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6 September 2010
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Rockport, Maine, USA
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Posts Tagged ‘red-tailed hawk’
Saturday, August 28th, 2010
 Red-tailed hawk (Weskeag Marsh). Jack and I slept late. It’s Saturday, after all, and I’m fighting off the Lyme disease bacterium. OK, so the meds have pretty much fought it off already—but still. A man’s gotta sleep sometime.
 Blue-headed vireo (Beech Hill). But hit the hill we did, just a little late. Sun was out. A little breezy. Crickets singing, and cicadas. A couple monarchs and other butterflies. Just a hint of fall ion the air, along with a few red leaves. And birds. Pretty many birds.
First to call was a hairy woodpecker, and then a few of the usual suspects, and then a black-billed cuckoo, and then we startled a partridge. As the trail opened up, where we came upon alder flycatchers yesterday, today we came upon phoebes. My friend Kristen says flycatchers migrate together, so maybe this is what’s going on.
Then, surprisingly, a field sparrow hopped over to harangue us for a while. It’s funny. You hear their musical song in spring and early summer, but you can’t get near enough for a photo. Then, once they nest and (presumably) have young to defend, they seek you out and get close. This is the second such bird I’ve photographed on these terms of his, not mine.
 Field sparrow (Beech Hill). Down toward Beech Hill Road, I heard some chickadees and so began to scan the hardwoods—chickadees often being the indicator of other, quieter species flitting about, I’ve learned. Sure enough, I spotted a parula among them, along with a chestnut-sided warbler and a couple I couldn’t identify.
Then I heard the strange, very soft warbling sound I’d heard down there before without seeing its source. But this time I did: a blue-headed vireo. I still sort of shake my head at how different the soft warble is from its typical call, but there you go.
 Bobolink (Weskeag Marsh). Nothing much else on Beech Hill, but at high tide this early afternoon I met my friends Kristen and Paul at Weskeag Marsh in south Thomaston, the idea being that shorebirds would be moving through. Well, rather oddly, we saw very few shorebirds moving through. There were some least sandpipers and yellowlegs. There were snowy and great egrets. There were a pair or three red-tailed hawks. A great-blue heron. And—curiously, to me—a bobolink way out in the pannes. But no great clouds of shorebirds. A lonesome merlin flew over, even, looking similarly baffled at the dearth of wheeling flocks birds.
It was beautiful down there, though. Photogenic clouds in a summer-blue sky, and a red-tail up there soaring.
 Least sandpiper (Weskeag Marsh). Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:45 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Hairy woodpecker (voice)
2. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
3. Black-capped chickadee
4. Eastern towhee (voice)
5. Common yellowthroat
6. Black-billed cuckoo (voice)
7. White-throated sparrow
8. Ruffed grouse (flushed, voice)
9. Eastern phoebe
10. Field sparrow
11. Gray catbird
12. American crow
13. Cedar waxwing
14. Song sparrow
15. Mourning dove
16. Savannah sparrow
17. Blue jay
18. American goldfinch
19. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
20. Blue-headed vireo
21. Tufted titmouse
22. Northern parula
23. Chestnut-sided warbler
 Greater yellowlegs (Weskeag Marsh). Weskeag Marsh List
Arrived at 2:15 p.m., walked the pannes.
24. Northern shoveler
25. Herring gull
26. Snowy egret
27. Red-tailed hawk
28. Great egret
29. Merlin
30. Least sandpiper
31. Bobolink
32. Greater yellowlegs
33. Lesser yellowlegs
34. Great blue heron
35. Double-crested cormorant
Elsewhere
36. House sparrow
 Weskeag Marsh.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, black-billed cuckoo, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, blue-headed vireo, bobolink, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, double-crested cormorant, Eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, field sparrow, gray catbird, great blue heron, great egret, greater yellowlegs, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, house sparrow, least sandpiper, lesser yellowlegs, merlin, mourning dove, northern parula, northern shoveler, red-eyed vireo, red-tailed hawk, ruffed grouse, savannah sparrow, snowy egret, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010
 Northern parula. Jack and I met our friend Kristen at the wooded Beech Hill trailhead to take advantage of the glorious weather to hike the whole hill. We got there a bit early and stood amid the maples listing to birdsong. Despite it being a little late in the morning (8:15 or so), I counted sixteen species before we even started walking up the hill.
