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Archive for the ‘Poem’ Category
Tuesday, May 17th, 2016
 Gray Catbird. Two straight super-saturated spring mornings
with stout winds a-blowin’.
Two chances to hear the conversational sound
of the branches of trees rubbing together,
letting out squeals and shrieks and wails.
Sometimes things fall.
 Savannah Sparrow, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 17 May 2016. In the woods yesterday I heard
—then saw—
one huge upper limb of a tree plummet,
fall straight down,
crash in a matt of leaves and brush,
and generate an echo.
From the size of the limb, it had to be
decades old.
Oh, what that limb had seen in its
forty or fifty years alive on the planet.
Or felt, or smelled somehow.
Decades, nearly as many as I’ve lived.
And yet in a few seconds it goes.
I daresay I, too, shall go down that way someday.
By falling.
 Ovenbird. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Black-throated Green Warbler**
2. Ovenbird**
3. American Goldfinch*
4. Chestnut-sided Warbler
5. Northern Parula (v)
6. Barred Owl (v)
7. Eastern Phoebe*
8. Eastern Towhee**
9. Black-and-white Warbler*
10. Common Yellowthroat*
11. Blue-headed Vireo (v)
12. American Crow*
13. Purple Finch (v)
14. Nashville Warbler
15. Gray Catbird**
16. Yellow-rumped Warbler
17. Mourning Dove*
18. American Robin
19. Blue Jay**
20. Yellow Warbler (v)
21. Field Sparrow (v)
22. Tree Swallow
23. Song Sparrow**
24. Northern Cardinal* (v)
25. Northern Flicker**
26. Tufted Titmouse* (v)
27. Herring Gull (v)
28. American Redstart*
29. Black-capped Chickadee (v)
30. Downy Woodpecker
31. Veery
32. Hermit Thrush (v)
33. Black-throated Blue Warbler (v)
34. Brown Creeper (v)
Elsewhere
 Savannah Sparrow, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 35. Pine Warbler**
36. Red-bellied Woodpecker (not bad V)
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, barred owl, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, blue-headed vireo, common yellowthroat, downy woodpecker, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, field sparrow, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, northern flicker, northern parula, ovenbird, purple finch, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, veery, yellow warbler, yellow-rumped warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations, Photo, Poem | No Comments »
Monday, May 16th, 2016
 Bald Eagle. When spring seems to want to revert to winter,
and a chilly wind whips the landscape,
and a blue-gray sky tops it all,
I look near and far for miracles.
They’re everywhere.
 Symbiosis. This morning, a tiny vine twisted about
a blackberry shoot, with its
dastardly looking thorns,
and a distant bald eagle
and nearer raven playing in the bluster.
And later in the morning a surprise porcupine
lumbering up a small tree
as my dog strains at the leash
and points. And I take a portrait of the beast
who looks to me like a “Clive.”
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 9 a.m., I hiked all trails.
 North American Porcupine, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 16 May 2016. 1. American Goldfinch*
2. Ovenbird** (v)
3. Black-throated Green Warbler (v)
4. Black-and-white Warbler
5. American Crow*
6. Chestnut-sided Warbler
7. Blue-headed Vireo**
8. Eastern Towhee
9. Black-capped Chickadee*
10. American Robin*
11. C0mmon Yellowthroat (v)
12. Song Sparrow
13. Nashville Warbler (v)
14. Gray Catbird** (v)
15. Hermit Thrush
16. Bald Eagle
17. Northern Flicker (v)
18. Common Raven
19. Purple Finch (v)
20. Savannah Sparrow (v)
21. Tufted Titmouse** (v)
22. Mourning Dove**
23. Eastern Phoebe
24. American Redstart (v)
Elsewhere
25. Herring Gull
26. European Starling
27. Downy Woodpecker (v)
28. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, bald eagle, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, blue-headed vireo, chestnut-sided warbler, common raven, common yellowthroat, downy woodpecker, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, European starling, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern flicker, ovenbird, purple finch, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse
Posted in Lists, Observations, Photo, Poem | No Comments »
Sunday, May 15th, 2016
 Black-and-white Warbler Occasionally you get a break.
Sometimes you manage not to fall down in the muck,
but instead wind up with
a photo of a Black-and-white Warbler.
 Yellow Warbler. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:45 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Ovenbird** (v)
2. American Goldfinch** (v)
3. Black-throated Green Warbler**
4. Common Yellowthroat
5. Blue-headed Vireo (v)
6. Tufted Titmouse (v)
7. American Robin* (v)
8. Black-capped Chickadee*
9. Veery
10. Gray Catbird**
11. Eastern Towhee
12. Black-and-white Warbler**
13. Chestnut-sided Warbler**
14. Downy Woodpecker (v)
15. Nashville Warbler (v)
16. Mourning Dove*
17. American Crow*
18. Northern Cardinal* (v)
19. Yellow Warbler
20. Northern Parula (v)
21. Field Sparrow (v)
22. Tree Swallow
23. Blue Jay (v)
24. Broad-winged Hawk
25. Song Sparrow**
26. Savannah Sparrow
27. Osprey
28. Rose-breasted Grosbeak (v)
29. Purple Finch (v)
30. Pileated Woodpecker (v)
31. Red-bellied Woodpecker (v)
32. Black-throated Blue Warbler (v)
33. Hermit Thrush** (v)
34. Eastern Phoebe
35. Herring Gull*
36. Sharp-shinned Hawk
Elsewhere
37. European Starling
38. Mallard
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, blue-headed vireo, broad-winged hawk, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, downy woodpecker, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, mallard, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, northern parula, osprey, ovenbird, pileated woodpecker, purple finch, red-bellied woodpecker, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, sharp-shinned hawk, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, veery, yellow warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations, Poem | No Comments »
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| Bird Report is a (sometimes intermittent) record of the birds I encounter while hiking, see while driving, or spy outside my window. —Brian Willson |
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