Birdsong

The mornings are getting fat with bird songs as more arrivals take their places or at least try to.

Driving the Long Island Expressway today, we saw hundreds of robins along the roadside -- migrating groups, no doubt, having ridden in on the southerkly winds that ended last night with the arrival of a new cold front. Temperatures have been running well below normal and continue there now with highs in the 40s instead of close to 60 where they should be this time of year.

That hasn't stopped the crocuses and bluebells however. Daffodils are starting in and red buds adorn many trees.

The evening egret roost expanded from four to six for a brief momemt Friday morning. Two additional birds showed up around 0630 and were gone by 0640. That night, we had five staying over.

On Thursday, one of the downies was investigating a pile of wood left over from felling a tree last year. Today I found out why when Ron, the firewood man, came around with his wood splitter. He showed me oak borers under the bark of several logs -- quite tempting-looking white grubs.
Several birds scoured the area after he removed the wood and stacked the pieces elsewhere.