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Archive for August, 2011
Saturday, August 13th, 2011
 Black swallowtail. With their big flimsy wings, their ungainly bodies, their small insect eyes, butterflies fly astonishingly well. A few days ago, I watched a pair of American ladies chasing each other madly, not two or three feet apart, up and down and careening around the corners and roof-edge at Beech Nut. A couple had huge chunks of wing missing. These tough little ladies flew as purposefully as tree swallows or something. How the heck did they do that?
 Grass. With Jack at Beech Hill this afternoon, a black swallowtail fluttered about us in a breeze stout enough to rustle the trailside leaves, drown out the voices of distant birds, and create deep waves in the hillside grasses—and yet somehow alit deftly on a purple clover flower. It seemed positively buffeted, windblown, aimless. And yet it had great aim.
In gradeschool, we followed the miraculous metamorphosis from pupa to caterpillar to a creature with colorful unfurling wings. (We also watched a mantis egg-case hatch—that was cool.) And monarchs are famous for their long migration to tiny patches of Mexico or Baja California. And viceroys have adapted to look so like the poisonous monarch that birds just leave them alone.
We admire their colors, we take their photos, we hunt for their names. But Nature has injected some crazy engineering into butterflies. That’s some incredible evolution, right there.
Likely, I got thinking about butterflies because the birding was quiet. Stayed up late last night, slept in this morning. Chickadees, goldfinches, and a cardinal at my place. Gulls, song sparrows, more goldfinches, and another cardinal during my bike ride. (Also those ubiquitous roadside crows.) At the sunny hill, song and savannah sparrows, towhee and catbird, crow and titmouse and yellowthroat. Several human and canine hikers. And, of course, more goldfinches.
 Some kind of berries. Tonight the sky is clear. The air is cool. The moon is full.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Cedar waxwing
2. American goldfinch
3. Eastern towhee (voice)
4. Tufted titmouse
5. Savannah sparrow
6. American crow
7. Song sparrow
8. Common yellowthroat (voice)
9. Gray catbird
Elsewhere
10. Northern cardinal
11. Black-capped chickadee
12. Herring gull
13. House sparrow
14. Mourning dove
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, black-capped chickadee, Cedar waxwing, common yellowthroat, eastern towhee, gray catbird, herring gull, house sparrow, mourning dove, northern cardinal, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse
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Friday, August 12th, 2011
 Cloud beyond Beech Hill. On a sunny summer afternoon, if your world faces east, you might enjoy a cool view of the gathering twilight, the lengthening shadows, the lazy feel of the end of another day. If, on the other hand, your view is oriented to the west, you’re liable to bask in the warm orange light of the sun as it starts its descent beyond the inland hills.
 Bee. I won’t tell the tale of the kind of work day this turned out to be. I’ll just mention that I awoke to the slight sound signaling a text message arriving to my cell phone. And that I didn’t eat breakfast until 3:30 p.m. After breakfast I rode my bike fast along a sunny, mild landscape frequented by robins, jays, sparrows, cardinals, crows. And after my bike ride, I grabbed my dog’s leash, hooked up my dog, and we high-tailed it for Beech Hill. The open trail.
The open trail climbs the western slope of the hill. The day had grown later than usual by the time we arrived, but sun flooded the hillside, warmed the summer grass. Coming up along the road, I heard the voice of a red-eyed vireo—a common bird on the other, wooded side of the hill these days—which got me thinking about the path of the sun, the rotation of our planet, and why direction matters. Had we hiked the wooded trails, all would be dim and green and cool and kind of languid. There would be close sounds, like rustling poplar leaves and scurryings in the undergrowth. But on the side we chose, the sounds were wide and distant, and the day was plain and bright and vivid. Jack trotted along. I swung my arms.
Bees attending the trailside wildflowers. Waxwings sailing over in pairs and threes. Goldfinches everywhere. Crows were congregating down at the sunny base of the eastern field. Two couples sat in the grass on either side of Beech Nut.
