signs of fall

There are three birds whose arrival tells me that fall migration is beginning. Two of them -- Royal Tern and Spotted Sandpiper -- have already shown up. Now the third one has appeared. This is the Northern Waterthrush which does not breed on Long Island (as far as I know) but comes here in late July and August for some R&R before undertaking its long trip to Latin America. This charming bird's arrival is easily discovered by (1) hearing its distinctive 'chink', (2) pishing until it pops up to see what's going on, and (3) look for a stripy little bird with a bobbing tail (like many shore birds, the waterthrush looks like one of those bobbing water toys).

Woodpeckers have been out in force on our standing dead wood. At one point I had all three local breeders in my field of vision in a spot particularly badly hit by the hurricane..

Jim Ash tells me that there was an active breeding colony of Double-crested Cormorants on Gardiners Island, that it is probably still going strong and that it is the likely source for all the birds on the East End of LI (cormorants -- especially young ones -- are great roamers and could easily move around a larger area).

Eric Salzman