There were dozens and dozens of tree swallows skimming low over the surface of the big lake this afternoon, and still more on the river itself. Their flight seemed uncharacteristically deliberate, perhaps because the search required more effort than usual to culminate in a capture of food.
Also present were many fox sparrows, a red-tail hawk, 2 pairs of wooducks, a few pairs of bufflehead, and several pie-billed grebes. Along the river (the paved path is flooded, by the way), was the pileated woodpecker, the kingfisher, three hermit thrushes (saw one of these at Wood Lake yesterday), and best of all: a pair of yellow-rumped warblers. The latter were feeding right on the fallen trees and inundated bushes in the flooded river bank; presumably the bugs were better there. With the warblers were two of what seemed to be large sparrows; these were actually walking and feeding on the mats of floating debris, whether on insects or seeds, it was hard to say. I was so taken with their agile behavior that I didn't really note their marks to id them, but what I recall brings song sparrows to mind. Would such river -rambling be odd for a song sparrow? Linda Whyte
