Tree Swallows are back this summer’s end.

Skyward they soar and tumble in vast swarms while migrating and navigating southward along our Atlantic coast.

I observe flocks resting and roosting in grassy fields, bayberry scrub, and marsh along the Parade Ground shoreline and Hay Harbor golf course.

Subsisting on flying insects of all types, Swallows on the move inhabit these perfectly sheltered areas feeding on dragonflies, moths, butterflies, beetles, ants, bees, spiders-their menu goes on and on! During summer breeding months they even swoop back and forth to the beach for high calcium clam shells and fish bones.

From 1966 to 2010 New England saw the Tree Swallow population in serious decline. Perhaps there is too much managing and clearing of woodlands for these tree cavity dwellers.

Welcome back beautiful birds….

 

There are more sightings of helium balloon debris on and around Fishers Island then than I care to count,but I count them.

I see them entangled in shrubs or seaweed, deflated under coastal rocks, collapsed and buried under tidal sands, and bobbing eerily across both Island Sounds.

I used to be curious about their decorative messages or how far they had traveled.

I am not curious any more.

The endangered Leatherback Sea Turtle subsists largely on a jellyfish diet.

More and more of these sea turtles are mistaking floating helium balloon debris for jellyfish and fatally ingesting them.

In the forest a standing dead or dying tree is referred to as a Snag.
Also termed Coarse Woody Debris, I see a few of these areas off dirt roads and around Island trails.

Many species of birds can thrive in this critical habitat. Bare branches make for convenient look out. Decayed and hollow cavities provide a dark and safe nest. And for both birds great and small there is the convenient diet of insects that live off rotting bark and naturally recycled nutrients.

Actually, a dead tree can be a perfect “living” example of biodiversity.

On Fishers Island, look for water hunting birds like Kingfishers and Osprey with a fresh fish catch or perched and watching for predators. Then listen for the tapping of a Woodpecker dining out.

A few Snags stand along the Peninsula and offer primping and preening posts for local Fish Crows and Egrets.

Common Terns are a more common sight these summer weeks, especially on both west and east ends of the Island.
Step lightly along well worn boulders at Race Point, and bring your binoculars to watch these sea birds hover across rip tides and then dive- plunge to feed on small fish.

Observing Common Terns “working” usually hints at bigger fish stories waiting to be told by fishermen off shore.

Terns aren’t too picky when it comes to nesting on the ground-a pile of dead vegetation or nothing at all, but islands, marshes even lake shores are desirable habitats.

Breeding adults are “brighter” to spot with black cap, orange-red legs and a red bill. Juvenile birds display a dull and duskier plumage of brown, ginger and gray.

  Note the Tern’s long fork-like tail that had ancient sailors calling the Common Tern a “Sea Swallow”.

Dawn’s beam shines through Summer’s mist.

The fruit of Day’s past ripens towards Ready.

 
These past days I have observed a lone Surf Scoter off the western tip of South Beach, diving and foraging in and out of the breaking wave zone.

Judging from sea duck ID photos it’s a male with white feathers on nape and forehead. Get a closer view through binoculars and you’ll see a bulbous yellowish, red with white bill, and a pair of beautiful golden, green eyes. And perhaps see why they nick name the duck “skunk-headed coot”.

But really what caught my attention was that it was indeed on its own.

These ducks breed in Alaska and Canada, including Labrador and usually visit a more temperate coastline (like Fishers) just during the warmer winters.

There are though plenty of mollusks (mussels) and crustaceans (crabs) to keep this distant traveler around a bit-I bet.

It is my observation that Fishers Island does not have a river-that is for certain.

 

I observed this week on the overgrown trails by the swampy woods near Brick Yard that this does not preclude River Otter from visiting and even taking up residence on Island.

 

Becoming familiar with signs of this mostly nocturnal ambassador to the wetlands may prove a bit difficult though.   I am learning to scout the forest floor that connects the animal’s leafy “scent station” mounds to its paths across salt marsh grass marked with fishy smelling scat.

 

So as Islanders enjoy kayaking up at Middle Farms, or biking past Island Pond, even trail blazing  around Barlow Pond….remember a River Otter runs through it.