a wind hurricane

We didn't get a late-October Sandy-type hurricane this year but the past few days have been almost as dramatic. After a gorgeous blue-white-and-red sunrise on Saturday (blue water, white puffy clouds, red rising sun), the clouds took over followed by a hurricane-strength windstorm that took down leaves, branches and even tree trunks. This roaring, rainless storm lasted all night and well into Monday. Our electricity went out about midnight but was restored by mid-morning. As a result, I got in a good last walk only this morning (Tuesday) which was cool, cloudless and almost windless. One last 'new' bird for the season: a Marsh Wren in the reeds near the head of the marsh and very curious as to what I was doing there! There were lots of birds on the water: noisy Royal Terns and silent Forster's, Black Duck on the pond and a big silent V flight of Double-crested Cormorants overhead. Also the heron 'greats': Great Blue and Great Egret. Flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds were on their regular southwest-to-northeast trajectory. The storm seems to have reduced the numbers of upland birds although the regulars -- American Goldfinch, Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Blue Jays, American Crow and Carolina Wren were still present in some numbers. Few sparrows although all the regulars -- Song, Chipping, Swamp and White-throated were present. A few Yellow-rumped Warblers and one lone Common Yellowthroat. I'll do one more report summing up the season sometime in the next few days. Eric Salzman

another singer and a surprise warbler

A little while ago, I wrote that Carolina Wrens were the last remaining singer from our woodland chorus. But now the wren has been joined by another singer and, surprisingly, one that doesn't even breed here. Iim talking about the White-throated Sparrow, a fall and winter visitor whose presence is often most easily noted by its elegant song: two pure, whistled notes, usually a musical fifth apart followed by a 6/8 measure consisting of a dotted 8th note, a 16th and a plain 8th which are then repeated (I think in poetry this would be called a dactyl hexameter.) There are quite a few of these sparrows around but they don't show very well so it's easier to ID them by ear! Here's a surprise: a small clutch of two or three Parula Warblers in a small feeding flock which also included White-breasted Nuthatch, Downy Woodpecker and Black-capped Chickadees. Also both kinglets (though I'm not sure if they were really part of the feeding flock). There are still lots of American Goldfinches but hardly any House Finches. Both Forster's and Royal Terns are still working the creek. A propos of the reappearance of Box Turtles, Bob Murray writes me that he found a pair mating at Apaucuck Point in Westhampton and he wondered if fall was the mating season for Box Turtles. My impression is that there is no single mating season for these reptiles but I do believe that the female, once having mated, can lay fertile eggs for a long time afterwards -- up to several years! Eric Salzman

a creek-full, a tree-full

Weesuck Creek was full of Forster's Terns this morning (I think that the Common Terns have long ago left for wherever it is that they go). I suspect there was a fish run as there were also several Royal Terns and Double-crested Cormorants, all diving -- each in its own way -- for prey. On the land side, the big Red Cedar at the turn of the marsh was also full of birds -- Yellow-rumped Warblers in this case. I could see a few birds moving about inside the tree when, suddenly, several dozen birds -- Yellow-rumps all, I am sure -- came dashing out, flying in a flock to I know not where. A probably Hermit Thrush was spotted by Lorna along with a Blue-headed Vireo and there was at least one Ruby-crowned Kinglet in action. The Blue Jays were still combing the oaks for acorns, a food item that the Red-bellied Woodpeckers also seem to like (not surprising, given that they are related to the Acorn Woodpecker of the west). Eric Salzman

an unexpected visitor and more color changes

The warm, damp weather of the past few days has brought out an unexpected visitor: Eastern Box Turtle. In 'normal' years the Box Turtles are safely tucked away in their hibernacles (hibernation retreats dug into the ground I assume) by this time of the year. The foliage continues to turn with Virginia Creeper, Viburnum and Sassafras joining the parade. The Hickories, although not as colorful, are turning yellow and some of the oaks are starting to turn (Red Oaks I assume). The spectacular show of the Tupelo leaves is over as the windy conditions of a day or two ago simply stripped off almost all the leaves. The rain should bring out some fresh mushrooms; I'll have to check tomorrow. Cooler weather might bring in some birds as well. Eric Salzman

