SOFO and ELIAS share a walk at Vineyard Field

The Vineyard Field behind SOFO in Bridgehampton continues to be the Indigo Bunting capital of Eastern LI. This year's joint SOFO/ELIAS walk took place this morning and there were at least five, perhaps six, singing males. One of them was a probable first-year male with mixed brown and blue plumage (but singing away as enthusiastically as all the rest.

Other features of the walk were outstanding views of Orchard Oriole and Eastern Bluebird.

Wild Turkey
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Red-tailed Hawk
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
House Wren
Carolina Wren
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Blue-winged Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Eastern Towhee
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole

Anne Lazarus lists several birds from Saturday's Linnaean walk that I apparently missed (or which they saw on their way in) plus two that I forgot to mention -- Glossy Ibis and Brown-headed Cowbird. The others were Canada Goose, Gadwall, Northern Harrier, Laughing Gull, Roseate Tern, Field Sparrow and Brown-headed Cowbird, Also, in the butterfly department, Spicebush Swallowtail, Southern Cloudywing and a possible Tawny Edge. The last two birds and the butterflies were seen in the EPCAL area.

Eric Salzman

Eastern LI Specialties -- Linnaean 2014

Today's Linnaean Field Trip, under the rubric of "Eastern Long Island Specialties", started at Cupsogue near Moriches Inlet and ended at the ex-Grumman EPCAL grasslands in Manorville. It was a quiet day with relatively few shore- and waterbirds and some of the upland specialties failed to show. Here's my list of 50 species:

Mallard
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Red-tailed Hawk
Black-bellied Plover
Piping Plover
American Oystercatcher
Willet
Ruddy Turnstone
Short-billed Dowitcher (probably; seen at a distance)
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Least Tern
Black Tern
Common Tern
Black Skimmer
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Northern Flicker
Peregrine Falcon (over the marshes at Cupsogue)
Willow Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
American Crow
Fish Crow
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
House Wren
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Common Yellowthroat
Prairie Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Saltmarsh Sparrow
Seaside Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Baltimore Oriole
House Sparrow

sundries

Among the species that are out and active (besides the deer and the squirrels), there are moles burrowing in the sandy soil; haven't actually seen one but the burrows are everywhere. A handsome Red-spotted Purple (that's a butterfly) landed on a patch of open ground just in front of the house.

Saw a Cardinal fledgling being fed by his father; since this species doesn't migrate but stays here all winter, they get a head-start and often have young earlier than most other local breeders. No sign or sound of Yellow Warbler and I hear only one Common Yellowthroat singing. A male Northern Flicker landed right outside the porch window followed shortly thereafter by a male Baltimore Oriole feeding in the Hickory tree right above it. Didn't even have to get out of my seat.

From the front deck, I had a good look at the male Pine Warbler perched and singing on a bare branch at eye level; to my surprise, he was quite well marked with a clear yellow throat set off by a necklace of dark streaks on yellowish breast as well as gray wings with distinct white wingbars. Pine Warbler has the reputation for being rather indistinctly marked compared to other warblers but apparently spring males can break out of the average. The streaks were darker and stronger, and the yellow was yellower than I had expected. I assume that this is the bird that I hear every day making his rounds -- usually a lot higher up.

Eric Salzman

Red-eyed Vireos and Forster's Terns

Red-eyed Vireo was back this morning, singing away at the top of his lungs -- or should I say syrinx -- with his unmistakeable short phrases, rising and falling in quick succession: "Who is there?" "I'm up here" "Where are you" "I'm right here" " Can't you find me?" "Over this way!" Are they just visitors or can they be counted as breeders? 

Back at the marsh, the Yellowthroats continue to sing non-stop along with the House Wrens -- also two of them on territory with their bubbly insistent song. And a couple of adult Forster's Terns on the creek continue to suggest that they must now be breeding somewhere on the bay. I would look in the bay islands, many of which host terns and other birds already.

Eric Salzman

giant bumblebee? hawk moth?