 American crow. I imagined the poignant, lovely calls of wood-pewees and hermit thrushes down the wooded slope. Here in the sun, Jack and I ate a few blackberries.
In summer, the eastern sides of things might cater to the young and impatient—rise early, get busy, play until you’re exhausted come shady afternoon. The western sides might have an allure to the more mature among us, who busy themselves with routine responsibilities early and yearn for warmth and sunsets—being in the afternoons of their lives.
Or maybe I’m all mixed up. Who knows?
All I knew this afternoon was the thrill of hearing the low croak of a raven and the newly familiar chip note of a chestnut-sided warbler. And the taste of blackberries. And the lovely long view of the bay.
Tonight, the moon seems full but distant—somehow smaller than usual. I had the windows open, and Jack got all riled a minute ago after having caught the scent of something out the screens. I think of the olive-green afternoons of my youth and the afternoons yet to come. Still compelled to chase the sun.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:15 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
2. American goldfinch
3. Eastern towhee (voice)
4. Savannah sparrow
5. American crow
6. Cedar waxwing
7. Common raven (voice)
8. Gray catbird (voice)
9. Common yellowthroat (voice)
10. Chestnut-sided warbler (voice)
11. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
12. Song sparrow
Elsewhere
13. White-breasted nuthatch
14. Northern cardinal
15. Herring gull
16. Mourning dove
17. House sparrow
18. American robin
19. Blue jay
20. Laughing gull
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common raven, common yellowthroat, eastern towhee, gray catbird, herring gull, house sparrow, laughing gull, mourning dove, northern cardinal, red-eyed vireo, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, white-breasted nuthatch
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Thursday, August 11th, 2011
 Blackberries. I can’t remember the early birds very well. I remember hearing a goldfinch’s flight song out the kitchen window. And a singing song sparrow. I don’t recall hearing the cardinal’s voice, or a chickadee, or a titmouse. I did see gulls out there.
 Song sparrow. But I found myself mired in desk work contending with an uncharacteristically ringing phone, miscellaneous minor urgencies, and a general feeling of being a circus juggler or something. Missed lunch. Didn’t ride my bike. Didn’t even retrieve my snailmail. So I figured it’d be all right to leave a little early for Beech Hill.
The sky, which had held a light overcast all day, finally cleared about the time we reached the open trail. Cool temperatures, though—right around 70 (F), if that—and a little bit of breeze. Joe and the blueberry folks were just closing down shop. A couple cars in the parking lot. Not much to report bird-wise, however. A goldfinch’s flight song (they’re everywhere, seems like), and a waxwing’s. Not quite half-way up the trail I heard the note of one of the white-throats—and then the unmistakably heartier note of a song sparrow.
Toward the top, I heard—then saw—a solitary crow. Heard the common wheep! note of a towhee. A family with kids had laid claim to Beech Nut. Their squeals and laughter likely chased away any phoebes or chipping sparrows. We headed down the other side a ways, where more blackberries had ripened and a couple catbirds chattered out the alarm. Heard the peep of an alder flycatcher and the chip of a yellowthroat.
 Gull feather. And that, dear reader, was that. Slim pickin’s. And by “slim pickin’s,” I admit that I did at least get a few mouthfuls of black- and blueberries. Jack got a couple, too.
Tonight was clear for a while, but now a thin fog has moved in. The moon’s still visible. It’s got a halo. I doubt I’ll be seeing any Perseids, though.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. American goldfinch (voice)
2. Cedar waxwing (voice)
3. White-throated sparrow (voice)
4. Song sparrow
5. American crow
6. Eastern towhee (voice)
7. Alder flycatcher (voice)
8. Gray catbird
9. Common yellowthroat (voice)
Elsewhere
10. House sparrow
11. Herring gull
12. Mourning dove
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, Cedar waxwing, common yellowthroat, eastern towhee, gray catbird, herring gull, house sparrow, mourning dove, song sparrow, white-throated sparrow
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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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