|
|
 |
|
|
Archive for June, 2011
Monday, June 27th, 2011
 Alder flycatcher. By the time I rose this morning, bright sunlight was already streaming across the landscape. That was a nice change. The greenery around of my place were alive with birdsong—redstart and catbird and yellow warbler across the road, house finch house sparrow and song sparrow, crows. While taking Jack out early, I happened to look up and see a sharp-shinned hawk flutter across the blue sky.
 Savannah sparrow. A busy day, as Mondays general are. Worked like crazy, rode my bike like crazy (gulls, pigeons, morning doves, a chipping sparrow), finished up at my desk, then scrambled with Jack up to Beech Hill.
Mild, not hot, with a sweet breeze rustling the treetops. The usual resident species singing—vireo, chestnut-sided warbler, veery, goldfinch, catbird—but most all of them stayed well hidden. In fact, the only bird I saw during out ascent was a solitary veery, and I only spotted it because it had been calling, and we stopped, and I caught sight of it flitting away.
Up top, a gorgeous green hillside. I heard, then saw, a small flock of waxwings fly over. Then a little bird flitted up onto a low perch—an alder flycatcher. Song sparrows, yellow warblers, and a pair of rose-breasted grosbeaks sitting high atop one of the spruces in the little summit grove. The savannah sparrow was hanging around Beech Nut, as usual. Met a couple hiking up behind my leading two small dogs. We all admired the day.
Returning, I added parula, hermit thrush, and chickadee—along with ovenbird, and (of course) veeries. Heard a redstart near the little brook.
Back home, I heard a phoebe in full song. (My hope is it’s one of the pair that nested on my back window.) Also heard the call of a broad-winged hawk. Finally, I watched the crow families bed down in secret up the hill.
 Jack on the trail. Tonight has a starry, starry sky.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5:45 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
2. Chestnut-sided warbler (voice)
3. Veery
4. American goldfinch (voice)
5. Ovenbird (voice)
6. Gray catbird (voice)
7. Mourning dove (voice)
8. Eastern towhee (voice)
9. Common yellowthroat (voice)
10. Yellow warbler (voice)
11. Song sparrow (voice)
12. Cedar waxwing
13. Alder flycatcher
14. Rose-breasted grosbeak
15. Savannah sparrow
16. Northern parula (voice)
17. Hermit thrush (voice)
18. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
19. American redstart (voice)
Elsewhere
20. House finch
21. House sparrow
22. Herring gull
23. Sharp-shinned hawk
24. Rock pigeon
25. Chipping sparrow
26. Eastern phoebe
27. American robin
28. Broad-winged hawk
Tags: alder flycatcher, American goldfinch, American redstart, black-capped chickadee, broad-winged hawk, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, mourning dove, northern parula, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, rock pigeon, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, sharp-shinned hawk, song sparrow, veery, yellow warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Sunday, June 26th, 2011
 Chestnut-sided warbler (female). Nature makes so much sense. Our water planet has a tilt that bathes its poles alternately in dark and light, and over the many millennia the great plants have adapted to this big rhythm, as the insects have adapted, and also the feathered creatures. Just now, in young summer, the wild local birds have mouths to feed.
 Gray catbird. Damp and drizzle, off and on. I spent a lazy day indoors—or most of it. By afternoon, Jack and I were getting itchy. And by late afternoon, we couldn’t hold off any longer.
The wooded Beech hill trail lay green and shaded before us. Two or three red-eyed vireos sang. We set off along the suddenly overgrown trail, past the tall ferns, across the little brook with its seemingly persistent fly-hatch, and turned left onto the upper trail. A veery hollered at us from up ahead. We paused to get a look. It played hide-and-seek from the back side of a birch tree, so we stayed there a while. Then a loud chip! erupted from very near us—a black-and-white warbler, apparently also giving off the alarm (while also hunting up grub up and down the trunks of trees). Another chip of a slightly different pitch came from a chestnut-sided warbler. Then a catbird popped up from nearby.
We had some time to kill, so I figured we’d walk the whole hill. Slugs on the muddy path, yellowthroats in the understory. The voices of woodpecker, ovenbird, and crow.
At the summit, song and savannah sparrows sang. Also a field sparrow—first I’ve heard in a while. And tree swallows. I wondered if they, too, have fledglings to feed. Coming down the open trail, a faint mist fell, and we met some young ladies with a friendly dog. Then I spotted a pair of yellow warblers. As we approached Beech Hill Road, I heard a purple finch, a hermit thrush, and a titmouse.
 Yellow warbler (female). Back up and over and into the trees. Waxwing, pewee, and black-throated-green. And a phoebe’s head poking up from the nest near the parking lot.
