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6 September 2010
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Rockport, Maine, USA
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Archive for April, 2010
Friday, April 30th, 2010
 Spring wood, Beech Hill. When I first looked out at the sky this morning, I saw that it was cloudless. Wholly cloudless. Not a cloud in the sky. This seemed somehow promising—if somewhat scary—so we took only a few minutes, dog and I, before heading up to Beech Hill. (Although I did take time to make coffee.)
 Mourning dove. No cars in the lot. At first, again, I heard only the commoner birds: chickadee, goldfinch, robin, herring gull down the road. But soon (again) came the voices of towhees. And then, ascending the upper woodland trail, I heard what at first sounded like the song of the catbird I heard the other day. And in just the same place. But again—as the other day—I thought I detected double-phrasing. Like a thrasher. I couldn’t see the bird beyond the tangles along the trail edge, but after passing I couldn’t help asking the dog to accompany back down a ways to take another look.
There it was: brown thrasher. Thus, I’ve gone back and changed my listing of a catbird on 26 April (Monday). None of those just yet. Oh, they’ll be here—but they’ve been beaten by a thrasher.
We came upon a red squirrel hiding just a few feet off the trail. Then just a few paces farther along, I heard the quay note of a hermit thrush—and the bird itself hopped up to a hidden twig (but not that hidden) not twenty feet from us. Good look, no possible photo.
 Chipping sparrow. The air warmed quickly in the sun as we climbed the greening hill. But at the summit a quick wind howled in the little huddle of spruces. A huge wind, racing in from the west or northwest or southwest. I couldn’t listen well for all the wind. But I did hear savannah sparrows. Saw a couple, too, flitting about on the trail in front of us as they are wont to do. Not much else, though, until we reached the base of the open trail on the other side of the hill. The chipping sparrow that’s claimed one particular spruce down there was calling loudly from one of its branches. I caught sight of the bird for a change.
On the trail we met a mother with a young son. She also carried a baby. And a kite. On our return ascent we came upon the little family in a place of sailing wind. Sure enough, she’d managed to get the kite airborne, and the little guy was flying it like a pro. I snapped a couple photos.
There, off in the wind, the field sparrow. Coming back down the wooded trail: a titmouse. And a downy woodpecker. And, rather thrillingly, a blue-headed vireo. As we stopped to listen to the vireo, dog and I were suddenly cloaked in a cloud of black flies. A chickadee flitted in some hardwood branches above us, picking off flies.
I thought I’d be ending up with 17 species today—until I heard the voice of a crow from the parking. Looked up. The crow was chasing a raven.
 Great black-backed gull. I went cycling this afternoon. I spent much of that time working at not getting blown over—but I also came upon a pair of ospreys soaring over a stretch of Route 1 near the Rockville Street farm. Such handsome birds. I’m glad I live among them.
And in late afternoon, dog and I hit the breakwater. Lots of birds today—and still-warm temperatures, and lighter winds. Black-backed gull, eiders, about a half-dozen red-breasted mergansers, a couple guillemots, one in mixed plumage and one in its full summer outfit. From the harbor side, I heard the yodel of a loon.
Yesterday we had sun and drizzle and, in some places, snow and sleet—even what some have called “hail.” Today we had sun and blue sky and wind and warmth. And flies. And an expectancy of warblers.
Beech Hill List
At 7:30 a.m., I walked all trails.
American robin (voice)
Black-capped chickadee
American goldfinch
Herring gull (voice)
Eastern towhee
Brown thrasher
Hermit thrush
White-throated sparrow (voice)
Mourning dove
Eastern phoebe
Common raven
Savannah sparrow
Chipping sparrow
Northern harrier
Field sparrow (voice)
Blue-headed vireo (voice)
Tufted titmouse (voice)
American crow
Elsewhere
House finch
Rock pigeon
Downy woodpecker
Osprey
Common grackle
Great black-backed gull
Common eider
Red-breasted merganser
Black guillemot
Common loon
 Afternoon sky, Rockland Harbor.
