Chasing a raptor and two bird walks this weekend

As the May Monsoon passeth, the fogs of June make their appearance. When the air temperature starts to outpace the colder waters, we get some real pea-soupers, This morning's fog was so thick that Pine Neck (just on the other side of the creek) and even the Aldrich Boatyard (just north of us) were invisible.

Birds were hard to see but their sounds carry well in the fog. And sounds there were. A veritable cacophonous Murder of Crows indicated that our local corvids had discovered something significant. And were they angry! Hard charging, noisy, angry crows can give away the presence of a raptor.so I hustled down to the pond to see what was going on. I could barely make out a large form in the fog vaguely silhouetted on a dead branch. But, alas, before I could figure out what it was, it took off with a dozen crows in pursuit. To make a long story short, I spent the next couple of hours chasing the Murder of Crows all around the place trying to glimpse the big bird that was the object of all the fuss. Big bird mostly landed in dense foliage and I couln't catch a glimpse but the crows always knew where it was; they were eventually joined by Blue Jays, woodpeckers and what seemed like every small bird in the neighborhood. The raptor was content to ignore the crows and the junior partners that were harassing it -- after all, he/she was bigger and more dangerous than any puny crows, let alone the smaller avian specimens. But every time I tried to approach the tree in which it was 'hiding', he/she took off in the opposite direction from where I was standing or went straight up into the fog where I could get only a brief impression of the silhouette: a big bird with heavy powerful wings and a short tail -- crows always close behind. As the not-so-merry chase circled round the place, it finally ended up in a tree back of the house. Here I was able to stalk it slowly, keeping close to cover until I finally was able to spot the terrifying monster. I was looking straight at a GREAT HORNED OWL and it was looking straight at me! Eventually it took off with the crows and a few jays still in hot pursuit. As of this writing I can still hear the Murder of Crows yapping away; the owl has yet departed the premises. Great Horned Owls breed in the Pine Barrens just to our north but this is only the fourth or fifth time that I have seen one here over the years.
  
I am doing two walks this weekend. On Saturday I will lead a joint SOFO/ELIAS walk in the Vineyard Field back of the South Fork Natural History Museum on the Bridgehampton/Sag Harbor Turnpike. We'll meet at 8 am at the back of the museum and I expect the walk -- labelled Birds of the Meadow and Woods -- to last a couple of hours at least. The star of the Vineyard Field in recent years has been the Indigo Bunting, not a common breeder on Eastern LI -- but you never know what might turn up. If you want to participate, please call SOFO at (631) 537-9735 and register. Also take tick precautions: tuck pants into footwear and spray generously around the feet and ankles.

Sunday's event, sponsored by the Linnaean Society of the American Museum of Natural History, will also begin at 8 am but at the Shinnecock Inlet (take the Ponquogue Bridge in Hampton Bays, turn left on Dune Road and go right at the end to the ocean overlook}. Please be there by 8; we will spend 15 minutes or so scanning the ocean and then take off west down Dune Road looking for specialties. We will go all the way to Cupsogue Beach Park where we will look for rarities (there may be a parking fee at this county park). Afterwards we will return to Westhampton for lunch in a small park (there are also places to buy food). Afterwards we will go upland to Gabreski (Westhampton) Airport and/or EPCAL (ex-Grumman) area where we will look for grassland birds and the Blue Grosbeak. We will end up in mid-afternoon or so, near Exit 69 on the LIE. Most of the group will be from NY but I always welcome East End birders. Tick precautions are probably also in order although the areas where we'll be visiting and walking will not be very tick-y.     

Eric Salzman