dodging the wind and rain

High winds yesterday morning. Rain came later in the day. This is the kind of weather that big birds like: gulls, herons, the bigger woodpeckers, some of the larger passerines (Am. Robins, Blue Jays) like very much. The smaller birds tend to lie low and the passerine migrants are stalled somewhere. After the rain let up this morning, there was a busy period with nearly all the local birds actively looking for food! 'Local' in this case also includes White-throated and Swamp Sparrow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Yellow-rumped Warbler, all relatively recent arrivals. One new bird: a thrush greedily gobbling Red Cedar berries; it was undoubtedly a Hermit (I didn't see the tail but the face and the densely spotted throat seemed right). Eric Salzman

a quiet, meditative Sunday

What a difference one day makes. Yesterday morning there were literally hundreds of Yellow-rumped Warblers coming in; today I saw perhaps five or six. Today, no Red-winged Blackbird flocks, no Ruby-crowned Kinglets, no unusual sparrows, no Black or Wood Ducks, only a single Phoebe and no accipiters. But there were two Bald Eagles sitting in the dead trees at Pine Neck Point, just about where there were two Bald Eagles sitting the other day. (I couldn't tell if the plumages were similar because the morning light was showing just silhouettes but the huge size of the two birds and the fact that one bird flew in with wings flat as a board were giveaways.) One bird appeared to be a little smaller than the other but, as in most raptors, the females are bigger than the males. After an absence of a day or two, the Royal Terns came back to the creek in some numbers. Also, Belted Kingfisher (not in numbers; kingfishers come one at a time and they are very aggressive about defending their territory). Otherwise a warm, quiet, meditative Sunday. Eric Salzman

flocks and singletons

Hundreds of Yellow-runped Warblers greeted the new day this morning. As the sun hit the woodland edge as it rose over Pine Neck, the Yellow-rumps (a.k.a. Myrtles or Butter Butts) came out of nowhere, streaking by me, occasionally pausing to nibble on Red Cedar berries or to give chase to a near relative but always quickly moving on. Quite a spectacle! This is the season for birds in flocksl. Several gatherings of Red-winged Blackbird came over -- the biggest consisting of forty or fifty birds. Blue Jays and Crows, although not always in big flocks, are sociable birds and communicate with each other by sound. One bird that does move in flocks and that I see every morning (but neglect to mention) is the Common Rock Dove or Pigeon. These birds come from I know not where in groups of four to a dozen or more. They are good fliers and, in tight formation, they head out over the creek and bay where they circle about and return over the marsh to whereever they came from. Why do I never mention them? Well, no matter how well they fly, they're just Pigeons and -- fairly or not -- like most birders, I tend to ignore them. Other birds that come in numbers but separate over a wider area to feed include both finches, Gold and House, still around but in diminishing numbers. Not all birds are particularly sociable and they tend to appear as singles. These include Eastern Phoebe, Ruby-crowned Kinglet (but not Golden-crowned which usually turns up in numbers) and Brown Thrasher. Oddly enough, today's new bird, which usually comes by in small groups, was a singleton: a first-year White-crowned Sparrow with brown-and-white rather than black-and-white head markings. Eric Salzman

Blue Jays get ugly

Another gorgeous morning with clear skies, light north/northwest winds and rising temperatures. As has been true for a while, the morning activity is dominated by American Goldfinches, now almost all in their winter plumage, accompanied by a small number of House Finches and a large number of Yellow-rumped Warblers. Song, Swamp and Chipping Sparrows continue to pop up from the underbrush and the usual woodpeckers and paridae come by (the local paridae are the Black-capped Chickadee and Tufted Titmouse). Flocks of American Robins accompanied by a few Northern Flickers came streaming by, almost always from the 'wrong' direction -- southwest to northeast; they are night flyers who continue to fly into the morning. There are still numbers of Blue Jays looking for acorns and raptors. When they find a raptor they make a peculiar, ugly, rasping sound, unlike anything you would normally associate with a jay. It is either a warning to the raptor that the jays are on the case or a signal to other jays in the neighborhood that a bad guy is around -- or both. It also leads me to find the raptor; in this morning's case, a Sharp-shinned Hawk that eventually left the premises for the other side of the creek. There was also a handsome adult Cooper's Hawk -- a male I suspect but I'm not completely sure -- and a Red-tail Hawk soaring over the creek. A notable find was a White-eyed Vireo hanging out with a couple of Ruby-crowned Kinglets -- with which it shares some characteristics. Eric Salzman

