Visitors from abroad

The last couple of days have been great for visitors from abroad. The author and birder, Mark Cocker, came on Tuesday and only left this morning for a couple of days in the Adirondacks before returning to his home base in East Anglia, Great Britain. Mark, who wrote "Birders: Tales of a Tribe" and other notable books, is working on a new project on the subject of human culture and birds. On Wednesday, with a group from ELIAS (Eastern Long Island Audubon Society), we paid a visit to Hunters Garden with subsequent stops on the Bald Hill Trail, a part of Dune Road, and the Quogue Wildlife Refuge. It was a good day bird-wise, the best so far in this spring season.

Mark came from across the Atlantic; most of the other long-range visitors came by air from the south. Tuesday was in fact, an outstanding migration day with substantial arrivals at all locations. It was, above all, a warbler day, with a count of 15 species including a couple of the less common varieties. Hunters Garden was active from the moment of our arrival at 7:15 am, with, among other things, Bay-breasted and Blackburnian Warblers plus the more familiar species: Yellow-rumped, Black-and-white, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Pine Warbler, Northern Parula and Common Yellowthroat. A pair of mysterious, rather unmarked gray birds with weak eye stripes, first thought to be warblers, were finally identified as Warbling Vireos, a bird that has become more common on Eastern Long Island and is being seen more and more in migration. Red-eyed Vireos were singing everywhere. Other birds included Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Baltimore Oriole, Scarlet Tanager, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Brown-headed Cowbird, Eastern Towhee and Chipping Sparrow. Bald Hill was only a little less notable with singing Wood Thrush, Wild Turkey and two notable warblers, Black-throated Green and Magnolia, in addition to many of the same species seen earlier at Hunters Gardens. Still no Veery and no Hermit Thrush.

After lunch, a trip down to the Shinnecock Inlet and Dune Road produced many Common and Least Terns, the usual gulls (Black-backed, Herring and Ring-billed), Northern Gannets on the ocean, a loon or two, Brant, Red-breasted Merganser, many cormorants and a small array of shore birds including Am Oystercatchers, Black-belled Plover, Dunlin, Sanderlings and Least Sandpipers. Not very far west of Ponquogue, Dune Road was completely flooded and our journey ground to a halt. At the edge of the floodwater, we spent some time watching Willets displaying and generally carrying on and we also inspected the differences between Common and Boat-tailed-Grackes, tried (unsuccessfully) to turn one of the Least Sandpipers into a Pectoral, and noted the appearance over the dunes of a Northern Harrier and a singing Yellow Warbler in the dune vegetation. We did not attempt to cross the flood zone but turned back across Ponquogue Bridge, heading to the Quogue Wildlife Refuge whose wetlands boardwalk was very productive with, among other things, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Waterthrush and White-eyed Vireo. Both the Waterthrush and the White-eyed Vireo were first recognized by song and then pished in by Mark (who turned out to be a very good pisher). And, surprise, the Vireo came in accompanied by a Wilson's Warbler, always a good find in these parts. At the far end of the boardwalk was a small 'yellow warbler' which, in retrospect, I think was, not a Yellow Warbler, but a female Wilson's, a bird that is easily overlooked.

Perhaps the most remarkable observation from the boardwalk was what appeared to be a large insect bouncing up and down at great speed through the dense vegetation but which in fact turned out to be the Shuttle (or Pendulum) Display of the male Ruby-throated Hummingbird. In making this display, the bird forms a perfect swinging arc that is so precise that it looks like a mechanical toy on a string! It is presumably always performed in the presence of a female and this is a good sign for hummingbird nesting in the vicinity.

The busy swallow activity over the main pond included all four local swallows -- Barn, Tree, Bank and Rough-winged. As we were watching the swallows from the boardwalk, a young man and his Latino girl friend approached us and asked what we were watching and we eventually got engaged in a fairly lengthy conversation. He turned out to be a former software entrepeneur who dropped out during the dot.com bust and was now operating a corporation that invests in land in Costa Rica, some of which is put aside for conservation purposes but other portions of which are planted in palm oil, pineapple and teak. A fairly substantial discoussion emerged about the ethics and desirability of all this. His argument was that most of the land purchased for planting had already been deforested, that agriculture was a better use of the land than cattle ranching, that the percentage of land being conserved as forest far outweighed the amount of land that was being developed, and that, in effect, limited agricultural development was helping to save large tracts of rain forest.

Finally, as we pulled into our place in East Quogue, we found a singing yellow warbler that was not a Yellow Warbler but turned out to be a Nashville, a nice finish to an extremely productive day.

I should add that a morning walk on the property just preceding Mark's departure, turned up both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Willets, Yellow Warbler and Common Yellowthroat, singing Warbling Vireo, a flock of Cedar Waxwings, and a low perched male Ruby-throated Hummingbird. not doing a display but just sitting quietly and, as they say, showing well, gorget flashing in the dappled light.

Perhaps Mark should come and visit more often. He seems to have brought good birds and good birding with him!

