From one end of the marsh to the other

Mild, sunny morning; no clouds, no fog, no breeze (a coolish breeze and some clouds came later in the day).

The Clapper Rail that has been calling throughout May finally showed, sunning itself at the edge of the big stand of Pragmites on the far side of the marsh. Is there a second bird? A nest? Perhaps we'll find out eventually.

A Yellow-crowned Night Heron came flapping over the marsh apparently headed for the dead trees back of the pond. Or the woods just beyond. Perhaps we'll find out eventually.

A small group of Cedar Waxwings was at the head of the marsh. Like the Am Goldfinches that also like this habitat, they are late nesters.

There were a few murderous sounds from the local crows but yesterday's Great Horned Owl seems to have moved on. An unfamiliar song -- rather melodic but a little husky
-- may have been due to an Orchard Oriole; it was coming from the same trees in which I saw two birds mating the other day; this time I couldn't locate the bird. Ditto a thin little warbler song in an area near the head of the marsh where our old right-of-way meets Randall Lane. I started to search the trees for the singer but before I could find anything, two Verizon trucks pulled up to inspect a leaning telephone pole and the low phone and electric lines that resulted. (We have been working on this problem since April and PSEG says that Verizon has to fix it and Verizon says that it is PSEG's responsibility!) At any rate, by the time they left, my little whistling warbler (or whatever it was) had disappeared as well.

Eric Salzman