a rude interruption

I was sitting by the pond this morning enjoying the quiet of the humid, partly sunny, morning stillness when suddenly the calm was interrupted by a volley of kek calls right next to me. Startled, I jumped up but could see nothing; the Clapper Rail was mocking me from inside the vegetation on the far side of the pond but the calls were so loud and piercing that they sounded as though he was right next to me.

Although the spring singing and calling has generally died down with the advent of summer warm weather, a few birds continue to sing -- notably the Robins, both wrens, Red-winged Blackbirds, Song Sparrows, Chipping Sparrow and Pine Warbler. I did hear a few songs of the Yellow Warbler this morning but not the Common Yellowthroat. No sign or sound from the woodpeckers and very little from the flycatchers. The Baltimore Orioles are still calling but I haven't yet heard the characteristic call of the newly fledged young that are perhaps yet to emerge from their natal basket.

A single Bank Swallow continues to join the Barn Swallows and Purple Martins foraging over the marsh. There are some substantial Bank Swallow colonies on Eastern Long Island -- mostly on cliffs overlooking water -- but the nearest one to here is probably on Peconic Bay and not that close.

When I get to the head of the marsh these days, I am literally attacked by a very angry female Red-winged Blackbird who obviously has a nest or young in the vicinity. She dives right over my head and lands a little more than an arm's length away, protesting loudly all the time. The male then shows up, also obviously angry but not anywhere near as bold as his consort.

Eric Salzman