Eric Salzman

May to October, 2010

The fall season is not yet over (as usual, some of the best birds turn up in November, the classic time for wrong-way strays from the south and west) and the annual Christmas Bird Count is yet to come. But our season in East Quogue -- May 1st to October 31st -- is over and this seems as good a time as any to review the year.

We had only a very modest spring warbler migration and land bird migration in general was not strong. The outstanding bird was probably Hooded Warbler in Maple Swamp which is a southern overshoot and perhaps occasional nester on Eastern Long Island (and not one of the neotropical warblers passing through on the way to northern breeding grounds). The falloff of these so-called neotropical migrants on Eastern Long Island is very striking. The cause? Deforestation on the tropical wintering grounds? Poor breeding success in the North Woods? Global warming? Whatever the reason or reasons, it is very noticeable in our area.

Shorebird migration was more impressive. We had a few good days with large mixed flocks heading north -- including Western and White-rumped Sandpipers and Red Knots. And the return migration which began, as always, in July featured a Hudsonian Godwit at Cupsogue in mid-July and, in the second week of August, several Marbled Godwits moving between Cupsogue and Pike's Beach. Add a sprinkling of Red Knots and a variety of terns including Forster's, Roseate and Caspian as well as many Royals.

In the breeding bird department, Chuck-will's-widows returned to their long-term East Quogue site and a flock or covey of Northern Bobwhite was present in East Quogue throughout the season. Green Herons bred on or near our East Quogue/Weesuck Creek place and three young birds appeared on our pond. Breeding Vesper Sparrows were seen, heard and photographed at Westhampton (Gabreski) Airport.

As is often the case, fall migration was far superior to spring migration with warblers moving in August and September and an invasion of Red-breasted Nuthatches in September. A burst of new arrivals in early October heralded a period of intense activity with hundreds of birds of several species feeding on the newly ripened seeds of Baccharis, Ivo, Poison Ivy, Red Cedar and even Phragmites over a period of almost three weeks in mid-October. The lead species -- consisting of literally hundreds of birds -- was the Yellow-rumped Warbler accompanied by flocks of American Goldfinches, Black-capped Chickadees, Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets, a singing Purple Finch and several species of sparrows: Song, Swamp, White-throated, Chipping and Field plus probable Grasshopper Sparrow (seen in silhouette at dawn) and at least one Lincoln's Sparrow -- a first for the property (also seen on Dune Road).

The fall warbler migration featured an excellent array of species including Orange-crowned, Mourning, Tennessee, Cape May, Nashville and Northern Waterthrush. But the outstanding bird -- not just of the season but of the year -- was a BELL'S VIREO feeding prominently along the shrub layer between the marsh and the woods behind on September 19. This bird, refound several times and also seen by Eileen Schwinn, is a member of a western species that extends as a breeder into the midwest and occurs on the East Coast as a vagrant. Although it is considered difficult to distinguish (mainly because of confusion with immature White-eyed Vireo), this bird showed almost all the field marks for Bell's Vireo including constant tail flicking and occasional wing flicks. I had previously seen this species on Dune Road in October, 1996, and spent a lot of time researching previous reports and looking at specimens (all written up in a Kingbird article). Needless to say, this bird was new for the property; including the Lincoln's Sparrow, the property list now stands at 235 species (give or take a species or two).

If anyone is interested in the Bell's Vireo details and references, let me know and I'll forward the lot. I've also made a report to NYSARC (the New York State Avian Records Committee).

The fall raptor migration was fairly good. There was a long parade of Osprey with sometimes as many as seven or eight species over the creek or feeding on dead branches on Pine Neck directly opposite. Other dominant species were Merlin and Northern Harrier but Bald Eagle (at Cupsogue in early August), American Kestrel, Peregrine, Cooper's Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk and a possible Goshawk were also seen. Other fall migrants were Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Royal Terns, a single Caspian Tern, Wilson's Snipe, American Woodcock, Virginia Rail, Winter Wren, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Towhee, Dark-eyed Junco as well as plentiful numbers of Northern Flickers, Gray Catbirds, American Robins, Barn and Tree Swallows; also Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Baltimore Oriole, Scarlet Tanager and Bobolink.

A curiosity was a small white egret with two long head plumes seen and photographed in Weesuck Creek at the end of June. This is the second bird with this character that I have seen here. Normally the white egret that sports these plumes is the Little Egret, a close relative of our Snowy that is native to Eurasia and Africa. However it is claimed that Snowy Egrets can show this character as well. The probable explanation for this phenomenon is hybridization and I would venture a guess that this bird (as well as the previous one) was a Snowy Egret with some Little Egret genes. Okay, 234 species!

Eric Salzman

sparrows at Ponquogue

October is sparrow month. I often like to say that our place has a good variety of habitat but that we lack classic sparrow grasslands or grassy edges. Strictly speaking that isn't really true. Although our "front lawn" -- the rapidly disappearing open space/meadow in front of the house -- hardly qualifies, the marsh is actually a kind of grassland. The dominant plants in the marsh proper are Spartina alterniflora and Spartina patens and we also have plenty of Phragmites australis and all three are grasses. And we do get the so-called marsh sparrows in the marsh: Saltmarsh (the most common), Seaside, Nelson's (in migration and winter) and even LeConte's (once; a veritable vagrant). Our common breeding sparrow, the redoubtable Song Sparrow, uses the marsh edges and sometimes ventures into the marsh itself to feed.