Tags: American robin, black guillemot, black-capped chickadee, blue-headed vireo, brown thrasher, chipping sparrow, common eider, common grackle, common loon, common raven, downy woodpecker, Eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, field sparrow, great black-backed gull, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, mourning dove, Northern harrier, osprey, red-breasted merganser, rock pigeon, savannah sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-throated sparrow
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Thursday, April 29th, 2010
 Aerial duel of harrier and raven. The light of a haze-veiled sun squeezed its way between my blinds this morning, awakening me with a purpose: to get up Beech Hill right away. By the time dog and I arrived at the Rockville Street parking lot, it was 7 o’clock. The temperature was cool—low- to mid-40s (F)—and already a breeze had kicked up. I wore insulated upperwear.
 Leaf and lichen. At first I didn’t hear much—robin, chickadee, goldfinch, the common birds—but singing towhees made an appearance soon enough. Also, there were jays. A number of jays, calling from various points along the trails. Not a rare sound up there, but not all that common, either.
A drumming partridge, the song of a white-throated sparrow. By the time we reached the summit, I’d seen or heard fourteen or fifteen species.
As soon as we headed down the open trail, I heard the voice of a raven and looked up to see the bird harassing a northern harrier, a ghostly male. The raven dwarfed the marsh hawk, but the hawk seemed relatively undaunted. I fired off a series of long-distance photos as they came together once or twice. Before long the hawk soared nonchalantly down the western slope before us, and the raven turned and sailed over toward the trees to the north. You don’t see that every day.
 Savannah sparrow. Savannah sparrows flitted around in the shrubbery, calling from the tops of stones or the bushy upper branches. A field sparrow’s clear, bouncy notes came wind-blown from the western slope, and a chippy called from a conifer along Beech Hill Road. Hearing a song sparrow’s trill and chime as we arrived back at the parking lot made this a five-sparrow day.
The phoebe family made an appearance near their nest up under the Beech Nut porch roof. The landscape has suddenly gone a bright, sunlit yellow-green. In a couple days May will be here—and with it’ll come wood-warblers.
The wind had calmed by clear twilight, one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen—from the indescribably pure blend of blue in the western sky to the evening star hanging motionless above Benner Hill. And not long ago I heard a woodcock’s peent and eerie, thrilling flight song.
 Green. Beech Hill List
At 7 a.m., I walked all trails.
American robin
Black-capped chickadee
American goldfinch
Eastern towhee (voice)
Tufted titmouse (voice)
Blue jay (voice)
Ruffed grouse (booming)
Herring gull
White-throated sparrow (voice)
Mourning dove (voice)
American crow
Common raven
Eastern phoebe
Savannah sparrow
Northern harrier
Field sparrow (voice)
Hermit thrush (voice)
Chipping sparrow (voice)
Northern flicker (voice)
Song sparrow (voice)
Downy woodpecker (voice)
Elsewhere
House finch
American woodcock
 Islands.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, American woodcock, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, chipping sparrow, common raven, downy woodpecker, Eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, field sparrow, hermit thrush, herring gull, mourning dove, northern flicker, Northern harrier, ruffed grouse, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-throated sparrow
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Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
 American robin. Life is a series of searching for things and finding other things instead.
Before I awoke I knew it was raining from the distant rushing traffic sounds. Gentle rain and a gray sky and temperatures in the 40s (F). Out the window, a titmouse was singing its love song in the rain.
 Eastern towhee. In mid-morning I happened to look out and see a double-crested cormorant flying across the drizzly sky. The rain stopped sometime later, and I saw some scraps of blue sky, and things began to dry. We hit the wooded Beech Hill trail at just about exactly noon. Overhead the sky remained vague and gray; over the bay, the sky was blue. Not too much mud on the trail. Not many birds either—chickadee, goldfinch, gulls at the Rockville Street farm. Midday’s not the best birding hour.
But after a while, I heard towhees. And a hermit thrush—whose ethereal call seems perfect for a day that’s gray or misty. And the sudden gobble of a wild turkey not very far away. Heard a raven fly over. A downy woodpecker. Got a photo of a towhee near the summit.
