Cedar Waxwing.
You can smell it in the air. You can feel it in the coolness of evening. You can see it in the raggedly looking hillsides—each with at least one random russet-colored weed. Summer’s mostly over.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (juvie male).
I hear my friends lamenting this fact, many of them. I understand this: humans like nice warm days when you don’t have to take the time to put on layers and layers, or figure out how you’re going to get around in a snowstorm. And the end of summer means you’ve got to wait nine months for the next one. But summer’s not gone yet. This last month of it is as sweet as any other.
Today at Beech Hill, I got to glimpse a few familiar birds lurking in the raggedy shrubbery. A Savannah Sparrow sat and fidgeted, chipping at me. Two young sapsuckers were dipping into the holes their parents left for them. Again. I’ll miss them when they’re gone.
But go they will. Late summer means fall migration is near. I’ll be spending the last week of September on Monhegan Island, as usual, to witness this spectacle. And fall is my favorite season.
Maybe that’s one reason I’m not dreading the end of summer. Or maybe I just don’t believe in dreading the end of any season. Or the beginning of any. Or any such natural milestone. I figure I’ll just look around at what’s going on, gaping in internal awe.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Gray Catbird (v)
2. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
3. Cedar Waxwing**
4. Chestnut-sided Warbler (v)
5. Eastern Towhee (v)
6. American Goldfinch**
7. Savannah Sparrow
8. Song Sparrow (v)
9. Northern Flicker (v)
Elsewhere
10. American Crow
11. House Sparrow
12. Herring Gull
13. Mourning Dove
v = Voice only
**Voice only elsewhere