rumps & pumps

I was making my way up the marsh edge which seemed to be populated only by a few Goldfinches, and a handful of Titmice and Chickdess. Suddenly I was surrounded be dozens -- no, hundreds -- of Yellow-rumped Warblers. Had they just come in? Or were they resting, hidden in the reeds only to be woken up by the caress of sunlight (or perhaps also my intrusive presence). Although some of these birds were certainly feeding, others were clearly bathing in the dew that covered everything. Nothing like a fresh dew bath on a chilly October morning! Among these Yellow-rumped throngs I found two tail-pumping Yellow Palm Warblers -- not on the ground (where they are supposed to be) but up in a tree. There are a few shorebirds around but, except for one or two Black-bellied Plovers (identified by their larger size and calls), they are too far away or hidden for proper identification. Eric Salzman

a sparrow morn

Beautiful, cool, clear October morning marked by an influx of sparrows: White-throated, Swamp, Chipping and -- a new bird for the season -- Field. Several Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a Brown Thrasher and a few Robins, Flickers, and finches were also in the mix. Only two raptors were seen: a low flying Northern Harrier and, later in the day and over Route 25, a high-flying mature Bald Eagle, easily identified -- while driving! -- by the white head. Royal Terns are still frequenting the creek. This species nests south of us and, as far as I know, there is no nesting record for Long Island. However when breeding season is over, a big portion of its population moves north instead of south and, for a number of years now, we have been seeing (and hearing) them starting in July and well on into October and November. I believe that several of the southern terns have begun nesting on Long Island (Forster's, Gull-billed) so maybe we can expect to see Royals joining their smaller relatives. Eric Salzman

cold front

The cold front that moved in last night brought quite a few birds. White-throated Sparrow finally showed as part of a small feeding flock that included Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Phoebe, two or three Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers. A fairly large flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers came shooting across the sunny woodland front heading northwest; the light was great but the flock was moving so fast -- and darting in and out of cover -- that I could not see if there were any other warbler species mixed in. There were just a handful of House and Goldfinches remaining; most of them have undoubtedly moved out with the change in the weather. I looked hard for Brown Creepers and/or Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers without any success (I thought I heard a Sapsucker calling but couldn't locate it visually). Bob McGrath writes to tell me that the successful William Floyd Bald Eagle pair consisted of a white-headed adult and a young -- perhaps second-year -- bird. So Bald Eagles can mate and produce young before they attain adult plumage; as is the case with some other raptors, the young females will often mate successfully with s mature male. The two Bald Eagles seen yesterday on Pine Neck may have been a mated pair; this wooded property, now a Nature Conservancy refuge, would be a perfect place for a Bald Eagle nest. According to McGrath there are now seven active Bald Eagle nests on Long Island and the population seems to be expanding! Nice to get some positive environmental news for a change! Eric Salzman

big raptors

It was a soggy, overcast morning but not entirely without a bit of drama. An immature Bald Eagle was perched on a dead tree at the point of Pine Neck and, as I watched, it made a couple of flapping/soaring flights over the mouth of Weesuck Creek. Was this the same bird I saw the other day on a foggy, badly lit morning? Now, with somewhat better light and a circling bird coming closer overhead, I could see white markings on its breast and back, suggesting a second year immature. As I was keeping an eye on this bird, it perched again on a different dead tree. I was moving into the marsh to get a closer look when a couple of things happened. The first bit of drama was a Peregrine Falcon that came shooting across the creek on a powerful straight line heading from the northeast to the southwest. Clearly a migration. The other was that the Bald Eagle took off again, disappeared around the corner of Pine Neck and then reappeared, landing on another tree. Now I could see clearly that it had a white head! How could I have missed this most obvious field mark? The explanation came a few minutes later when I realized that there were actually two birds, both perched on bare limbs not very far apart from one another, one with a white head and the other not. A second-year bird and an adult hanging out together! Eric Salzman