But the big influx of sparrows in October is marked by the arrival of large numbers of Swamp and White-throated Sparrows which along with Song Sparrows (some of which are undoubtedly new arrivals) feed in the bushy edges of the marsh and sometimes move further up into the woods where they will stay all winter. The White-throat even sings on warm days and it has one of the prettiest songs of any bird consisting of a melodic note or two followed by a bouncy rhythm. It also has a very noticeable loud 'chink' for an alarm call. Swamp also has a soft, warbler-like (or Phoebe-like) chip that is very recognizable. They are our most common sparrows at the moment.

Another sparrow that is rather common in migration and winter is the Chipping Sparrow but it isn't much noticed because (1) it is here all the time (it is a common breeder), and (2) it loses its distinctive red cap and white eye stripe in its non-breeding plumage and has a rather non-descript look. A less common sparrow at this time of year is the striking White-crowned Sparrow, one of the biggest and best-marked of its tribe (although most of the White-crowns that we see are young birds that have red-and-gray stripes instead of black-and-white stripes). Savannah, Field, Grasshopper and Vesper Sparrows, all breeders on Eastern Long Island, also turn up in migration and sometimes winter as well but take a little searching. Savannah is most common on Dune Road and in wintertime you can see its rare cousin, the Ipswich Sparrow which is a larger, plaer version of the Savannah. American Tree Sparrow is a northern breeder that winters here in some numbers.

Among the better sparrow finds are Fox Sparrow, and Lincoln's Sparrow (like a Swamp but more neatly marked and streaked), both seen in migration from time to time. Among the rarities that wander regularly to the East Coast, count Clay-colored Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Henslow's Sparrow (a declining grassland species which formerly bred on Long Island and still turns up now and then) and Harris' Sparrow. Closely related to the sparrows (some people count them as sparrows even though they don't look 'sparrow-y') are the Eastern Towhee and Dark-eyed Junco, the former a local breeder and fairly common migrant, the latter a common migrant and winter bird. Finally, among birds that are not sparrows but look like one, I might mention the Dickcissel which does occur here in migration.

Over the years I've managed to spot and/or identify quite a few of the above list, mostly in and among our high tide bushes (Iva and Baccharis as well as Phragmites) which are currently in seed and attracting good numbers of sparrows, warblers, goldfinches and other birds. But this is tough sparrow birding. You see the bushes twitching and catch a bit of movement. But what is it? It is a real struggle to catch these birds in the brief instants that they perch out in the open on one of the bushes. Sparrows are hard enough to identify if you get a good look but they are also quite shy. The best local places to look for sparrows (and have a fighting chance to figure out what they are) are on Dune Road between Ponquogue Bridge and the Inlet. The road going to the old Ponquogue Bridge and the adjacent parking lots have a variety of sparrows at this time of year. Although they are flighty, they tend to return to the grassy edges where they can be studied at length. Patience is the prime requirement.

Eric Salzman

flocks

Maria Daddino sent me an e-mail reporting 100s of grackles all around her house and, as I was reading it, I looked out the window and what did I see? Common Grackles all over the place. When I went outside, the grackle din was deafening. They were not only spread out over the open areas around the house but they were on the ground all through the woods. Literally hundreds of Common Grackles, Quiscalus quiscala, feeding on the ground and engaging in a grackle gabble of extraordinary dimensions. What they talking about? Grackle gossip? Travel plans? There is obvious communication in these big flocks as they roam the territory. decide to drop in on Maria or Eric, and then, just as inexplicably, take off for someone else's back yard. All decisions seem to be made collectively -- by acclamation one might say if grackle squeaks and squawks can be thought of as acclamatory!

A couple of years ago I saw a flock over Riverhead that seemed to cover the sky -- literally tens of thousands of birds streaming overhead. There were a few other birds mixed in -- Red-winged Blackbirds, Brown-headed Cowbirds and Common Starlings -- in the flock but mostly it was grackles, grackles, grackles.

Grackles aren't the only blackbirds to flock up. The Red-wings tend to roost up at night and fly out to find food in fairly substantial pods. American Crows are getting flock-y as well and flocks of crows are called, rather charmingly, murders (this seems to be an old name going back to medieval England). There was a Murder of Crows making an awful racket and flying around the place for quite a while this morning and you can see why, on the eve of Halloween, they might stir up dark thoughts. There must have been two dozen birds in that crow bunch and it certainly seemed as though they were up to no good. Perhaps they were stirred up by a predator. Although I didn't see any hawks around this morning there was at least one feral cat which might easily have suggested mayhem to the collective corvid mind.

There was also a little mixed feeding flock of smaller birds moving through the woods, another sign of approaching winter. The birds in this collectivity consisted of the two kinglets, the two nuthatches, the two titmice (chickadees and titmice), two woodpeckers (Downy and Red-bellied) and at least one very shy Catharus thrush, probably a Hermit.

Eric Salzman