avant le deluge

There appear to be two immature Ruby-throated Hummingbirds that chase each other around in the vicinity of the head of the marsh. I had previously thought that this might indicate the intensity of the 2017 hummingbird migration but the daily appearance of these two belligerent birds in the same spot (where I have seen hummers all summer) suggests that they might be locally bred. Siblings perhaps. A curious feature was that, between chases, one of the birds was constantly poking into the lichen which adorns the bare limbs of the many Sandy-killed trees in the area. R-t Hummingbirds use lichen to decorate and camouflage their nests but nesting season is long past. Perhaps the lichen is a good place to find insects and/or water. Tuesday afternoon we sat on the front deck and watched an Eastern Wood-pewee do his or her toilette on a bare branch in the open area in front of the house. This field is usually patrolled by Eastern Phoebe but this bird was clearly a pewee.A curious feature was the buff color at the bend of the wing, a feature not mentioned in the flycatcher section of any of the bird guides. The bird took 20" to half an hour to do a really thorough job. I guess that's what it takes to keep on flying! Yesterday when I started out on my morning walk, everything was dry and, although the sky was cloudy, I thought I had plenty of time for my usual ramble. But, suddenly, the sky darkened, turning day into night. Uh-oh! I turned my steps back towards the house and hustled back in just as the thunder rumbled, the lightning flashed and the skies opened up. Eric Salzman