acorns & nuts

Overcast, mild, light winds, touch of fog. In short, a quiet Sunday morning. So quiet that even the usually vocal Carolina Wrens are silent. The daily visit from the Wild Turkeys is now down to four -- one slightly larger hen and three almost full-grown poults. Acorns are the big item now. They are taken by Blue Jays, Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Gray Squirrels. Hickory nuts are also all over the place and, in one or two areas, big Black Walnut nuts are raining down. The loudest noise is an acorn or nut falling on a roof top. The Hickory nuts are too big for the Jays but the Squirrels are busy nibbling off the outside shield to get to the nut itself and the meat inside. They will use the nuts and the acorns for winter storage. I don't think anything takes the huge round Black Walnuts. I used to try to get at the delicious walnut meat inside by putting the nuts in a vise and hammering though the green and messy black exterior to crack the core inside. Once upon a time we made Pecan Pie with Black Walnuts but I could never avoid getting lots of shell mixed in and I finally gave up. Autumn color is passing its peak. The brightest colors belong largely to wetland plants -- especially Tupelo but also Red Maple (or what's left of it after Sandy), High-bush Blueberry and Poison Ivy (!). Also the introduced Norway Maple (Sugar Maples, which are the glory of the New England fall are great rarities here). Eric Salzman

acorns & nuts

Overcast, mild, light winds, touch of fog. In short, a quiet Sunday morning. So quiet that even the usually vocal Carolina Wrens are silent. The daily visit from the Wild Turkeys is now down to four -- one slightly larger hen and three almost full-grown poults. Acorns are the big item now. They are taken by Blue Jays, Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Gray Squirrels. Hickory nuts are also all over the place and, in one or two areas, big Black Walnut nuts are raining down. The loudest noise is an acorn or nut falling on a roof top. The Hickory nuts are too big for the Jays but the Squirrels are busy nibbling off the outside shield to get to the nut itself and the meat inside. They will use the nuts and the acorns for winter storage. I don't think anything takes the huge round Black Walnuts. I used to try to get at the delicious walnut meat inside by putting the nuts in a vise and hammering though the green and messy black exterior to crack the core inside. Once upon a time we made Pecan Pie with Black Walnuts but I could never avoid getting lots of shell mixed in and I finally gave up. Autumn color is passing its peak. The brightest colors belong largely to wetland plants -- especially Tupelo but also Red Maple (or what's left of it after Sandy), High-bush Blueberry and Poison Ivy (!). Also the introduced Norway Maple (Sugar Maples, which are the glory of the New England fall are great rarities here). Eric Salzman

contrary winds?

The surface winds and lower clouds were coming from the northeast this morning but the upper clouds were moving in the exact opposite direction -- from southeast to northeast. Even stranger was the fact that the roar of the ocean breakers, coming directly from the south, was as loud as I've ever heard it! At daybreak, a large raptor was harassing the Town Dock gulls at the foot of Bay Avenue. At first, I couldn't get any markings on this big dark bird but as it turned away from the gulls and came straight across the marsh, I could see some light marks on the back of the otherwise dark plumage. Given that the size of the bird was close to (or even larger) than the gulls, I would venture to say that this was a first-year Bald Eagle and, if so, the first of the year! All three mimids (Mockingbird, Thrasher, Catbird) are still here along with small numbers of both finches and several Blue-headed Vireos. A winter-plumaged Blackpoll was mixed in with the Yellow-rumped Warblers and there were quite a few Common Yellowthroats along the marsh edge. Eric Salzman

a golden sunrise

Because of the way the house is situated (we are blocked by the woods to the west), we don't get to see the sunset but, as we face east, we sometimes can catch a gorgeous sunrise -- particularly at this time of the year when the sunrise coincides with the beginning of the day. Such was the case this morning as a belt of clouds reflected the rising sun in a way that cast a golden glow over everything before the clouds gathered and covered it up. The recent flocks of finches have all but disappeared to be replaced by dozens of Yellow-rumped Warblers. American Robins came streaming in for the first hour or two of daylight; unlike most migrants they continue their migration during the early hours of the day, accompanied by Northern Flickers and still more Blue Jays. There were a few Blue-headed Vireos and some lingering (or newly arrived) Common Yellowthroats. On the water side, there were at least four Greater Yellowlegs, a couple of Osprey in obvious migration and any number of noisy Royal Terns. Eric Salzman

'shrooms

More rain, more mushrooms. We're getting russulas, various amanitas (definitely not edible), more Lactarius volemus (definitely edible) and more chanterelles (ditto). Caught a Box Turtle eating a mushroom (they like the mushrooms and also the damp mushroom weather). I've also seen a Gray Squirrel munching on a mushroom. The photos above were taken by my son-in-law (who is French) in a French market! On the bird scene, I got out for a short walk before the rains hit just in time to see a new bird for the season: Golden-crowned Kinglet. Eric Salzman 14 Randall Lane P.O. Box 775 East Quogue NY 11942 phone: 718 522-3387 E-mail: es@ericsalzman.com Web: www.ericsalzman.com

Hey Jays! Sharpie here!