 Black-throated blue warbler. During our ascent, we heard a booming grouse, picked out the voice of an alder flycatcher, and flushed a woodcock. Near the grassy summit, we spotted a turkey vulture and a red-tailed hawk. On the open side, we heard the resident chipping sparrow.
We also heard the loony yellowthroat song—something I wanted to point out to Kristen. Sure enough the bird was declaring itself loudly and openly. What a crazy call.
But it wasn’t the only one. The Nashville warbler near the summit has a sort of slurred, downward-moving collection of notes—although they follow the proper meter. And one of the field sparrows calling from the open slopes seems to split the species’ common call in two. Chestnut-sided warblers, of course, have long since begun using their alternate voice—a series of mealy-mouthed warbles—though they also still sing “Pleased, pleased pleased to meet you!” Then, coming back down the lower wooded trail, I heard a call that’s had me baffled for at least three seasons.
 Eastern towhee. “There,” I said to Kristen. “What’s that?”
I’d told her about this call a couple years ago—even sent her a recording of it. At the time, she wondered if it might be an aberrant black-throated blue song. It didn’t sound like that at all to me, what with its few, clear chimes at the start, although it ended in a kind of buzz. Well, here it was, the mystery call, and the bird wasn’t that far away.
“Could it be a black-throated blue?” Kristen said (or something like that). Neither of us recalled she’d guessed that before.
I asked her to hold Jack’s leash while I left the trail to hunt for the source of the call. Didn’t take very long to find it: a black-throated blue warbler. Son of a gun, if she wasn’t right all along. I took a couple photos. Mystery solved.
»Aberrant black-throated blue warbler song
We listed all five resident sparrows, ten warblers, two of three thrushes, and all three resident flycatchers. Ending with the voice of a wood-pewee—a first-of-year bird for Kristen—we tallied forty species on the hill this day.
 Savannah sparrow. Later (unable to resist such glorious weather) I hit the road on my bike and ended up cycling eighteen miles. But during the first of those miles, as I passed a busy commercial Route 1 intersection, I spotted a gray bird with white wing patches flapping up and perching on a power line. I knew the bird well from life-long experience: a mockingbird. First-of-year bird for me.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:15 a.m., I walked all trails.
1. Ovenbird
2. Common yellowthroat
3. American robin
4. American goldfinch (voice)
5. Chestnut-sided warbler
6. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
7. American redstart
8. Mourning dove (voice)
9. Black-capped chickadee
10. Herring gull (voice)
11. Black-and-white warbler
12. White-throated sparrow (voice)
13. Red-eyed vireo
14. Eastern towhee
15. Tufted titmouse (voice)
16. Gray catbird
17. American crow (voice)
18. Rose-breasted grosbeak (voice)
19. Veery (voice)
20. Alder flycatcher (voice)
21. Ruffed grouse (booming)
22. Blue jay (voice)
23. American woodcock
24. Song sparrow
25. Field sparrow (voice)
26. Nashville warbler (voice)
27. Savannah sparrow
28. Tree swallow
29. Eastern phoebe
30. Turkey vulture
31. Yellow warbler (voice)
32. Northern flicker
33. Great crested flycatcher (voice)
34. Chipping sparrow (voice)
35. Red-tailed hawk
36. Blue-headed vireo (voice)
37. Black-throated blue warbler
38. Hermit thrush
39. Northern parula
40. Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
Elsewhere
41. Pileated woodpecker
42. House sparrow
43. House finch
44. Laughing gull
45. Northern cardinal
46. Rock pigeon
47. European starling
48. Northern mockingbird*
*First-of-year bird
 Red-tailed hawk.
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, American woodcock, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, blue-headed vireo, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, Eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, great crested flycatcher, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, laughing gull, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, Northern cardinal, northern flicker, northern mockingbird, northern parula, ovenbird, pileated woodpecker, red-eyed vireo, red-tailed hawk, rock pigeon, rose-breasted grosbeak, ruffed grouse, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, turkey vulture, veery, white-throated sparrow, yellow warbler
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Sunday, April 18th, 2010
 View from Beech Hill. The early sunlight this morning surprised me. Not its earliness so much as the fact of it—I’d expected an overcast. And the universe soon met my expectations, as clouds rolled in pretty early, bring with them light rain.
 American kestrel. Birds already returned kept somewhat hidden, perhaps having already paired up and staked out nests. They weren’t shy vocally—I heard phoebes, cardinals, house finches, crows, song sparrows—but they kept mostly out of sight. Well, not the crows, of course. It’s hard to miss crows. But the phoebes, sparrows, cardinals, and robins. (Also heard a couple robins.) I did grab a photo of the neighborhood phoebe, though.
