dodging rain drops and walnut nuts

Got in a shortened morning walk dodging rain drops. Judging by the 'chink' sounds and occasional bursts of song, I was surrounded by largely invisible White-throated Sparrows during the first part of the walk; were these birds here all the time or are there new arrivals beefing up the population? In the same head-of-marsh area, I thought I heard a Winter Wren giving a rough version of its rather extended song but I could never get a good look at whatever was moving around in the underbrush and the wren that finally showed was a Marsh Wren. Usually the Marsh Wren songs are short and less melodic but this bird was apparently stringing together his rather unmelodic tunes to make a better show of it. Nearby was a Common Yellowthroat with a very bright yellow throat and a Blue-headed Vireo with very bright wing bars.

Several raptors were around: a medium-sized blue-backed accipiter which might have been a female Sharp-shinned or a male Cooper's; two or three Osprey over the creek; and a big crow-chased raptor with broad wings, long tail and a barely glimpsed white rump -- in short, a Northern Harrier.

The heavy gusts of wind have almost completely stripped the Tupelos bare and created a veritable storm of oak, walnut and sassafras leaves just about everywhere as well as provoking a veritable rain of acorns and hickory nuts. In a few places, the hickories are replaced by the huge Black Walnut nuts. I wish I knew how to crack them open without getting my fingers black and ending up with inedible wooden chips mixed in with walnut meat. And, no, I don't wish for one of these cannonballs to fall on my head as I saunter by. Could happen.  

Eric Salzman

white is a color too

The winds shifted from northeast to southwest overnight and this morning's puffy clouds eventually cleared to blue sky and then clouded over again. Unlike yesterday morning, I didn't find any good-sized feeding flocks -- only one small group of Tufted Titmice with acorn-snaring Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Blue Jays -- but for the second day in a row I did see a smallish accipiter being chased by crows and jays. That would be a Sharp-shinned Hawk.

What is striking is what is not around as much as what is still here: an almost complete scarcity of Catbirds and Goldfinches, two of the most common birds here a week or two ago. On the other hand, flocks of migrating Robins continued to appear through yesterday but shut down this morning in the face of the wind shifts.

Although there has not been much cold weather, the leaves are turning and flying in the wind (an extra challenge for anyone looking for birds not leaves as flying objects). The Tupelos, whose leaves turn early and colorfully red, are being quickly stripped of their leaves. Coming in to replace them in the color department are Poison Ivy, Virginia Creeper, High-bush Blueberry and whatever Red Maples have survived recent hurricanes. Other trees like Sassafras and the local Walnuts add to the color but mostly in yellows. Except for the Red Oaks, the other oaks go straight to brown. Unlike New England, we don't have Sugar Maples (the big source of color at this time of year) but we do have introduced Norway Maples which can add some flashiness to the scene. The Seaside Goldenrod is about finished but the local Blue Asters (species?) are at their height and so is the Baccharis or Groundsel, a striking bush of the wetlands edge that has spread extensively into higher areas and whose female flower-heads with their showy feathery plumes are in full display right now -- big bursts of white all around the perimeter of the marsh and into the uplands. White is a fall color too.

Eric Salzman

change of pace

Another change of pace: cooler, brisk northeast winds, puffy clouds moving high overhead in the opposite direction. There were three distinct feeding flocks. The first one, encountered early in the morning right in back of the pond, was led by a whole troupe of Yellow-rumped Warblers with one or Palm Warblers, B-c Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, at least one Ruby-crowned Kinglet and no less than four species of woodpecker: Downy, Red-bellied, Flicker and, yes, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in only slightly faded plumage (Hairy Woodpecker, however, did not show).

The second flock was also anchored by Chickadees and Titmice but included a number of the season's first Golden-crowned Kinglets. Not easy to see from underneath (they often stay high) but acrobatic enough so that eventually they tip over and show the golden crown (they also make very characteristic soft lisping chips which is the first sign of their presence). The third group was a flock of Dark-eyed Juncos; I tried in vain to spy some other sparrows with them but they all took off into densely foliated trees.

At any rate, all three flocks featured recent arrivals on the scene -- the Sapsucker, the two kinglets and the Juncos!

Eric Salzman

a wet, dewy morning followed by mushrooms

Yesterday's very wet dewy morning, featured a Cooper's Hawk that was eventually driven off by the crows. The extremely high spring tides (yes, you can have spring tides in the fall) filled the pond, attracting fish and a few birds: Mallard and Black Duck (which stay on the surface and presumably don't eat fish) and Double-crested Cormorant which spends a lot of time underwater catching fish. Royal Terns continue to work the creek, parading up and down in some numbers and diving for fish. Ditto Belted Kingfisher. Osprey? The locals are gone and I don't even see many migrants coming through

What has been coming through are a few Monarch Butterflies -- either fluttering overhead or basking in the sun to dry themselves off and/or recharge their batteries. Hopeful but nothing like it used to be.

