.

Friday, May 5: first 2017 morning walk in East Quogue. Most notable birds of the morning were a pair of Eastern Kingbirds and a singing Orchard Oriole (along with the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, our most melodious singer!). Both of these birds are possible local breeders. No winter birds, no long distance migrants. All the other birds seen and heard -- before the rains came -- were common local breeders: Double-crested Cormorants, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls on the creek, Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, singing Gray Catbirds, Brown Thrasher and Northern Mockingbird, Am. Crows and Blue Jays, Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackle, Song and Chipping Sparrows, Northern Cardinal and Am. Goldfinch, Black-capped Chickadee and Tufted Titmouse (but, oddly, no wrens). 

Saturday, May 6: Yesterday I reported that I didn't see or hear either local wren species; this morning I heard both. In fact, House Wrens were singing all over the place and a pair of them were trying to get into the dryer outlet where Carolina Wrens have tried to nest in past years. Although a piece of mesh now covers the hole, the smallish House Wren might have been able to slip in through the sides of the mesh. Or, perhaps, he (and I'm pretty sure it was a he as he sang several times) simply wanted to obliterate the hole by filling it with trash (a favorite, somewhat incomprehensible occupation of male House Wrens). In any case we chased him away and made the hole more difficult to enter. We'll see.

The Carolina Wrens seem to ne uncharacteristically quiet -- I heard just one song -- probably because they are already nesting, sitting on eggs or even feeding young. Carolinas are year-round residents and one of the earliest breeders around here. House Wrens, on the other hand, leave us for the winter and these birds might actually be recent returnees, only just starting to sing and investigating possible nest holes. Ditto for Catbirds. On the other hand, American Goldfinches are often here in the winter and, although they are notably late nesters, they are already actively singing their short songs. A couple of them were even checking out the area where the thistles grow; thistle seed is their favorite food -- but the seeds are months away from appearing.

The wrens were not the only FOS's for me (FOS is birder code for First of Season). And overhead flight of loons (mostly or entirely Commons) came right overhead on their usual migratory track, from southwest to northeast; quite an impressive sight. Also a large raptor, probably a Red-tailed Hawk, came flapping by; it was hard to make out any detail against the heavily clouded, brightening sky but it was certainly a buteo. Heard Yellow and Pine Warblers singing; assuming these audio IDs are correct, these would be the first warblers of the year. 

White-throated Sparrows are still around but rather silent and seemingly in small flocks. These may be -- at least in part -- through migrants rather than lingering winter birds. They nest further north so, in any case they will be leaving us shortly. Other birds seen today included Mourning Doves (oddly enough, missed yesterday), and Ring-billed Gulls (ditto).
 
A startling clatter coming out of the marsh was almost certainly a Clapper Rail; couldn't find it even though the marsh grass is still very low (it was probably working the little creek bed through which the marsh water flows in and out. The big action here was the high speed chases of the Red-winged Blackbirds -- males chasing males, males chasing females, females chasing other females. The females don't sing (or at least not very much) but they play an active role in the mating process.
 
Eric Salzman