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6 September 2010
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Rockport, Maine, USA
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Posts Tagged ‘American robin’
Friday, September 3rd, 2010
 Veery. Ack! Slept late. Up and dressed in a hurry, to Beech Hill by 7:45 a.m. Hazy sun, warm and muggy still, with just a taste of strangeness in the breeze—strangeness, perhaps, because Hurricane Earl is on the way? Who knows. But chickadees were chatting and chittering in the distance, so I had hopes of seeing a few silent bird species chowing down before the storm. Because they must know change is coming. If only fall migration.
 Chestnut-sided warbler (juvenile). After our first few hundred paces, Jack’s and mine, we’d counted some typical species, then stopped in a sunny part of the trail when I heard an unfamiliar chip! call from the undergrowth. I never did see the source of the chip!, but I did spot a young chestnut-sided warbler that zipped up into a tree in front of us. They sure are fast flyers—or sure can be.
Soon after, I heard another chip! This one sounded sort of like a white-throat, but a little different. We stopped again, and again another bird flitted silently up near us—a red-eyed vireo this time, and a great photo-op, but I passed it up, silly me. Instead, I got a ghostly shot of what was sure enough a white-throated sparrow peeping at us from beyond a thicket of old summer leaves.
 Northern harrier. Entering the open fields, I scanned the distance, as I always do. A golden haze hung in the east over the bay. And there not far off, a marsh hawk—a northern harrier—dipped and veered over a grassy slope, its white rump flashing.
Before long, reaching the summit, I was watching another hawk—a sparrow hawk, a kestrel—flapping up and over Beech Nut. It soon disappeared, but then looking out to sea again, again I spotted the harrier (or another one) dipping and hovering over the same far eastern field.
 White-throated sparrow. Although most birds I listed today were silent, toward Beech Hill Road I heard the distinctive alarm notes of a rose-breasted grosbeak and a northern cardinal. Marauding bands of chickadees were sweeping through that area also—but nothing else too interesting showed up. In fact, it took until we’d already crested the summit again and plunged into the trees for the next bird to pop up. Also silent. Flitted up into a twig very near the trail. We froze, it froze. At first I thought it an ovenbird, but I quickly saw it was a thrush. Specifically, a veery. I bet we watched each other for a good three minutes, if not more.
Nothing but a single vireo down the lower wooded trail—quite the contrast to yesterday—until we made the turn onto the last leg before the parking lot. I thought I caught sight of another silent, mouse-like bird jumping off the trail and into the brush. We stopped. Waited. A small movement. Sure enough, a quiet little bird. An ovenbird, ironically. When it moved, it seemed so subtle as hardly to influence the universe at all.
But I got a ghostly photo.
 Ovenbird. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:45 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Black-capped chickadee
2. Common yellowthroat
3. Gray catbird
4. Black-billed cuckoo (voice)
5. Eastern towhee (voice)
6. Blue jay (voice)
7. American robin (voice)
8. Chestnut-sided warbler
9. Cedar waxwing
10. White-throated sparrow
11. Red-eyed vireo
12. Northern harrier
13. Song sparrow
14. Kestrel
15. American crow (voice)
16. American goldfinch (voice)
17. Common raven (voice)
18. Rose-breasted grosbeak (voice)
19. Northern cardinal (voice)
20. Mourning dove
21. Veery
22. Ovenbird
Elsewhere
23. Herring gull
24. Tufted titmouse
25. Rock pigeon
 The bay.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-billed cuckoo, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common raven, common yellowthroat, eastern towhee, gray catbird, herring gull, kestrel, mourning dove, Northern cardinal, Northern harrier, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, rock pigeon, rose-breasted grosbeak, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-throated sparrow
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Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
 Morning wood (no, not that kind). Up early. Warm early—for the third straight day. But Hurricane Earl should brush the coast tomorrow afternoon or evening, so next week we should have some nice sleeping weather for a change.
For some reason this morning I thought to count my paces up and over the hill. You might recall—very doubtful you will recall—I counted paces from the far parking lot up and over on the return trip down the lower wooded trail back on 17th July. Total paces: 3,447. Well, today I counted my steps while ascending the upper wooded trail (a shorter route) and ended up with 3,105. So the approximate total paces I’ve been walking every day up and down Beech Hill is somewhere around 6,552.
