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