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Archive for June, 2013
Wednesday, June 12th, 2013
 Savannah sparrow. Another wet day, much like yesterday. A little warmer, perhaps, and a little lighter rain. And a few more birds than when Jack and I had last hiked Beech Hill exactly twenty-four hours before.
 American redstart. Heard a titmouse and a cardinal right away, and three dueling redstarts continue to sing just beyond parking lot. Two kinds of sparrow—three, if you count towhee. A few singing warblers. Couple of flycatchers. Soon after we started back down the hill, I somehow conjured up a flicker. Not sure how I did it, but I got to thinking what other bird I might see, and a flicker popped into my head, and at that moment, one jumped up from somewhere and flew down the southeastern slope.
Sure has been a rainy spring.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:45 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Tufted titmouse (v)
2. Northern cardinal (v)
3. Ovenbird** (v)
4. Song sparrow**
5. American redstart**
6. Eastern towhee
7. American robin*
8. Black-capped chickadee (v)
9. Red-eyed vireo (v)
10. American crow*
11. Chestnut-sided warbler (v)
12. Yellow warbler (v)
13. Gray catbird (v)
14. Savannah sparrow
15. Eastern phoebe**
16. Common yellowthroat**
17. Alder flycatcher (v)
18. Northern flicker
Elsewhere
20. House finch
21. Herring gull
22. Double-crested cormorant
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American redstart, American robin, black-capped chickadee, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthraot, double-crested cormorant, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, gray catbird, herring gull, house finch, northern cardinal, northern flicker, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, yellow warbler
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Tuesday, June 11th, 2013
 Savannah sparrow. Today was a rainy day. It rained a lot today. It rained pretty much all day. Not a strong, heavy, gullywasher-type rain—more like a gentle, steady, sometimes wind-blowy kind of rain. Yeah, the wind blew and gusted. And it was kind of cold out there.
 Board. Nonetheless, Jack and I got out in it, drove up to the town office so I could vote, then ended up at Beech Hill for a wet, soggy hike. And it was wet and soggy. Drippy. I wore my yellow raincoat, with binocs and camera tucked under one coat flap. Oddly enough, I had two really great bird photo opportunities—a cedar waxwing perched low in a bunch of thick foliage, no more than about ten feet from me, and an alder flycatcher perched on a low snag about fifteen feet away—but I missed both of them. Conveniently, a waterlogged Savannah sparrow was nice enough to creep along the grass up near Beech Nut to within about eight or ten feet of us, nibbling on dandelion seeds.
It didn’t get really dark until about 9 p.m. this evening. This kind of makes me sad, knowing that the solstice is so near. I guess I think too far ahead, to when the light will begin to dwindle. I should be enjoying this time of ample sun.
Well, and also rain.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:45 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Eastern phoebe
2. American redstart**
3. Gray catbird
4. Cedar waxwing
5. Eastern towhee
6. Chestnut-sided warbler (v)
7. Song sparrow**
8. American robin (v)
9. Common yellowthroat
10. Savannah sparrow
11. Alder flycatcher
12. Northern cardinal (v)
Elsewhere
13. American crow
14. Herring gull
15. Mourning dove
v = Voice only
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American redstart, American robin, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, gray catbird, herring gull, mourning dove, northern cardinal, savannah sparrow, song sparrow
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Monday, June 10th, 2013
 Common yellowthroat. To bed late again, but up early enough for some decent bird time. Another wandering turkey, a rose-breasted grosbeak, a hummingbird in my ear, the lovely call of the wood-pewee. But by the time Jack and I reached the (still) mostly sunny upper fields, I’d slowed our pace in case the yellow-breasted chat had hung around. And it had. Like yesterday, I heard it first—then spotted its bright yellow breast as it perched for a moment emitting its crazy collection of intermittent tweets and chatters.
 Eastern wood-pewee. No great photo today, though.
At the summit I met a couple of brothers out for a sunny hike to a summit with a view, and we talked a while. As we did, a turkey vulture and a broad-wing soared by, a Savannah sparrow called, and a pair of chimney swifts chittered overhead. I told the story of the chat, of course.
I mentioned it also to my friend Kristen, whom I figured might want to track it down. Sure enough, in afternoon, after the sky had gone gray and the air had cooled, we met on the hill and hurried to the overgrowth where the chat had been hanging around. But we couldn’t find it, alas. (I did add a couple birds to today’s list, at least.)
One last note about today’s Beech Hill hike: I’m crazy about the little eastern wood-pewee. A plain little forest bird, but one that will perch dependably on a miniature snag and sing it’s slow, leisurely, pensive, happy-sad song. I paused to listen to three of them today.
Beech Hill List
At 8 a.m., I hiked the wooded trail; at 2:30 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Red-eyed vireo**
2. Ovenbird** (v)
3. Wild turkey
4. Eastern wood-pewee
5. Chestnut-sided warbler**
6. American robin**
7. American redstart**
8. American crow*
9. Rose-breasted grosbeak (v)
10. Black-and-white warbler (v)
11. Black-capped chickadee (v)
12. Yellow warbler**
13. Alder flycatcher (v)
14. Eastern towhee
15. Ruby-throated hummingbird (humming)
16. Northern flicker
17. Common yellowthroat**
18. Yellow-breasted chat
19. Tree swallow
20. Gray catbird
21. Song sparrow**
22. American goldfinch (v)
23. Eastern phoebe**
24. Turkey vulture
25. Broad-winged hawk
26. Chimney swift
27. Savannah sparrow (v)
28. Herring gull*
29. Chipping sparrow**
30. Black-throated green warbler (v)
31. Hermit thrush (v)
32. Common raven (v)
33. Hairy woodpecker (v)
34. Purple finch (v)
35. Blue jay (v)
Elsewhere
36. House finch
37. Mourning dove
38. Common grackle
39. Tufted titmouse
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, blue jay, broad-winged hawk, chestnut-sided warbler, chimney swift, chipping sparrow, common grackle, common raven, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, mourning dove, northern flicker, ovenbird, purple finch, red-eyed vireo, rose-breasted grosbeak, ruby-throated hummingbird, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, turkey vulture, wild turkey, yellow warbler, yellow-breasted chat
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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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