Wow. No wonder my aging heels hurt at random times during the day.
 Common yellowthroat (female). Sun. Warmth. Humidity. Steam. Quiet. Heard random gangs of chickadees in the periphery. Heard catbird and yellowthroat (buddy species). Heard waxwings—and surprised a flicker on the trail. Also heard a robin for the second straight day. And, at the first opening up by the lower fields, spotted a hummingbird buzzing away to the north.
But nothing much else. No crow, no goldfinch. Jays, yes. Sparrows, three species. But not much else. And my only decent photo was of a female yellowthroat early in our hike.
So I was figuring it to be just one of those sultry, lazy, uninteresting birding days—until we entered the lower wooded trail. I’d listed fifteen species by then, is all. But right away a pewee made it sixteen. Then I heard the repeated call of a hairy woodpecker. Seventeen. Then, finally, I heard the voices of both crow and goldfinch, one right after the other. Nineteen. And as we neared the parking lot, the black-billed cuckoo. Twenty.
That seemed fine to me, twenty—but as we got a hundred paces or so from the end of our hike, a little pod of chickadees moved through. I scanned the shady hardwoods. Three or four chickadees, and a couple other birds. Two phoebes, appearing out of nowhere. And also a red-eyed vireo, eyeing us with its red eye. (The dimness was not conducive to clear photos, alas.) And then two or three redstarts, flitting around together like butterflies.
I waited a good long time for the perfect redstart photo, but it was not to be.
In afternoon—when the temperature reached nearly 90 degrees (F), I might just note—I walked Jack around to the side yard and noticed four or five grackles hanging around in the understory up the hill here. Seems to me evidence of impending fall migration.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:45 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
2. Black-capped chickadee
3. Common yellowthroat
4. Gray catbird
5. Eastern towhee (voice)
6. American robin (voice)
7. Northern flicker
8. White-throated sparrow
9. Cedar waxwing (voice)
10. Blue jay (voice)
11. Ruby-throated hummingbird
12. Song sparrow
13. Savannah sparrow
14. Mourning dove
15. Red-eyed vireo
16. Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
17. Hairy woodpecker (voice)
18. American crow (voice)
19. American goldfinch (voice)
20. Black-billed cuckoo (voice)
21. Eastern phoebe
22. American redstart
Elsewhere
23. House sparrow
24. Herring gull
25. Common grackle
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-billed cuckoo, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, common yellowthroat, Eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, mourning dove, northern flicker, red-eyed vireo, ruby throated hummingbird, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow
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Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
 Broad-winged hawk (juvenile). If yesterday was hot, today might’ve even been hotter. Aw, not all that hot, really, for a guy who grew up in Texas—not 90 degrees, I don’t think. But probably mid- to upper-80s (F). In fact, before 7 a.m., as Jack and I were climbing the green, wooded hillside this first day of September, the air must’ve been at least room temperature. Maybe even 75 or so.
 Yellow-rumped warbler. Not too many birds occurred right away. They were silent, hunkered down out of the heat, hiding out. I heard the usual summer residents—catbird and yellowthroat seem always near each other—including a brief tut-tut of a robin. (They’re extremely quiet up there these days.) More young yellow-rumps chipping about in the foliage, both the young hardwoods coming up and the grove of spruces up top. And flickers—in fact, as we came up over the summit and descended the open trail, there appeared up ahead a family of at least five flickers (foraging along the trail with a single mourning dove).
They took flight as we approached, the flickers—one by one, in undulating flight, their white rumps flashing, emitting their wicka-wicka-wicka calls. I have to say I rather like flickers. I like the little red heart tattoo they wear on the backs of their necks.
Steamy out in the bay. Owls head jutted out into the bay amid a cloud of haze.
Saw both phoebes and alder flycatchers perched in the tips of trees. Their chip notes are similar, those two.
 Common yellowthroat. On our return trip—Jack panting quickly, my T-shirt soaked with sweat—we eagerly dove into the shady wooded section. I’d counted eighteen birds by then and didn’t expect but maybe a couple more. But the lower wooded trail surprised: first a pewee’s lazy, poignant, dying-summertime call; then the exaggeratedly elongated call of a pileated woodpecker just beyond sight through the trees; then a black-and-white warbler’s somewhat abbreviated call lower down; and finally, as we were only a couple hundred yards from the parking lot, the sudden appearance of a young broad-winged hawk.