Today's top birds were a tail-wagging Palm Warbler and a surprising flock of over two dozen yellowlegs -- seemingly a mixture of Lesser and Greater.

Two of my favorite mushrooms have appeared in the past few days, both excellent edibles. One is a lactarius or milk mushroom (it exudes moisture from its gills underneath the cap) -- Lactarius volemus -- is its Latin name. It's a very attractive mushroom with an orange cap and a rather firm brittle texture. It usually comes up in the late spring and/or early summer but there was little rain this year so it only managed to emerge just now as we're having spring/summer weather in the fall. The other is the Wood Blewit -- in spite of the name, more purple than blue. Alas, I could find only two specimens, both with the sort of squat fairy-tale mushroom look that is one of its features. The Latin name is Clytocybe nuda although it has also been dubbed Lepista nuda, Tricholoma nudum, Tricholoma personatum and other things as well. Don't let anyone tell you that the Latin moniker is more stable than the vernacular name.

Today's mushrooms are also goodies: a few Wood Blewits (Clitocybe nuda) again and Hen of the Woods (Grifola frondosa) are both good edibles

Eric Salzman

Flicker darting at a Blue Darter

A cool but pleasant fall morning began with an adult Cooper's Hawk perched high on a dead tree on the far side of the marsh. The blue back reminded me of one of the bird's nicknames: Blue Darter. Only the adults have the blue backs; the immatures are brown but with the same structure (short, broad wings with long striped tail). As I mentioned in an earlier post, accipters (including Cooper's) are bird specialist and have the ability to fly through woodland tracts -- to chase prey or simply to get away from harassment -- without getting bonked by tree limbs. But this one was just sitting out in the open and leisurely attending to her (her?) toilette. Possibly because a accipiter sitting out in the open is assumed not to be hunting or because other birds are afraid of coming too close to this fearsome predator, no one was venturing very near. A few Am Crows and Blue Jays were making noise and hovering in the neighborhood but always keeping their distance. The accipiter, drying off in the sun and straightening its feathers, paid no attention. Ironically, it was a Northern Flicker, probably a passing migrant, that came right in with its substantial beak ready to strike. That finally routed the hawk which took off for parts unknown.

The head of the marsh was, as usual, very active with a familiar avifauna that included two winter birds: Blue-headed Vireo and Brown Creeper. Only four of the five possible woodpeckers this morning; the Sapsucker didn't show.

Eric Salzman

a flight of Connecticut Warblers?

Got an e-mail from Joe Polashock yesterday describing a warbler seemingly identical to the one I wrote about yesterday; according to Joe, it was walking around his garden in New Suffolk and pumping its tail. I never get to see Connecticut Warblers on the ground (our underbrush is too thick) but it is well known that they walk on the ground and bob up and down (which can also be described as tail pumping). Also Connecticut Warblers have been reported from the city as recently as yesterday. In short, there has been a substantial flight of these uncommon birds in the past few days extending from at least New York City to Eastern LI.

The bird population here this morning was completely quiet except for one cawing Crow. I soon found out the cause: a hungry-looking adult Cooper's Hawk perched on a dead branch on the edge of the marsh and just under the crow. It didn't seem to mind the annoying crow but, at my approach it took off into or through the trees (Cooper's are big birds but, like other accipiters they have the ability to navigate through the woods). Shortly thereafter all the usual small birds emerged to dry themselves off in the rays of the rising sun (they were all wet from the heavy dew) and begin to feed. But, no sooner had they started to go about their business when another large raptor appeared, this time a flying Northern Harrier coming across the creek and up the marsh. But the harrier showed no inclination to hunt and flapped gracefully over the top of the trees and disappeared.

Eric Salzman

a scarce warbler reappears

A quiet morning walk was interrupted by a surprise: a brief glimpse of a warbler poking out from the underbrush with a nice complete eye-ring, a plain olive back, buffy chin and pale yellow underparts. For various reasons, I can say that this was not a Yellowthroat so the only choices left are immature Mourning and Connecticut Warblers. Yes, it was another Connecticut Warbler only steps away from where the last one appeared (it may have even been the same bird). The immature Mourning has a much weaker eye-ring and is brighter yellow underneath -- so Connecticut it is! Definitely the warbler of the year in these parts!

Not much else to report. A flight of a few Fish Crows came over the creek yesterday. I startled a Great Blue Heron out of arboreal perch, a event that happens every morning. And the morning flock of Feral Pigeons was right on time; between half a dozen and two dozen birds come over the place in precise formation every morning about a half hour after sunrise. 

Eric Salzman