I checked the phoebe’s nest up under the Beech Nut porch. I didn’t see a phoebe. But coming down the open trail, I spotted a solitary turkey up ahead, and the turkey spotted dog and me, and it took wing and sailed down the slope. I kept my gaze on that section of the hill in hopes of spotting the bird, but what I saw rise from the area instead was a single female harrier.
 Northern harrier. The song of a field sparrow rang from a group of low trees. Through my binoculars I spotted the bird about fifty yards away. Then heard a percussive call overhead, looked up, and saw a chase of three mallards in swift flight. On our return to the summit, the savannah sparrows were shy—I saw only two, and these flitted furtively off into the brush. A turkey vulture soared out toward the islands. And as we neared the wooded trail, I looked back to see a pair of harriers—male and female—circling the sod-roofed hut.
Down the lower wooded trail, when we passed the turkey-tail-covered trunk, I decided to walk on over and take a nearer photo. We saw no moose, but there were plenty of chickadees. While watching one group, I caught sight of a white-breasted nuthatch and followed that bird’s trip up a big oak trunk. Just then I heard the yodel of a loon—and actually saw the bird, flying high in the sky, at least a hundred yards overhead.
I sure didn’t expect to count twenty species on my walk up Beech Hill today.
 View of Matinicus from Beech Hill Beech Hill List
At 12:00 p.m., I walked all trails.
Black-capped chickadee
Herring gull (voice)
American goldfinch
American crow
Eastern towhee
Hermit thrush (voice)
Wild turkey
Downy woodpecker (voice)
Common raven
Northern harrier
Savannah sparrow
Field sparrow
Mallard
Northern flicker (voice)
Song sparrow (voice)
American robin
Turkey vulture
White-breasted nuthatch
Common loon
Mourning dove
Elsewhere
Tufted titmouse
Double-crested cormorant
Red-winged blackbird
European starling
Ring-billed gull
 Turkeytail fungus.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-capped chickadee, common loon, common raven, double-crested cormorant, downy woodpecker, eastern towhee, European starling, field sparrow, hermit thrush, herring gull, mallard, mourning dove, northern flicker, Northern harrier, red-winged blackbird, ring-billed gull, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, turkey vulture, white-breasted nuthatch, wild turkey
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Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
 Rainy landscape. Dawn lit a wet, chilly, drizzly landscape this morning—albeit not very brightly. The dog, however, was bright and persuasive, so we headed up the drippy hill first thing. I doubted the yearling moose had hung around but nonetheless couldn’t help wondering. Only finches sang as we hopped in the pickup.
 Wild violets. Saw Chuck’s truck in the parking lot, so we took the upper trail, the one I’ve noticed he and Greta usually use to ascend. All was pretty quiet. For the first few hundred yards, in fact, I heard only the voices of chickadees and the faint cries of herring gulls at the farm on Rockville Street. Then I heard a crow. Then a raven. Didn’t figure I’d be getting any decent bird photos this day, so I concentrated on the flora.
I don’t know plants and trees and such anywhere near as well as I’d like to. It’s nice to have something yet to learn. I couldn’t help noticing, for instance, all the little white-flowering trees on the hill just now. I’d just learned from my friend Kristen’s blog that these were some form of shadbush—I’ve since decided they must be Amelanchier laevis. Also apparent trailside, along with the fiddleheads and trout lilies, were what looked to be tiny wild violets. And fungi are bustin’ out all over the trunks of dead trees.
Nearing the top of the upper trail, I finally heard some calling towhees. And then a pair of them exploded from some undergrowth chasing and making strange razzing sounds. The territorial imperative. Turned out the towhees were the only birds I actually saw on the hill this day.
 Turkey tail. I heard others, though: robin, song sparrow, cardinal, titmouse—and, unexpectedly, the urgent screams of a killdeer off in one of the summit fields.
Descending the lower wooded trail (no doubt Chuck and Greta’s route also), we came upon no moose. But we did come upon a tall dead trunk positively cloaked in turkey tail fungus. From somewhere came the high-pitched chatterings of a downy woodpecker—one of only eleven birds on today’s Beech Hill List.
Beech Hill List
At 7:45 a.m., I walked both wooded trails.
