a late singer and a life-and-death chase

The bird of the morning, a White-eyed Vireo (first of the season), announced its presence with a continuous bout of singing, unusual for any migrant at this time of year but easily identifiable by the 'chick' sounds inserted in and between the musical phrases. And, sure enough, up pops the bird, a good-looking breeding-plumaged specimen, right in front of me. The other big event of the morning was a series of chases by Blue Jays and, somewhat surprisingly, several Northern Flickers, of a dangerous looking Cooper's Hawk that seemed to want to hide in the foliage but was invariably found out. The Jay and Flicker are big and willing to take on the Cooper's but the smaller birds evidently were following the old adage that discretion is the better part of valor and kept to cover. There were a few warblers: several American Redstarts, Black-and-white, Yellow and Common Yellowthroat. All three mimids (Mockingbird, Catbird, Brown Thrasher) are still here and active. Ditto for the three woodpeckers, including those Flickers who are now mostly migrating birds. A few high-flying Tree Swallows and a bunch of Royal Terns completes the list. Eric Salzman