About midday, just as dog and I hit Beech Hill, it began to drizzle. You could hear the chickadee and the flicker and the robin, the titmouse and the phoebe and the song sparrow, but you couldn’t see them. At least not easily. I just missed a nice photo of a Beech hill phoebe, but it flitted away.
About half-way up, after scanning the slopes below, I spotted a solitary bird perched motionlessly on the upper branch of a small tree. A kestrel. As I watched it, the little falcon flitted to two other perches before finally flapping down and away to the southeast. Then, at the summit, out of nowhere, an osprey sailed by carrying a fish. For the second straight day.
A gentle rain, but not a lot of wind. The islands lay in a particularly scenic array out in Penobscot Bay.
 Osprey. Coming down, again scanning the lower slopes, I happened to see another hawk soaring low over the field and across South Street. Through the binoculars, I identified it as a buteo, likely a red-tail. Maybe even the same one I saw down there yesterday. In fact, today’s kestrel might’ve been the same bird accosting it a day ago.
Osprey, kestrel, redtail—all invisible if I hadn’t been paying attention.
 Eastern phoebe. The rest of the day I spent mostly indoors. A little sun poked through at some point this afternoon, but then it clouded over again and rained. By tonight, though, the sky cleared, revealing stars and the setting horns of a crescent new moon.
Today’s List
American crow
Northern cardinal
Eastern phoebe
Song sparrow
House finch
American robin
Mourning dove
Herring gull
Black-capped chickadee
Downy woodpecker
Northern flicker
American kestrel
Osprey
Red-tailed hawk
 Western landscape.
Tags: American crow, American kestrel, American robin, black-capped chickadee, downy woodpecker, Eastern phoebe, herring gull, house finch, mourning dove, Northern cardinal, northern flicker, osprey, red-tailed hawk, song sparrow
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Saturday, April 17th, 2010
 Kite. The roads were damp, I noticed when I looked out the window first thing this morning. Not unexpected, considering the forecast of rain and/or snow. Checked the temperature: upper-30s (F). It occurred to me we’re in that crazy period when daffodils are bustin’ out like crazy—many, many of them in the little southern bed here this year—and chances are we might get an inch or two of snow.
 Eastern phoebe. We didn’t get any snow to speak of, but the air felt sort of wintry and wet. On the other hand, early on I heard the calls of a wild array of birds. Crow and song sparrow and robin and house finch, as usual, but also chipping sparrow and killdeer and brown-headed cowbird (again). Cardinal, dove.
It being Saturday, dog and I headed for Beech Hill early (after some errands). As soon as we hit the trail, sleet began to fall from the neutral gray sky. I heard a few chickadees and somewhere a song sparrow, but no other birds made themselves known. I figured we wouldn’t see a damn thing in weather like this. Not that it was bad or particularly uncomfortable weather, just that I couldn’t imagine any self-respecting birds being out in it. Of course, that was just my expectations talking.
 Osprey with fish. Still, the only birds I saw on the way up the hill were a pair of phoebes calling in the brush over by the old well. Didn’t even see the resident song sparrows. Sleet fell intermittently, vaguely obscuring the view of the islands.
As we rounded the final curve, we noticed a father and his little boy flying a kite at the summit. Oddly, it was a good kite day—a fine offshore breeze, not too strong, and really it wasn’t overly cold—and they were clearly enjoying themselves. Vicariously, I enjoyed myself also, remembering certain old kite-flying days. But before we reached them, I noticed a big bird soaring over from the north. Right away I saw that it was an osprey (finally!) carrying a fish. The old carrying-a-fish display. It didn’t cry as I’m used to them doing right about this time of April, but I love the fish-carrying thing. It soared over rather mistily, obscured by slight sleet and snow.
 Kestrel and redtail. On the way down, I heard a white-thoated sparrow sing. That was nice. Not much else happening, though.
That is, until we began driving home, when I noticed a kestrel in the branches of a roadside tree. I pulled over to take a photo, but as soon as I focused, the little falcon flew—damn it—and then I saw the reason it flew. A large buteo had circled into view, and the kestrel took offense. It rose, calling killy-killy-killy and began to charge the red-tail. I hopped out of the truck and took as many photos as I could, but focusing was a problem. Didn’t get anything overly dramatic, but it was a fun moment.