Black-capped chickadee (voice)
Herring gull (voice)
American crow (voice)
Common raven (voice)
American robin (voice)
Song sparrow (voice)
Eastern towhee
Killdeer (voice)
Tufted titmouse (voice)
Downy woodpecker (voice)
Northern cardinal (voice)
Elsewhere
Rock pigeon
Mourning dove
House finch
American goldfinch
Blue jay
 Amelanchier laevis.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, common raven, downy woodpecker, eastern towhee, herring gull, house finch, killdeer, mourning dove, Northern cardinal, rock pigeon, song sparrow, tufted titmouse
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Monday, April 26th, 2010
 Double-crested cormorant. A yearling moose made an appearance at Beech Hill this morning. I didn’t see the moose.
Up early, headed with dog to the wooded trail. In the parking lot, I ran into two friends with dogs that had the same idea: Roger, with Zeke (just getting finished with their hike) and Chuck, with Greta (just getting started). Turns out Greta—a sweetheart to people (and a German shepherd dog, a breed I have a soft spot for)—isn’t especially dog friendly, so she and Chuck headed up before Jack and me.
 American goldfinch. Right away, I realized the towhees had returned. Well, maybe not the same individual birds, but at least a dozen eastern towhees singing “drink your tea”—or “please eat your cheese” or other variations on the theme—serenaded us up the trail. Also chickadees, goldfinches, a downy woodpecker, robins, herring gulls in the distance. We saw nor heard hawks; no tree swallows today, either. But at the summit there were phoebes, savannah sparrows, a titmouse, a field sparrow, mourning dove, a crow, and a raven. We also came upon a recently killed mouse directly in the middle of ht trail. Head chewed on. Body uneaten. Not sure what might’ve been responsible for that, but I moved its little corpse off into the trail-side vegetation.
 Dead mouse on the trail. Descending, I thought for a moment about taking the longer, lower wooded trail—but changed my mind at the last minute, and we retraced our steps along the upper trail. And about half-way down, I heard a solitary singing catbird. That’s right: first-of-year gray catbird, first of many to nest on the hill this year, I’m sure.
I was feeling pretty good about the catbird when Chuck and Greta arrived back at the parking lot just as we were about to leave. “Guess what we just saw?” asked Chuck. Turns out those two had returned via the lower trail and ran into a good-sized yearling moose, which hung around a little while before taking off through the leafing popple toward the northeast. Inside, I cursed my bad decision—we took the wrong trail down. But later I realized: I wasn’t meant to see that particular moose. It’s likely long gone now anyway.
 Herring gull. I was meant to hear a catbird.
Rode 16 miles on my bike today. In Rockport village, I heard grackles, a blue jay, a cardinal. Later, Jack and I walked the breakwater again. Thought I saw a male common merganser in flight—but I’m not quite ready to count it. Did see great black-backed gulls, loons in winter and summer plumage, plenty of eiders, a number of double-crested cormorants.
Beech Hill List
At 7:30 a.m., I walked the wooded trail.
Eastern towhee (voice)
American goldfinch
Black-capped chickadee
Song sparrow (voice)
American robin (voice)
Herring gull (voice)
American crow
Savannah sparrow
Tufted titmouse (voice)
Field sparrow (voice)
Eastern phoebe
Gray catbird (voice)
Northern flicker (voice)
 Pair of eiders. Also notable: dead mouse in trail, yearling moose (second-hand info).
Elsewhere
House finch
Downy woodpecker
Northern cardinal
Pileated woodpecker
Mourning dove
Rock pigeon
Common grackle
Blue jay
Great black-backed gull
Common eider
Osprey
Common loon
Double-crested cormorant
 Barnacles.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, common eider, common grackle, common loon, double-crested cormorant, downy woodpecker, Eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, field sparrow, gray catbird, great black-backed gull, herring gull, house finch, mourning dove, Northern cardinal, northern flicker, pileated woodpecker, rock pigeon, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse
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| Bird Report is an intermittent record of what's outside my window in Rockport, Maine, USA (44°08'N latitude, 69°06'W longitude), and vicinity. —Brian Willson |
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