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Archive for June, 2013
Saturday, June 15th, 2013
 Savannah sparrow. Sun early = early hike. The wooded trailhead was still and cool and green when Jack and I arrived. We’re getting near the longest day—about the time we’ll dependably list the red-eyed vireo as the first or second bird each day. (Ovenbirds will stop calling after a while, I figure when their fledglings fly.) Vireos calling all over the hill. And chestnut-sided warblers. And towhees, yellowthroats, black and whites. Thrushes. All residents of Beech Hill.
 Yellow warbler. And quite a few of them already have new offspring.
Towhees, for one. They’re pretty far along, in fact—I saw a fledgling a week or so ago. But nestlings are getting kind of common. The phoebes at Beech Nut have been bringing flies and crickets to their nest up in the eaves for at least a couple weeks, I bet. They’re chicks are close to flying. And Savannah sparrows—after a period of relative quietude—have begun to scold if you get to close to where their nests must be. Today I caught one with its mouth full of a moth so large it could barely see.
Yellowthroats might have chicks by now—or they’ll be hatching soon. Turkeys and grouse will soon be on the move, trailing youngsters. Yellow warblers, redstarts, song and chipping sparrows…
The red-eyed vireos will lag a bit, I imagine. As will the eastern wood-pewees. But both species are pretty busy singing.
After photographing a yellow warbler quietly for two or three minutes at the edge of a field, I noticed that Jack had his ears up and was gazing down the trail. I followed his gaze and saw a deer slowly walking into the brushy trailside tangles. Then another deer. Neither had seen us, but I couldn’t focus my camera in time.
Saw a couple of bluebirds today for a change, fluttering and singing on the sunny barrens. In the woods, I spotted a red bird down where the tanagers have been hanging out, and had taken three or four photos of it before realizing I was taking pictures of a northern cardinal. I rather like seeing cardinals way out in the wild like that, far from dooryard feeders.
 Deer in the shadows. What a lovely night tonight—calm, mild, fragrant. The most pleasant of the year so far.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:30 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Ovenbird (v)
2. Red-eyed vireo**
3. Chestnut-sided warbler**
4. American robin*
5. Hermit thrush
6. Rose-breasted grosbeak (v)
7. Black-and-white warbler (v)
8. Veery
9. Gray catbird**
10. Yellow warbler
11. Alder flycatcher
12. Black-capped chickadee (v)
13. Eastern towhee
14. Common yellowthroat**
15. Mourning dove*
16. American crow*
17. American goldfinch (v)
18. Song sparrow**
19. Eastern phoebe**
20. Purple finch (v)
21. Savannah sparrow
22. Brown-headed cowbird (v)
23. Tufted titmouse** (v)
24. Field sparrow (v)
25. Eastern bluebird
26. American redstart** (v)
27. Cedar waxwing
28. Chipping sparrow**
29. Eastern wood-pewee**
30. Black-throated green warbler (v)
31. Northern cardinal**
Elsewhere
32. Great crested flycatcher (v)
33. Pileated woodpecker (v)
34. House finch (v)
35. Herring gull
36. American black duck
37. Wild turkey
38. Broad-winged hawk
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: alder flycatcher, American black duck, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, broad-winged hawk, brown-headed cowbird, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, field sparrow, gray catbird, great crested flycatcher, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, mourning dove, northern cardinal, ovenbird, pileated woodpecker, purple finch, red-eyed vireo, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, veery, wild turkey, yellow warbler
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Friday, June 14th, 2013
 Eastern wood-pewee.  Veery. An overcast morning, cool but dry. Headed directly to Beech Hill with Jack, where warblers and vireos and thrushes were singing, and mosquitos were humming, and blackberries were blooming like crazy.
I didn’t see a single bird until a vireo showed up in the first little poplar grove. Soon after, I spotted the veery that was scolding me, veer! veer! Lots of goldfinches at the summit, but no swallows. No cuckoo. No yellow-breasted chat anywhere. Plenty of sparrows, though.
Coming back up from the redstart neighborhood, I saw a flicker bounce low across the sky and then heard—suddenly—a loud call sort of like Hickok, Hickok! Cow! It was that Carolina wren I heard yesterday in the yard of the house across the road.
A small flock of waxwings flew by on our final ascent. On our final descent into the woods, wood-pewees were singing.
I love the little eastern wood-pewee, with its wistful, imploring song.
