Yesterday at Duck Hollow, 26 July

Pokeweed flowers opening, Duck Hollow, 26 July 2026 (photo by Kate St. John) 27 July 2026 Yesterday the river was a running high and the birds were subdued when three of us joined up for the Duck Hollow outing. Even so we had some good sightings. Best Bird was a surprise –> a singing yellow-throated warbler (Setophaga dominica) which we could hear but not see in the thick leaves. We were amazed it was singing at the end of July. From a distance I saw splashes in the river that looked like a school of fish surfacing. It was a flock of chimney swifts drinking from the river and perhaps bathing in flight by splashing their bellies in the water. We noticed that some Canada geese have completed their wing molt and are able to fly. The flightless geese called to them from Duck Hollow. We found pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) in bloom (above) and evidence that deer are eating it (below). Pokeweed is deadly poisonous to humans but not to deer. With careful collecting and cooking we humans can…