I was sitting on the front deck taking a break from my morning walk when a large insect came up below me -- right by the deck and not even a foot off the ground. It paused for just a moment to pick off some insects and then moved on, not even giving me enough time to get my binoculars up. But it was so close that I could see that it was darkish above (brownish cap and back) and lighter below (face and underparts) with a long probiscus and a helicopter flight. Giant bumblebee? No way. Hawk Moth? Not likely. Hawk Moths fly at night, are nectar feeders and don't show contrast between the upper and lower parts. Why did I even think it was a giant insect? It was, of course, a hummingbird but seen from an angle that one doesn't often see hummingbirds. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a hummingbird so close to the ground or so brownish looking (it was in shadow and I was looking down at it). Hummingbird colors -- even the back colors of a female -- can be difficult to see if the light is not good.

A female hummingbird feeding on insects a few inches off the ground is what it was. This is the second time, I've seen a female hummingbird in front of the house in the past few days. Female hummingbirds take insects for protein when they are in nesting mode -- even when there are flowers nearby (a small Black Cherry in full bloom) -- and it leads to the possibility that there is nesting somewhere nearby.

Crows make an awful racket when I walk down to the water. I suspect that there are nests down there with growing nestlings due to fledge fairly soon. In the meanwhile, the Fish Crows seem to have abandoned their nest and moved away; occasionally I hear their calls distantly coming from Bay Avenue on the other side of the property; perhaps they will try again in another spot.

No sign of the Canada Warbler today but the Yellow Warbler is back at the head of the marsh right on schedule.

Eric Salzman

Canada Warbler on June 2!

First Canada Warbler of the year! Not only is it rather late (first week of June) but this bird was singing and feeding, not in low wet bushes (where you would expect to see a Canada Warbler) but in a low dense tree canopy. I found it, as usual, because it was persistently singing as it fed but the song was rather short, variable and hard to identify. Canada Warbler songs are typically preceded or followed by a chip but this bird was scattering its chips all over the place. It was also surprisingly difficult to spot amidst the foliage, only revealing its diagnostic features bit by bit, between the leaves and from underneath: yellow underparts, necklace, eye-ring, etc. Canada Warblers, as I discovered years ago, are rare nesters on LI; I have actually seen them carrying food to feed nestlings. So this bird might be a late migrant still heading north or a 'local' bird looking for a female and a nesting opportunity.

Another uncommon nester in these parts is the Spotted Sandpiper and there's at least one hanging around the pond and marsh. As Lorna noticed yesterday, the sandpiper likes to feed in the pond at low tide but it gets chased by the resident property owner, a very feisty male Red-winged Blackbird. He is unable to chase the bigger herons, ducks and willets but he is big enough to bully the poor little 'piper.

Eric Salzman

returnees

Gorgeous blue-sky day with just a light breeze from the east/southeast.

Yellow Warbler was back, right on schedule -- singing and moving around somewhat closer to the house (but not really that far from the head of the marsh, his previous favorite spot). Another returnee -- after a longer period of absence -- was the Red-eyed Vireo, the Q&A bird singing from various oak trees over a wide stretch of territory (possibly two birds but most probably the same bird on the move).

The morning's Belted Kingfisher was definitely a male -- giving hope to the idea that the female is somewhere not too far away sitting on a nest. These birds used to breed in an inactive portion of the East Coast Mines, a sand-mining operation in the moraine just north of East Quogue and this breeding pair claimed Weesuck Creek as its exclusive hunting area. This is probably no longer the case and, in any case, the East Coast Mines are now inaccessible so it's impssible to check.

Another returnee: Black-crowned Night-Heron. No sign yet of the Yellow-crowned which was a familiar presence in past summers.

Flying with the Purple Martins and the Barn Swallows over the pond are a pair of Rough-winged Swallow. And just to complete the picture, six male Mallards drop in, one after the other, to do . . . what? I have no idea. Just the duckish equivalent of an ol' boy's club, I guess.

Eric Salzman