Our Blue Jays found a new hawk to mob this morning: a Sharp-shinned. It's hard to imagine a Sharp-shinned taking a Blue Jay (they are just about the same size) but that doesn't mean that the jays are willing to just leave it alone. Eventually, as one Jay after another came swooping in making raucous calls and coming within a few feet of the perched bird sitting on a dead tree limb out in the open, the Sharpie decided that discretion was the better part of valor and took off, resuming his migration with a trail of jays following and making sure he was moving on. The only other raptor seen was a handsome Northern Harrier which circled low over the marsh twice on a steady glide and then went back across the creek to Pine Neck where I lost track of it. The Jays never noticed or didn't care. The Royal Terns were back on the creek in some numbers and they are catching fish. I saw one bird lose his wiggling prey and had to dive down again to the water to retrieve it. A new round of Flickers came in in some considerable numbers; all four woodpeckers were seen including Hairy (but no Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers yet) Also seen were an Eastern Phoebe, several Eastern Towhees and a mysterious warbler with a pair of bright wingbars and a wash of light rufous on its breast. I think it was a Bay-breasted Warbler but I never got more than just momentary look before it vanished. This warm weather is not particularly good for migrants but I'll keep looking anyway. Eric Salzman

Welcome back!

A flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers came in this morning; I had already seen one or two of these winter birds but this was the first real flock -- in first-year winter plumage of course.The eastern subspecies used to be known as the Myrtle Warbler (they got through the winter by feeding on cedar berries, bayberry berries and wax myrtle) but a recent proposal to resplit them from the western Audubon's Warbler was rejected by the powers that be so, officially, they are still Yellow-rumps. Either way, it was nice to welcome them back. Song, Swamp and Chipping Sparrows but no White-throats yet. They should be along any day now. Two Peregrine Falcons and one Merlin came over the creek this morning, perhaps the beginning of a hawk flight (alas I couldn't hang around to find out). Other activity on the creek included the return of the Royal Terns after a couple of days absence and our regular patrolling Madame Kingfisher -- I assume it's always the same bird. She landed on the dead cedar by the pond with a nice fish in her beak but took off again when she saw me; the Kingfishers are just about as untame as any of our birds. The good news is that there are fish in the creek available to be caught by terns and kingfishers. The best story of the day was my discovery of a large non-Osprey perched next to the Osprey nest -- silvery on the back, white on the breast with a white wing bar, etc. etc. I simply could not resolve it well enough with my binoculars to identify it; it did not resemble anything that I was familiar with. I ran back to the house to get the spotting scope and finally had a great look at a large piece of plastic stuck in the side of the nest! Eric Salzman

changes in the avifauna

The changes in the local bird life in the past couple of weeks have been very striking. In its initial phases, the cool spell brought in some really notable migrants with two sighting of Western Tanagers, taking the lead. There were also a number of interesting warblers including Cape May and Orange-crowned as well as more familiar birds such as Eastern Towhee, Brown Thrasher, Swamp Sparrow and two vireos (Red-eyed and Blue-headed). The big flocks of finches, Gold and House, have dwindled down considerably at the same time as Northern Flickers and American Robins started to come through in some numbers. But the biggest surprise was the huge invasion of Blue Jays, looking for a spot with a good acorn crop -- which proved to be us. Blue Jays are expert at finding acorns but also at finding raptors which they try to mob and chase away. Here is Eileen Schwinn's shot of an Eastern Screech Owl at a day roost in her yard; I'm pretty sure that she found it courtesy of mobbing Blue Jays. Eastern Screech Owl comes in two flavors known as morphs: gray and rufous; notice that, as is the case with most Long Island Screech Owls, this one is a 'rufous morph'. Eric Salzman

