Siskins @ Shinnecock, Monarchs @ Mecox

Strolling along the edge-of-marsh trail at c. 7:30 am; a calm, quiet morning. Outside of the dependable singing Carolina Wrens, there's nothing doing. Suddenly 5 or 6 dozen Goldfinches jump up into the air and take off in a flutter. Except that this Charm of Goldfinches is more than Goldfinches. Amidst the Goldfinch calls, there is something different -- buzzier, lower, less sweet. About a dozen birds separate themselves from the main body of goldfinchiness and wheel around heading for the big Tupelo at the head of the marsh. I can actually see the yellow wing markings, streaky breasts and little sharp bills that mark them as Pine Siskins.

In the same area, there was a group of four Ruby-crowned Kinglets working in the shrubbery with Eastern Phoebe, Swamp Sparrows, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Eastern Towhee, Brown Thrasher and a female-plumaged Scarlet Tanager not far away. A Merlin came zipping across the creek and marsh -- perhaps heading for the Goldfinches; this has been the most common raptor seen to date. 

Along with milder weather, there has been an increase in the movement of Monarchs. While they are quite regular on this side of Shinnecock, the big numbers are out on Dune Road. This photograph was taken by Ellen Stahl yesterday evening at Mecox, one of the best gathering places for these butterflies in their fall migration.

Eric Salzman

Sex at high tide

The female Baccharis halmifolia or Groundsel or High Tide Bush, one of the two common shrubs at the edge of the marsh, are in bloom right now. Yes, I did write 'female'; Baccharis is one of those plants that has males and females and the female pistillate flowers are small whiteish blossoms that cover the bush. They may not constitute a dramatic floral display but they are attractive to the Monarch butterflies that have been coming in at an increasing rate. If I scan the Groundsel Bushes in bloom, I'll see Monarchs.

When I first came down to the pond and marsh this morning, it appeared that there was a whole flock of Eastern Phoebes hunting from elevated perches at the edge of the marsh but it turned out to be only two or three very active birds plus an Eastern Wood-Pewee. There were warblers -- Yellows and Prairies --but, surprisingly, no Yellowthroats (even if I don't see 'em, I can usually hear 'em). Once again there were a number of Red-eyed Vireos and I saw another Ruby-crowned Kinglet, proving (at least to me) that yesterday's sighting was not an illusion.

Eric Salzman

northerners and a southerner

Another northerner appeared this morning: Ruby-crowned Kinglet joining the Red-breasted Nuthatches and Winter Wren as early birds (let's call them October birds as that's when they usually appear). Both nuthatches were present: the White-breasted was working along the woodland edge facing the marsh while the Red-breasted were in the pines with the Chickadees. A spotted thrush was with a group of Am Robins feeding on the cedar (i.e. juniper) berries on a Red Cedar; it had an eye ring but it stayed in the shadows and I couldn't see the plumage coloration; it was probably a Swainson's but could also have been a Hermit Thrush -- both northerners (although Hermit Thrush breeds on Long Island). A flock of a half dozen Red-eyed Vireos was feeding in the canopy of a couple of the taller oaks but, try as I might, I could not find any warblers or other vireos with them.

Rocky Jr. has been back up on his Pitch Pine perch for past couple of days. It's one of this raccoon's favorite daytime sleeping spots but he was awake both mornings, doing his toilette before settling down for an all-day snooze.

Butterflies are still coming in -- many Monarchs this morning. I did see another Red-banded Hairstreak this morning trapped, alas, in a spider web. This once rare southerner may be getting more numerous. Of the three hairstreaks I've been able to see well in the past few days, two of them were Red-banded.

Eric Salzman

dueling Flickers, some butterflies and a possible Winter Wren

For the last couple of days, there has been a small, dark wren in the tangles at the head of the marsh -- the very area where Irene did most of her damage (and created great wren habitat). I am quite convinced that this is a Winter Wren and not a House Wren. Although September 14/15 is early, it is not unprecedented for this species which may have arrived together with another northerner, the Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Speaking of Red-breasted Nuthatches, there were a few in the Chickadee flock foraging in the Pitch Pines between the house and the water this morning. As the Chickadees kept up their familiar 'chick-a-dee-dee-dee', the Nuthatches kept pace with a continuous series of low, rolling, purling sounds quite different from the toy trumpet call usually associated with these birds. This vocalization, which does not seem to be mentioned in the field guides, may be a contact call similar in function to the Chickadee's 'chick-a-dee-dee-dee'.

There was some kind of elaborate contest going on between two male Northern Flickers. I watched them work their way up and down tree trucks and limbs in an extraordinary series of displays accompanied by low-pitched whimpering sounds. They would point their beaks upward, flick their wings open (displaying the yellow undersides) and generally threaten without actually seeming to make any contact. Usually one Flicker was above the other, facing downward, while the lower bird would indulge in all sorts of wing and tail flashes and keep advancing as if to push the other bird out of the way. The upper bird would then back up but continue to face its opponent while literally holding the upper hand. This continued for quite a while with both birds seemingly oblivious to their onlookers (initially just me but afterwards I was joined by a neighbor who came out to see what I was looking at). I gave up before they did so I don't know the outcome.