 Red-eyed vireo. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:45 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Ovenbird**
2. Red-eyed vireo**
3. Black-throated green warbler** (v)
4. Chestnut-sided warbler**
5. Gray catbird**
6. American goldfinch
7. Veery
8. Tufted titmouse** (v)
9. Hermit thrush (v)
10. American crow*
11. Alder flycatcher
12. American redstart**
13. Black-and-white warbler** (v)
14. Yellow warbler**
15. Eastern towhee
16. Common yellowthroat**
17. Black-capped chickadee (v)
18. Mourning dove*
19. Field sparrow
20. Northern flicker
21. Eastern phoebe**
22. American robin*
23. Savannah sparrow
24. Song sparrow**
25. Northern cardinal** (v)
26. Carolina wren (v)
27. Cedar waxwing
28. Eastern wood-pewee
Elsewhere
29. House finch
30. Herring gull
31. House sparrow
32. European starling
33. Rock pigeon
34. Chipping sparrow
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, Carolina wren, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common yellowthraot, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, rock pigeon, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, veery, yellow warbler
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Thursday, June 13th, 2013
 Scarlet tanager. I wasn’t sure today’s hike with Jack would be an early one, but then the sun emerged, and I saw blue sky to the west, and that’s all the incentive I needed to grab Jack and my camera and binoculars and jump in the pickup and drive. Sunny, humid, mud, mosquitos. Birds.
 Common yellowthroat Quite a few birds. A lot of ’em. The usual suspects as we ascended the upper wooded trail—but then I heard an unfamiliar call. A sort of chatterly-chatterly-chatterly-chatterly. It sounded like a Carolina wren but seemed a little softer. We stood still for about five minutes, but I never saw the bird, and eventually it moved away.
Heard the alarm note of a cuckoo, but couldn’t spot that bird, either. Veery, towhee, crow. At the summit, a pair of barn swallows circled Beech Nut, and the phoebes are still hauling in food for their nestlings.
Down at Beech Hill Road, only one of the three redstarts was singing, oddly. I also heard the (kind of off-key) song a white-throated sparrow. Then, returning along the road, I heard chatterly-chatterly-chatterly. A bird moving in the yard of the house across the road. This one definitely sounded like a Carolina wren, and I decided it must’ve been the same bird I’d heard earlier, traveling in the same direction.
Back at the summit, the barn swallows were replaced by a pair of tree swallows. And coming down the lower wooded trail, I heard pewee, tanager, flicker. Decided to track down the tanager, so we left the trail and headed down into a realm of tall oakes and sparse undergrowth, where I finally spied the red bird. I’d never been there before, this open understory, bisected by an old stone wall—a very cool place. Snapped a couple (not great) photos, then returned a hundred yards or so to the trail (veering quickly a couple times to avoid patches of poison ivy).
 Frond. We ran into Pete and a couple of parties of middle school kids, working to shore up the muddy flow through the big oak grove. Had a nice chat with their teacher about the resident bird life (and Jack) and then tried to coax the tanager into revealing itself, but it flew off toward the east.
Clouds moved in again by early afternoon, and somehow I missed my usual bicycle ride. But all in all a satisfying day.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Ovenbird** (v)
2. Red-eyed vireo**
3. Black-throated green warbler (v)
4. Chestnut-sided warbler**
5. Blue jay (v)
6. Tufted titmouse** (v)
7. American goldfinch (v)
8. Rose-breasted grosbeak (v)
9. Gray catbird**
10. Veery
11. American crow*
12. Eastern towhee
13. Yellow warbler**
14. Carolina wren (v)
15. Black-billed cuckoo (v)
16. Common yellowthroat**
17. Yellow warbler**
18. Alder flycatcher
19. Black-and-white warbler (v)
20. Mourning dove*
21. Black-capped chickadee (v)
22. Northern cardinal** (v)
23. Hairy woodpecker (v)
24. Eastern phoebe**
25. Song sparrow**
26. Barn swallow
27. Savannah sparrow
28. Field sparrow
29. American robin*
30. American redstart** (v)
31. White-throated sparrow (v)
32. Purple finch (v)
33. Cedar waxwing (v)
34. Tree swallow
35. Eastern wood-pewee
36. Scarlet tanager
37. Northern flicker (v)
38. Black-throated blue warbler (v)
39. Herring gull*
Elsewhere
40. House finch
41. House sparrow
42. European starling
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, barn swallow, black-and-white warbler, black-billed cuckoo, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, Carolina wren, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, ovenbird, purple finch, red-eyed vireo, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, scarlet tanager, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, veery, yellow warbler
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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