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Archive for August, 2012
Sunday, August 19th, 2012
 White admiral. I didn’t get out today until the end of it, when Jack and I hiked Beech Hill. It was a nice hike, a quiet hill, mild air, fewer deer flies. There were birds about—I heard plenty—but they stayed particularly well-hidden. So well-hidden that I got no decent photos of ’em at all.
But I some interesting species did make to the list. Like the black-and-white warbler that I spotted flitting around with a group of chickadees. It kept high in the branches, though, and didn’t offer clear views. Then, at the summit (where a large group of humans showed up), another red-breasted nuthatch appeared up in the spruce grove. We waited quite a while for a good look, and I finally got one, and I snapped off a few quick photos before it zipped back up into the branches. But on downloading the photos, I discovered that my auto-focus missed the mark. Burry. Unusuable.
Oh, well.
I did get the nice surprise of hearing the warbler of a loon as we began our descent. It must’ve been calling on the wing. The pewees were still calling in the lower woods. And I heard the voice of a flicker in the trees.
Not great, but not bad. And considering my ribs feel better (i.e., they hurt less), I’m considering today a success.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:45 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. American goldfinch (v)
2. White-throated sparrow (v)
3. Black-capped chickadee*
4. Black-and-white warbler
5. Gray catbird
6. American crow* (v)
7. Eastern towhee
8. Song sparrow (v)
9. Red-breasted nuthatch
10. Common loon (v)
11. Eastern wood-pewee (v)
12. Northern flicker (v)
Elsehwere
13. Herring gull
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, common loon, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, gray catbird, herring gull, northern flicker, red-breasted nuthatch, song sparrow, white-throated sparrow
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Saturday, August 18th, 2012
 Laughing gull dining on a flying ant swarm. A mostly cloudy day. I spent much of it writing at the kitchen table. And then Jack and I eagerly started up the road toward Beech Hill.
 Eastern phoebe. We hadn’t gotten far when I noticed (yet another) swirling flock of laughing gulls near Clam Cove. I knew what they were doing: going after a swarm of flying insects. I’ve seen it happen with carpenter ants before, but whatever the insects were, it’s an amazing display, as the gulls flutter and dip and veer and rise, snagging the little flies out of the sky. I decided to pull over and grab a few photos. A couple minutes later, a car pulled over and asked what the gulls were after, and we had a little chat. It was a couple from Georgia heading up to Bar Harbor with an interest in birds.
At the hill, the overcast sky made things sort of gloomy, and the trails were wet still from last night’s rain. Heard a few of the usual species on the way up—many catbirds—and had a surprise visit from a phoebe for a change.. At the summit, I talked with a fellow hiker at Beech Nut for a while. Then, just after we began to descend, I heard the chips of a couple yellowthroats. We stopped. I “pished” them in—as well as some white-throated sparrows. Hard to photograph birds that like to hide in the shrubbery, but I gave it a go for a while. Then I heard the wee voices of what could’ve been nestlings, and we crept closer. That’s when an adult chestnut-sided warbler popped up with a caterpillar in its beak.
 Common yellowthroat (female). As we resumed our descent, at the junction of the upper loop, I heard the musical chattering of a pileated woodpecker. First one of those in a while. Then, at the big curve in the lower wooded trail, I heard the quay! note of a hermit thrush, so we stopped and waited quietly. Sure enough, the bird popped up and posed on the end of a branch. But as I was focusing, another bird appeared high on the trunk of a tree about fifty feet beyond the thrush, and I never did get the thrush shot. The other bird turned out to be a flicker.
Pewee down in the oak grove again—actually, three of them today.
And, tonight, a little more rain has arrived. With all the arid weather happening elsewhere on the continent, the certainty of rain is but a blessing.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. American crow* (v)
2. Black-capped chickadee (v)
3. Gray catbird
4. American goldfinch* (v)
5. Cedar waxwing (v)
6. Eastern towhee
7. Herring gull* (v)
8. Eastern phoebe
9. Song sparrow (v)
10. Common yellowthroat
11. White-throated sparrow
12. Chestnut-sided warbler
13. Pileated woodpecker (v)
14. Hermit thrush
15. Northern flicker
16. Eastern wood-pewee (v)
Elsewhere
17. Northern cardinal (v)
18. Osprey
19. Rock pigeon
20. Laughing gull
21. Mourning dove
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
 Beech Nut.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, black-capped chickadee, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, laughing gull, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, osprey, pileated woodpecker, rock pigeon, song sparrow, white-throated sparrow
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Friday, August 17th, 2012
 Eastern towhee (juvenile). Ah, back on the hill. Jack and I arrived in late-afternoon to find nothing much had changed. Still leafy, still blackberries along the trail, still a paucity of birds. They’re around, though. You can hear their chips and peeps and the sudden flutter of wings in the underbrush. They’re stocking up—most of ’em—for the coming long trip south.
 Luna moth caterpillar. Had only four species on my list by the time we got about half-way up, and none of them were visuals. And then we came upon a huge green caterpillar with little red spots on it. I don’t know caterpillars well, so only after a little quick research on our return was I able to ID it as a luna moth-to-be.
Was a mild day, a sunny day. In the shade of the trees, I heard an undistinguished chip nearby. We stopped. I peered into the brush. We waited for a minute. Two. Mosquitoes began to swarm. Finally I got only the briefest glimpse of a male American redstart.
Farther up, we encountered large secretive families of towhees and white-throated sparrows. Somehow I got photos of young individuals of each species.
At the summit, to my surprise, I spotted the first hawk I’d seen up there in several weeks. A northern harrier. It was moving lazily high in the air, not teetering low over the slopes as I’ll begin to see them soon.
Returning, we snuck up on a couple turkeys. Then I happened to catch sight of an ovenbird (which didn’t make a sound). Finally, the familiar calls of a couple of wood-pewees. I even got a glimpse of one, for a change, fluttering after flies high in a tall oak tree.
 White-throated sparrow (juvenile). Tonight a cleansing thundershower just blew through. I can dig a thundershower.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:45 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. American goldfinch (v)
2. Black-capped chickadee
3. Chestnut-sided warbler (v)
4. Cedar waxwing (v)
5. Gray catbird
6. American redstart
7. Eastern towhee
8. White-throated sparrow
9. Common yellowthroat (v)
10. Northern harrier
11. Wild turkey
12. Ovenbird
13. Eastern wood-pewee
Elsewhere
14. White-breasted nuthatch (v)
15. House finch (v)
16. Pileated woodpecker (v)
17. Herring gull
18. Laughing gull
19. Mallard
20. American crow
21. Northern cardinal (v)
22. American robin (v)
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-capped chickadee, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, gray catbird, herring gull, house finch, laughing gull, mallard, northern cardinal, northern harrier, ovenbird, pileated woodpecker, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, wild turkey
Posted in Lists, Observations | 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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