Egrets In

Our first sighting of a Great White Egret was four or five nights ago when a lone male sailed in and stopped in a tree where the great birds have roosted for the past many seasons. It was gone after about 10 minutes. Two nights later, it was back, spending the night. 

Last night (the 26th) two males resplendent in breeding plumage settled in just about sunset and were here at sunrise. One departed early, but the second moved to a location in shallow water and spent about two hours there. It looks like the season is on – in the recent past, one or two have shown up around March 23, with one flying by on Mar 13, but none coming to roost until early April.

So far no herons which are usually starting to appear around the same date as the Egrets, but Osprey have been spotted on the Long Island already, so the seasonal predators seem to be making their way in. Grackles are showing up along with red-wing blackbirds and plenty of robins.

Not far from here, at a pond in West Islip next to Montauk Highway which is regularly used by overwintering wildfowl, close to 400 Scaup are encamped as of yesterday. Likely a flock that settled in while headed north from offshore rafting grounds they frequent in winter months. The species will not be around in a few weeks.

The weather is good – clear and bright, but chilly for this time of year. Temps will do well to make it into the low 40s today and we have been experiencing below freezing nights. The woodpile shrinks.

Sprung Spring

The evening of spring 2011, a sign of the summer to come appeared briefly. A Great White Egret swept majestically into view, flew across the open water and alighted in one of the trees that have been roosting spots for egrets over the past dozen years or so. Their numbers dwindled to just four or five last summer, but we are hopeful they will climb again, especially with a visit so early in the year.

Normally the egrets first appear in early May or late April, so the visit this week provides us with a flicker of hope for more stately visitors. The first bird stayed only a few minutes and did not spend the night but the occasion was a delight as the bird’s pure white image brightened a still grey and stark landscape which was threatened with light snowfall overnight.   

A noisy blue jay and a sleek black grackle -- the first of the season -- were on hand within minutes of one another on March 19. As they prowled the feeding area, a Song Sparrow belted out its call from a high bush and a Red-bellied Woodpecker flitted at the edge of the pond. A species that stays on Long Island throughout the winter, the Red-bellied are usually closer to heavy woods rather than suburban areas.

Watching the woodpeckers on the suet and trees is one thing (there is a snowy at the suet cage today), but, the little peckers may be getting endangered here. We just found a series of holes drilled in the siding of the house as well as a whole chunk of cedar shingle chiseled away. A few repairs can be dealt with, but we are now on alert for drumming sounds on our abode and I may have to unholster the slingshot if they are in the wrong place…

Male Goldfinches are starting to show a little yellow; they must be timed to coincide with daffodils, the first of which around here should be blooming in days. At the water’s edge, we tend to run up to two weeks behind blooms in warmer spots in the vicinity. Robins are more in evidence, scouting after a night’s rain for fat earthworms and flicking through the area on a regular basis now.

Elsewhere in the area, the river herrings I track each year, aka alewives, have appeared early. Sightings in three area freshwater streams well ahead of the usual early April arrival indicates a healthy population, which is getting a lot of support lately. A new fish ladder was installed for them last week a few miles from Babylon and there is word that one is scheduled for us, just a couple of hundred yards from here. Restoring their access to upriver breeding grounds promises much improved health for the entire ecosystem along the coast. Alewives are a prime feed for seals, whales and a variety of big fish, from Striped Bass and Bluefish to Cod and Tuna.

A few mergansers and scaup remain in area ponds, but they will soon be headed north. There's movement in the air.

Crocus Time!

Two clumps of crocus heads are up in a warm spot by the pond. Their appearance coincides with a brief morning visit by two pairs of Northern Shovelers, probably headed home for the summer. Walking at Belmont State Park, I spotted a pair of Pied Grebes, a pair of Hooded Mergansers and a flock of nearly 60 Ruddy Ducks – also migrating – along with the usual Mallards and Canada Geese.

A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was on a Maple and a Sour Gum this week – the first sighting since Christmas. Regulars at the feeding station are a male and female Cardinal, nine Northern Juncos, about half a dozen White–throated Sparrows, a pair of Fox Sparrows, one Song Sparrow and a couple pairs of House Sparrows – all getting a lot more feisty as the seasons start to shift. Visiting the suet cage is a pair of Downy Woodpeckers, harassed now and then by Starlings.

Mallards and Black Ducks remain on the pond and a few goldfinches – not yet displaying breeding colors – are visitors to the nijer feeder. Mourning Doves perch in the trees and ebb and flow each week from two or three to as many as 20.

A sharp-shinned hawk has been making regular forays through the yard, but so far, no feather piles to show recent successes.

In late February a pair of Canada Geese turned up on the pond just after sunrise and only two days after a new fence went up – put there specifically to keep them from nesting. After years of sparring with the buggers, I learned that blocking clear access to the water from a feeding/nesting area such as our lawn is the only way to keep them from taking up residence and making the lawn unusable for the summer. So, with new bulkheading last year, I knew they would start looking for a good spot and a fence would be needed. They must have clear access to water when they molt and when young appear, and they know months ahead of that date that a fence will be a problem. I got it in just in time…always working to deadline.

They have appeared a few times since, but after staring at the fence they leave within minutes of arrival.

Having been quiet since the beginning of the year, morning bird songs are starting up again. A now noisy Cardinal buzzed the lady of the house yesterday morning when she stepped outside – looks like no interloper of any size is to be tolerated.