In town, curiously, I saw all three common local gulls: herring, ring-billed, great black-backed. Also rock pigeons. Then the sun actually peeked out a few times, and I took advantage of the break in the weather to mow the law. (Crazy that it needs it so early.) And after that, dog and I headed for the breakwater.
We saw a grackle en route. The only species that showed up on the breakwater itself: common eider, double-crested cormorant, herring gull, purple sandpiper. That was all we saw. Then again, with such an ominous gray, wispy sky full of what I like to call elephant clouds (a line of gray clouds that marches along the southern horizon) and hints of storms to come, who could blame the birds for hiding out for a while.
 Purple sandpipers. Regardless, it felt like a good, full day. And you won’t hear me complaining.
Today’s List
American crow
Song sparrow
Chipping sparrow
American robin
Killdeer
Brown-headed cowbird
House finch
Downy woodpecker
Northern cardinal
Mourning dove
Herring gull
Eastern phoebe
Osprey
Black-capped chickadee
White-throated sparrow
American kestrel
Red-tailed hawk
Ring-billed gull
Rock pigeon
Great black-backed gull
Common grackle
Common eider
Double-crested cormorant
Purple sandpiper
 Rockland Harbor.
Tags: American crow, American kestrel, American robin, black-capped chickadee, brown-headed cowbird, chipping sparrow, common eider, common grackle, double-crested cormorant, downy woodpecker, eastern hpoebe, great black-backed gull, herring gull, house finch, killdeer, mourning dove, Northern cardinal, osprey, purple sandpiper, red-tailed hawk, ring-billed gull, rock pigeon, song sparrow, white-throated sparrow
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Sunday, March 21st, 2010
 The bay. The temperature when first I checked this morning hovered about thirty degrees colder than yesterday’s high—mid- to upper-30s (F). The sky wore gray. But dog and I split for Beech Hill early anyway.
 Old warbler nest. A woman leaving as we arrived saw my camera and told me I would get some lovely photos, because the view was beautiful this morning. She was right about that. Just as we crested the final rise, the sky began to spit snow, and I saw the edge of the squall to the northeast, beyond and to the south of which the morning sun splashed against the far bay. The sky above and the water below the dark lumps of the islands glowed with miraculous striations. The wind was cold.
Heard and/or saw five birds from the hill today: goldfinch, titmouse, crow, chickadee, herring gull. Also noticed a small nest in the brush, likely belonging to one of last year’s common yellowthroat families. On the way home from the hill, many brown sparrows flitted amid roadside brush nearly exactly the same color as their feathers.
Then in afternoon I went with my birding friend Kristen to Weskeag Marsh to see what was up. I asked her what we might see.
“Ducks or herons,” was her reply.
She was right about that. We saw both: black ducks, mallards, a raft of green-winged teals—and a pair of great blue herons stalking the edges. I heard sandpiper sounds.
“Sandpiper sounds,” says I.
“Probably killdeers,” says Kristen.
She was right again: we ended up seeing maybe a half dozen individuals of the species poking around here and there.
 Great blue heron. Then who should drive up but Don Reimer, local birder extraordinaire, and we ended up chatting for a half-hour, at least, while simultaneously scanning the watery expanse. At one point, I spotted a large bird soaring above the far side of the basin—an adult bald eagle—and Don pointed out a couple red-tailed hawks, possibly the marsh’s nesting pair, rising from nowhere to accost it. Kristen kept us posted as the hawks herded the eagle well away from there.
Don had come from Owls Head Harbor, where he reported the winter gulls had left but a wigeon was hanging around. So Kristen and I headed there next, and sure enough found the wigeon. We also found a number of spring yard birds hanging around a nearby feeder—jays, cardinals, and more than one species of blackbird.
And on this partly cloudy night, among the bare oak branches, hung the waxing crescent moon.
 Killdeers. Today’s List
Northern cardinal
American crow
Tufted titmouse
House finch
Mourning dove
American goldfinch
Song sparrow
Black-capped chickadee
Herring gull
Common grackle
Black duck
Mallard
Great blue heron
Killdeer
Green-winged teal
Bald eagle
Red-tailed hawk
Bufflehead
Common loon
American wigeon
Rock dove
Blue jay
Red-winged blackbird
European starling
 Snow squall.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American wigeon, bald eagle, black duck, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, bufflehead, common grackle, common loon, European starling, great blue heron, green-winged teal, herring gull, house finch, killdeer, mallard, mourning dove, Northern cardinal, red-tailed hawk, red-winged blackbird, rock dove, 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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