We don't have any flowering Butterfly Weed to attract butterflies but we do have Seaside Goldenrod coming into bloom and it definitely attracts. Today's lepidopterans: Gray Hairstreak on the goldenrod and -- rare for a hairstreak -- opening its wings in the sunshine to show the upper side of its wings with two orange 'eye-spots' at the base of the hindwing. A Question Mark was sunning itself on a nearby treetrunk with open and closed wings in alternation. Also a very tatty Red Admiral and a Clouded Sulphur or two in the vicinity. No sign of the Red-banded Hairstreak or the mystery skipper of a few days ago.

Eric Salzman

an owl attack?

An extended and rather noisy attack by Blue Jays, Gray Catbirds and Tufted Titmice on a high, dense tangle of vines covering some old dead tree stumps suggested that there was an owl hiding inside but try as I might I could not find the apparent object of their fury. Could they have mistaken a knot or burl on the stump for an owl? Or were they perhaps attacking a spot where an owl had been seen in the past? Or was the owl so securely hidden inside as to be invisible from any angle?

Almost all the morning activity was again up at the head of the marsh with many 'off-plumaged' Goldfinches accompanied by a few other species: notably Baltimore Oriole, Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Common Yellowthroat. There was also a steady stream of Monarchs, a bit surprising at that rather cool early hour.

Peter Dorosh sent me the following link to a NBC news report on southern butterflies in Massachusetts:
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Two species are particularly noted, Giant Swallowtails and Fiery Skippers. This makes me wonder whether the skippers I saw yesterday (on the Rough-stemmed Goldenrod flowers along with the southern Red-banded Hairstreak) might not have been Fiery Skippers. I'll try to check it out again today.

Eric Salzman

flutterbys

Since my encounter with the Giant Swallowtail, I have had a number of communications about butterflies. Carl Safina reports an influx of Monarchs. Jean Held sent me a picture of another southerner, a Red-banded Hairstreak. As I sat by the pond this afternoon (hoping for hawks), I noticed an influx of Green Darner dragonflies hovering over the marsh and a steady stream of butterflies coming in from the water and flying up and over the trees -- a few Monarchs to be sure but mostly smaller insects. Eventually, I decided to try and follow the track of these butterflies which took them toward the house. Alas, most of them were overflying but a few stopped by at a stand of goldenrod -- not the Seaside Goldenrod, which is just starting to bloom, but one of the roadside varieties in a sunny spot just outside the porch. There, sitting on a golden spray along with a clutch of bees and wasps and several unidentifiable Skippers, was Jean's Red-banded Hairstreak! Yet another southerner expanding to the north!

It was another superb fall morning dominated again by Goldfinches and House Finches accompanied by House Wren, Common Yellowthroat, Great Crested Flycatcher, a few Chickadees and Titmice, Red-breasted Nuthatch and several Red-eyed Vireos. There were a fair number of swallows over Pine Neck -- hard to make out but I think they were Tree Swallows; the swallows over our side of the creek were all Banks.

There were hawks yesterday -- over Central Park! These were mostly Broad-winged Hawks which migrate in huge numbers in September but mostly inland; we hardly see any here on the South Shore (there are -- or were -- a few nesting pairs around but I've only seen one or two in migration in all these many years).

The photo is of Jean's Red-banded Hairstreak, Calycopis cecrops, virtually identical to the one that was here this afternoon (note the pattern of the red bands and the eyelets increasing in size (near the thread-like tails that account for the name 'hairstreak'), ending in a blue spot. Thank you, Jean, for alerting me to this charming little creature!

Eric Salzman

The Giant Swallowtails are Coming! Red-banded Hairstreaks too!

There has been a lot of correspondence going on about the Giant Swallowtail. Mike Gochfeld confirms Rick Cech's observation that there is a Giant Swallowtail invasion taking place and he says that it began three or four years ago and that he's already had two in his New Jersey yard. Rick and Linda Kedenburg report seeing them in southern Vermont. Jean Held sends me a picture of what she calls "my southerner" -- a Red-banded Hairstreak, Calycopis cecrops, another southerner making its way northward (see attached photo). I used to see hairstreaks nectaring on Butterfly Weed but these flowers are now shaded out and the hairstreaks have become hard to find.

I did find a good warbler this morning: a fall-plumaged Tennessee Warbler, probably an immature (yellow underneath, brightest on the breast, faintly yellow on the undertail). It was in a feeding flock at the head of the marsh (mostly in the Tupelos) led, not by Chickadees or Titmice, but by a dozen or more American Goldfinches, all in female or juvenal plumage. Also in view: Northern Waterthrush, Black-and-white Warbler, Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Catbirds, Robins, Blue Jays, and others.

Eric Salzman