What a morning. Nippier than yesterday but much brighter, and with a wide array of bird species. In fact, after five or six days of eighteen or nineteen (mostly nineteen) spp. on my list, today I ended up with twenty-one. (Was happy enough to have had twenty, until I looked at photos this evening and saw one of a raven.)
Captain Jack and I had fun. Didn’t meet anyone else on the trail until we’d nearly finished our round-trip. Highlights for me were the pair of harriers, the pair of red-tails, a posting yellow-rump, and more.
March is about over. Mud Season is nearly here. Soon I’ll be able to report many more firsts-of-year.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7 a.m. sun time (8 stupid DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Tufted Titmouse 2. White-breasted Nuthatch 3. Black-capped Chickadee 4. Downy Woodpecker 5. American Goldfinch 6. American Crow 7. Pileated Woodpecker 8. Brown Creeper 9. Herring Gull 10. American Robin 11. Red-winged Blackbird 12. Northern Cardinal 13. Blue Jay 14. Yellow-rumped Warbler 15. Song Sparrow 16. Northern Harrier 17. Eastern Bluebird 18. Red-tailed Hawk 19. Red-breasted Nuthatch 20. Common Raven 21. Hairy Woodpecker
Elsewhere
22. Mallard 23. Wild Turkey
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
An overcast morning with temps a bit above freezing and a smattering of drizzle and flurries. But despite the weather, many bird species made themselves heard before we’d proceeded a hundred yards or so up the trail. Over time, the numbers declined—and I broke me multi-day streak of 19 spp. (18 today)—but still a nice day of hiking and birding and being outside.
Notable might’ve been a grackle flyover and a Killdeer flyover (two), but otherwise no firsts-of-year today. Those will come soon enough, though.
Tomorrow will be sun.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7 a.m. sun time (8 stupid DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Blue Jay (v) 2. American Crow* 3. American Goldfinch** 4. Tufted Titmouse (v) 5. Black-capped Chickadee** 6. Red-bellied Woodpecker (v) 7. Downy Woodpecker** 8. Red-breasted Nuthatch 9. White-breasted Nuthatch** 10. American Robin** 11. Herring Gull* (v) 12. Eastern Bluebird 13. Red-winged Blackbird (v) 14. Song Sparrow** 15. Yellow-rumped Warbler 16. Northern Cardinal** (v) 17. Common Grackle (v) 18. Killdeer
Elsewhere
19. Mourning Dove 20. House Sparrow (v) 21. Hairy Woodpecker
Mammals
Eastern Chimpunk
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
This morning dawned mostly clear with light winds and temperatures right around freezing. What with the sun’s brightness, I had hopes of some decent photos for a change—and I got a few.
Notable was a singing Brown Creeper right by the wooded trailhead. Also singing were chickadees, robins, titmice, Song Sparrows, and bluebirds. The bluebirds were apparently laying claim to a couple of bird boxes, and a yellow-rump posed nearby for photos.
Every day lately has affirmed the certainty of spring. I do love this wet, moist, liquid time of year.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 6:43 a.m. sun time (7:43 dumb time), I hiked all trails.
1. Blue Jay 2. Northern Cardinal** (v) 3. Brown Creeper 4. White-breasted Nuthatch 5. Eastern Bluebird 6. American Crow* 7. Tufted Titmouse** (v) 8. Black-capped Chickadee** 9. Mallard* 10. Downy Woodpecker** (v) 11. American Goldfinch** 12. Hairy Woodpecker (v) 13. American Robin** 14. Red-winged Blackbird (v) 15. Herring Gull* (v) 16. Red-breasted Nuthatch (v) 17. Song Sparrow** 18. Yellow-rumped Warbler 19. Northern Flicker (v)
Elsewhere
20. Mourning Dove 21. Wild Turkey
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