When we pulled up at home again, I heard young crows hollering for food. And for the first time I realized: young crows sure sound a lot like whining human children. Seems everyone has hungry mouths to feed.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:15 p.m. I hiked all trails.
1. Red-eyed vireo
2. Chestnut-sided warbler
3. American robin
4. Veery
5. American goldfinch
6. Eastern towhee
7. Black-and-white warbler
8. Gray catbird
9. Hairy woodpecker
10. American crow
11. Black-capped chickadee
12. Ovenbird
13. Common yellowthroat
14. Song sparrow
15. Yellow warbler
16. Tree swallow
17. Savannah sparrow
18. Field sparrow
19. Purple finch
20. Hermit thrush
21. Tufted titmouse
22. Cedar waxwing
23. Eastern wood-pewee
24. Black-throated green warbler
25. Eastern phoebe
Elsewhere
26. House finch
27. American redstart
28. Laughing gull
29. Mourning dove
30. Northern cardinal
 Veery.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, field sparrow, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, house finch, laughing gull, mourning dove, northern cardinal, ovenbird, purple finch, red-eyed vireo, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, veery, yellow warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Saturday, June 25th, 2011
 Common yellowthroat (female). Awoke briefly last night to the sound of thunder, as a little electric storm blew through. And before rolling out of bed this morning I heard the rush of tires on wet pavement. Drizzly. Got up, got breakfast, took dog out in the rain.
 Penobscot Bay. Then I took care of some interesting desk work at the kitchen table, drinking coffee. I got kind of mired in it, in fact—that is, until I heard the roll of more thunder, as another storm rumbled past. Not long after, yet another thundershower came, and the sky opened up in a bona fide cloudburst. (For the first time I sort of got how that word came to be.) More work (not bad), then, finally, it was time to get out and about.
Grabbed Jack, and we headed to town to tackle a couple small errands before driving up to Beech Hill.
Frankly, I wasn’t really looking forward to today’s hike. It was still a little drizzly. Gloomy. Dark. But I soon heard vireos (missing altogether from yesterday’s visit). And a distant crow. And a veery. Then another veery. (Veeries have been the most vocal species up there the past couple days.) Coming around the curve through the poplar stand, I heard the song of a black-and-white warbler, and we stopped so I could scan for it. Pretty sure I caught sight of it, even, but the light was dim and the bird was distant. And during the minute or two we stood there, I heard a flurry of other calls: chickadee, goldfinch, catbird, towhee, song sparrow, robin, and hairy woodpecker. Surprising.
On up the hill, as several other voices filtered down—including the eerie whine of a young raven. Then, suddenly, a commotion in a little thicket right alongside the trail. The flap of wings against brush and the thump of feet. It was a large bird. I even felt the ground tremble a little as it fled. Had to be a turkey.
 Berry blossoms. And for the first time in a while I heard an alder flycatcher—its faint, alternate call and peep notes.
At the summit, I didn’t see the resident savannah sparrow or phoebe. I did spot some gulls out toward Chickawaukie Lake, though, and heard a yellow warbler. Blue-gray clouds hovered low over the bay.
Coming back down through the first little wooded patch, a yellowthroat began to holler at us. A female. We froze (of course), and the bird flitted like crazy through the limbs of a low tree not ten feet away—with what looked like a great mass of spiders in its beak. We stood between the bird and its nest, I’m pretty sure. An unexpected photo opportunity.
Added a few more species before hike’s end. Twenty-four in all.
Surprising.
Tonight the world remains wet and drippy. But there are fireflies.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5:15 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
2. American crow (voice)
3. Ovenbird (voice)
4. Veery
5. American redstart (voice)
6. Chestnut-sided warbler
7. Black-and-white warbler
8. Black-capped chickadee
9. American goldfinch (voice)
10. Gray catbird
11. Eastern towhee
12. Song sparrow
13. American robin (voice)
14. Hairy woodpecker (voice)
15. Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
16. Common yellowthroat
17. Common raven (voice)
18. Wild turkey
19. Alder flycatcher (voice)
20. Yellow warbler
21. Herring gull
22. Hermit thrush (voice)
23. Northern parula (voice)
24. Northern flicker (voice)
Elsewhere
25. House finch
26. Tufted titmouse
27. European starling
28. House sparrow
29. Eastern phoebe
30. Northern cardinal
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, chestnut-sided warbler, common raven, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, northern cardinal, northern flicker, northern parula, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, veery, wild turkey, yellow warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
|
|
| |
| Bird Report is a (sometimes intermittent) record of the birds I encounter while hiking, see while driving, or spy outside my window. —Brian Willson |
|
|
