Sunny, calm and HOT
(mid 90s)
Spring is making its exit
right and summer is coming in with a bang. We’ve had a very wet and cool spring and we’ve postulated
that we probably would plunge headlong into summer with high humidity and
temperatures. Well, here it is.
 |
| Eastern kingbird |
I drove around Kenridge Farm
which is now the Outdoor Discovery Center of the Hudson Highlands Nature Museum. The fields were alive with the
color of newly blooming wildflowers, but the birds were for the most part
taking it easy in this stifling heat.
One bird which didn’t seem to mind the oppressive temperatures, however,
was the Eastern kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus). He was in constant flight over the newest retention pond
along the entrance road into the property. Pausing only long enough for me to
get in a quick shot or two, he was quickly back on the wing, alternately flying
over the open fields and back to the pond’s edge where he would pause and perch
for a moment.
The kingbird feeds almost
exclusively on insects during the summer, feasting on a diet of grasshoppers,
beetles, bees, flies, and leaf hoppers.
The high temperatures has many of these critters on the move, I am sure,
and the kingbird saw fit to take advantage of the bounty provided for him on
this all-too-warm day.
Summer officially begins at 7:09
PM and tomorrow, the first full day of summer, is expected to be even warmer
than today. We’ll see if any of
our fine feathered friends are out and about or whether or not the photo of the
day could be one of the brilliant wildflowers of the fields at Kenridge. Till then….stay cool!
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