Blue Jays vote with their wings

Mike Bottini writes from The Springs that the acorn crop there is poor and wants to know if it's any better here. Apparently the Blue Jays have voted with their wings. They are all over the place and, when I put up the binocs to look at one, it invariably has an acorn in its beak. They came in all in a bunch a week ago or so -- maybe from The Springs. What are they doing with these acorns? Gulping them down or stashing them somewhere in anticipation of a hard winter? Gigi Spates suggests that the decapitated Muskrat that I found the other day was the work of a Great Horned Owl. Apparently brains are their favorite snack. Great Horned Owls -- two them, a male and a female -- have been hanging out in our area this year. Usually they nest in the Pine Barrens but this is their courtship season and a local nesting by the end of fall or early winter is not an impossibility. I would suggest keeping your unleashed pets indoors (especially cats!) As many of the readers of this blog know, there is a Brown Booby at Lake Montauk and it often perches on the mast of a boat (or boats) and is reportedly not difficult to find, observe and photograph. Brown Booby is a tropical relative of the Gannet which is usually found plying tropical waters. Its appearance here is, no doubt, connected with the recent round of hurricanes in tropical waters. I hope to get out to Montauk to see it myself before it takes off for home. Eric Salzman

a busy morning walk

Bob Adamo came over today to join me on my morning walk; I suspect he was hoping to find the Western Tanager. Well we didn't find it but the walk was full of birds, the most intriguing of which was a warbler feeding on Red Cedar berries in the very trees where I saw Orange-crowned Warbler yesterday. My first instinct was, not surprisingly, to call it an Orange-crown -- it was equally small with a short, sharp beak and a fairly uniform color above. But, unlike the Orange-crown, the breast was a uniform light yellow without any visible streaking, the upper parts were more olive than gray, there was a trace of wingbars and a definite eyering. My best guess is that it was an immature Wilson's Warbler but I am not 100% of this and the bird disappeared before we could get any better looks (or photos). In addition to this confusing fall warbler, we had a very decent list (including a couple of birds that I found after Bob left) as follows: Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Great Egret Snowy Egret Mute Swan Canada Goose Mallard Osprey Wild Turkey Greater Yellowlegs Herring Gull Ring-billed Gull Rock Dove Mourning Dove Ruby-throated Hummingbird Belted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker (many) Eastern Wood-pewee Eastern Phoebe Red-eyed Vireo Blue-headed Vireo Blue Jay (lots) American Crow Tree Swallow Black-capped Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch Carolina Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet American Robin Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher Black-throated Green Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler (1st of the season for me) Black-and-white Warbler Northern Cardinal Eastern Towhee Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle House Sparrow American Goldfinch House Finch That makes 47 species not counting the mystery warbler. Eric Salzman

a confusing fall warbler and a Great White Shark nursery

This morning's weather was almost a duplicate of Friday's -- cool, clear and dry with light northerly winds. The influx was smaller but included some interesting birds. There were three warblers: Black-and-white, Black-throated Green (a young one without the black throat but unmistakeable; first of the season for me) and a stumper. This confusing fall warbler was a small gray bird -- something like the smooth olive/gray coloration of a Warbling Vireo but definitely a warbler not a vireo (smaller, active behavior eating Red Cedar berries, sharp bill, etc.). My next thought was Tennessee Warbler but that didn't fit either (back too uniform, touches of yellow below especially on the undertail coverts, very faint breast streaking, broken eye ring and just a touch of an eye stripe). The solution was Orange-crowned Warbler, a close relative of the Tennessee, but quite variable according to subspecies and season. I have never seen one with so uniformly grayish and with so little yellow underneath but this is apparently possible, even common, in young birds (especially females) of the Eastern subspecies. Many Blue Jays and Northern Flickers still around along with Red-eyed Vireos and Eastern Towhees and the flocks of House Finches have returned; the Goldfinches seem to have almost completely disappeared. Butterflies continue on the move with numbers of Monarchs, Red Admirals and at least one of the Commas. This has been the best Monarch migration in several years! An addendum: went to the SOFO (South Fork Natural History Museum) board meeting in the afternoon and had the pleasure of seeing a male Kestrel shooting across the Vineyard Field (in back of the museum). This once common breeding bird and fall migrant has been achingly scarce in recent years. One of the fascinating things discussed in the board meeting was SOFO's participation in a Great White Shark tagging program. Apparently the ocean just off shore is full of bunker or menhaden and there are Humpback Whales and Great White Sharks feeding on them. Even more remarkably, these waters, just off the South Fork, have become a breeding nursery for this legendary creature! Eric Salzman