A broadwing is a wonderful thing. This young bird checked us out, Jack and me, then flapped up to a more distant branch and observed us head on (alas, my auto-focus betrayed me). Finally, it flapped silently out of sight. I found myself wondering if this bird is the reason for the couple piles of remnant feathers I’ve seen the past week or so along the wooded trails.
 Northern flicker. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:45 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. American goldfinch
2. Black-capped chickadee
3. Cedar waxwing
4. Gray catbird
5. Common yellowthroat
6. American robin (voice)
7. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
8. Yellow-rumped warbler
9. Song sparrow
10. Eastern towhee (voice)
11. White-throated sparrow
12. Mourning dove
13. Eastern phoebe
14. Alder flycatcher
15. Blue jay (voice)
16. Savannah sparrow
17. Northern flicker
18. American crow (voice)
19. Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
20. Pileated woodpecker (voice)
21. Black-and-white warbler (voice)
22. Broad-winged hawk
Elsewhere
23. House sparrow
24. Northern cardinal
25. Herring gull
26. European starling
 Red squirrel.
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, broad-winged hawk, Cedar waxwing, common yellowthroat, Eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, gray catbird, herring gull, house sparrow, mourning dove, Northern cardinal, northern flicker, pileated woodpecker, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler
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Monday, August 30th, 2010
 Black-throated blue warbler. Jack and I got to Beech Hill about 7 this morning, and already the temperature had risen well into the 70s (F). The sun blazed from the eastern sky, warming the forested side of the hill—which, of course, is where we begin our hike each morning.
 Blue jay. Little frogs calling in the periphery. The usual common species as we ascended. Coming around the little stand of popple where chestnut-sideds sing in spring, I suddenly heard the clear four- or five-note call of a redstart. Then a sharp chip from above: a warbler there, a black-throated blue. It flitted close—but directly above us, where it proceeded to pick a spider out of its web up there. It chipped, eyed us below, robbed the web of whatever morsel the spider had wrapped up. Just as I imagined that if this bird defecated, it’d come pretty close to my head—it pooped. The poop landed on a berry leaf about a foot away.
Soon after, a couple of ruffed grouse rose loudly at our approach through thick undergrowth.
At the summit, a breeze whispered through the boughs of the spruces. I heard sparrows and a single yellow-rump. That’s all.
 Common yellowthroat (female). Coming down the open trail, I heard jays and crows. At the hardwood thickets along Beech Hill Road, a family of jays pecked at acorns in the shadows. A titmouse carried some morsel or other. Another titmouse hung around nearby. Yellowthroats and catbirds sent out their subtle alarm calls and made very brief, shady appearances. From somewhere, a cicada sang.
Sweat soaked my T-shirt as we climbed back up and over. A solitary savannah sparrow flitted down the open slope—a migrating bird, I figure. And in the lower wooded trail, I heard only chickadees, nuthatches, a wood-pewee, and a single vireo.
* * *
This afternoon, while out cycling in the summery heat, I saw a good-sized flock of starlings circling above the commercial strip of Route 1. The sighting gave me a premonition of fall.
 Tufted titmouse. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
2. Black-capped chickadee
3. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
4. Common yellowthroat
5. Hairy woodpecker
6. American redstart (voice)
7. Black-throated blue warbler
8. American robin (voice)
9. Ruffed grouse (flushed)
10. Cedar waxwing
11. American goldfinch
12. White-throated sparrow
13. Song sparrow (voice)
14. Yellow-rumped warbler
15. Northern flicker (voice)
16. American crow (voice)
17. Blue jay
18. Mourning dove
19. Gray catbird
20. Tufted titmouse
21. Savannah sparrow
22. Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
Elsewhere
22. Herring gull
23. Osprey
24. House sparrow
25. Northern cardinal
26. European starling
 Cedar waxwing.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, common yellowthroat, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, house sparrow, mourning dove, Northern cardinal, northern flicker, osprey, red-eyed vireo, ruffed grouse, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler
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Friday, August 27th, 2010
 Ruby-throated hummingbird (female). To bed late. Had a fitful sleep. Rose and stumbled through the few prerequisites to the morning hike: bathroom, dress, breakfast for dog and cat, poop bags, camera battery, camera, binoculars.
