cool weather with warblers

Strong winds out of the north have kept up for a few days now and the temperatures have dropped noticeably. This change of weather seems to have brought in migrants from the north and then pinned them down. As a result, we've had the same warblers in residence for several days now. All of them have been present in the feeding flocks along the edge of the marsh (which catches the early morning sun, is sheltered from the wind and has lots of food), hopping around, zipping and chasing from bush to bush and tree to tree: Yellow, Yellowthroat, Prairie, Northern Waterthrush, American Redstart, Black-and-white and, yes, Cape May. There are at least three different Cape Mays around; mature male, mature female and at least one juvenile, all distinguished by their differences in plumage (but all have the distinctive greenish/yellow rump patch). As before, the finches, Gold and House, were also active in considerable numbers. A mystery sparrow was a small young Spizella, streaked on the breast with a light-colored bill and a noticeable eye ring. Logically it should have been a Chipping Sparrow (which breeds around here) but I think the field marks suggest rather a juvenile Field Sparrow. An amusing touch: the Prairie Warblers (and only the Prairie Warblers) constantly tries to chase away the House Finches. Why? Are they in competition for food? None of the other warblers seem to care but Prairies are remarkably aggressive. Speaking of aggressive, there has also been a Ruby-throated Hummingbird in the mix, perhaps also trying to chase away some of the competition. Also still around: Green Heron, Royal Terns, Eastern Phoebe. Eric Salzman