early fall?

Heavy cloud cover and wet vegetation (it must have rained a fair bit last night). A new bird for the season was a Forster's Tern on the creek flying along with Common and Royal Terns (Least Terns seem to have departed). Forster's is easy to recognize at this time of the year as it is already in fall plumage: a very white-looking bird with a black patch behind the ear.

There are more than two dozen Purple Martins left but they have all left the gourd colony and spend their non-flying time perched in dead branches on the trees back of Bay Avenue (I think they are mainly juveniles but given the light and distance, I can't really tell). They did all suddenly jump into the air in the Purple Martin version of a 'dread' and they remained sky-bound as long as I was watching.

The Red-wing Blackbirds that commanded the marsh-edge vegetation all the way back seem to have entirely abandoned the area, perhaps joining the blackbird flocks that are starting to form (Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles are not long distance migrants but their flocks move around during the cold months). Still in residence though are the Common Yellowthroats, Yellow Warblers and numbers of Gray Catbirds that eat all the Highbush Blueberries before I can get to them (they seem to eat them in the red stage before they actually ripen blue).

Another formerly common bird, now just a sometime visitor, the Eastern Kingbird, was perched high on a snag overlooking the marsh. Eastern Phoebes are still around; they are hardy birds and will stay well into colder weather. A Ruby-crowned Hummingbird female (or juvenile) was buzzing about near the spot where it nested last year. I tried to follow it (in case there was an active nest somewhere in the area) but I soon lost it. A loud 'chink' in the same upland area where there was a waterthrush yesterday suggested that the bird was still here but, once again I couldn't get a good enough look for an ID as it disappeared in the heavy, wet, dark, dank understory foliage.

Insect observations: a Red Admiral sitting on an open bit of sand near the pond; probably a migrant; a Red-spotted Purple spotted by daugher Stephanie on the outer wall of the cottage; lots of annoying no-see-ums on the marsh.

Eric Salzman