 Yellow-rumped warbler. Sunny. Chilly, Not very breezy. Damp from last nights big rain.
No cars in the parking lot. Heard a vireo first thing. Then a chickadee. A waxwing. The usual.
But about half-way to the summit along the upper wooded trail, Jack and I emerged into an open stretch with blackberry brambles below and small hardwoods above. Chickadee voices were apparent, as well as the chip of a yellowthroat. We stopped. I took a scan: a couple chickadees, some other small birds flitting about the deciduous tree leaves. Warblers, looked like. Yes: a redstart, unquestionably—the fluttery flight, the flashes of yellow on wings and tail. Then a white-throated sparrow flew up to a bare branch not twelve feet away. I brought up my camera, but the sparrow flew.
Close behind us a catbird mewed. Then I saw a black-and-white warbler on a trunk in front of me, lit by the rising morning sun. Then, amid chip notes, what looked to be a juvenile yellow-rumped warbler. And suddenly, with a tut-tut, a juvenile robin flapped up to the crown of the tallest nearby hardwood. Then I heard a blue jay—all this happening within a matter of seconds, please note—and the sharp note of a rose-breasted grosbeak. Finally, unexpectedly, a phoebe hopped up onto an open branch directly in my view.
 Pine warbler. I bet we stopped there for not much longer than five minutes, and yet I listed nine species from this single location.
Soon after, I heard a veery. This was getting to be fun. And coming around to the first view of Beech Nut—where I always take a photo—the near-full moon hovered just above the hut. No new species until we got up there under the spruces, where I spotted another restart, another group of yell0w-rumps, and an unfamiliar yellow warbler with streaks on its sides. I took several photos, but only one was decent. And I couldn’t review it until my return home, when I determined it was a pine.
A red-breasted nuthatch up there, too (as there often has been lately), and at least three ruby-throated hummingbirds zipping around the spruce boughs.
Savannah sparrows again today—a single family, or perhaps a migrating group. Not much else down the open trail. So we returned up over the top to the field by the little section of wooden fence, where I heard a yellowthroat very close by. I thought I might catch a nice photo, and then I heard the hum of a hummingbird’s wings. So we stopped, and I waited for the hummer. As I waited, an alder flycatcher appeared in view. Then another. Then a red-eyed vireo. Then the hummingbird, a female, dining among some flowers. The hummer then suddenly came very close, right at the edge of the trail—too close to focus, in fact. She eyed us, clearly sizing us up, and then zipped up into the twig of a tree. I grabbed a couple photos.
 American redstart. Coming down the lower wooded trail—the woodsy wooded trail—I heard two wood-pewees. Then I heard (then saw) a hairy woodpecker and heard a white-breasted nuthatch.
Not much else until we neared the end of our hike, when I heard a faint tapping in the trees nearby. We stopped. I scanned. A female pileated woodpecker, not far away. We backtracked so I could get a photo. It seemed perfectly fitting: the pileated was the 27th species of the day. Three to the power of three. The 27th of August.
And then, nearly to the parking lot, I heard the voice of a flicker.
Fun, fun day.
(Later, while cycling, I saw a young bald eagle flapping out toward Penobscot Bay.)
 Cedar waxwings. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Red-eyed vireo
2. Black-capped chickadee
3. Cedar waxwing
4. Eastern towhee
5. Common yellowthroat
6. American crow
7. American redstart
8. White-throated sparrow
9. Gray catbird
10. Black-and-white warbler
11. Yellow-rumped warbler
12. American robin
13. Blue jay (voice)
14. Rose-breasted grosbeak
15. Eastern phoebe
16. Veery (voice)
17. Song sparrow (voice)
18. Pine warbler
19. Red-breasted nuthatch
20. Ruby-throated hummingbird
21. Savannah sparrow
22. American goldfinch (voice)
23. Alder flycatcher
24. Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
25. Hairy woodpecker
26. White-breasted nuthatch
27. Pileated woodpecker
28. Northern flicker
Elsewhere
29. Herring gull
30. Bald eagle
 Pileated woodpecker.
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, bald eagle, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, common yellowthroat, Eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, northern flicker, pileated woodpecker, pine warbler, red-breasted nuthatch, red-eyed vireo, rose-breasted grosbewk, ruby throated hummingbird, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, veery, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
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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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