9 February 2025

Archive for August, 2017

Silent Birds, Secret Birds

Monday, August 28th, 2017
Gray Catbird (juvie), Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 28 August 2017.

Gray Catbird (juvie).

Cool (upper-50s (F). Clear (cloudless). Calm. Quiet birds sneaking around in the shadows. Spotted a young catbird, some young Song Sparrows, and the like. Feels like fall out there.

Song Sparrow, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 28 August 2017.

Song Sparrow.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked the open trail.

1. Song Sparrow
2. American Goldfinch
3. Gray Catbird**
4. Eastern Towhee
5. Red-eyed Vireo** (v)
6. Downy Woodpecker*
7. Black-capped Chickadee (v)
8. Tufted Titmouse (v)
9. Eastern Wood-pewee (v)
10. Common Yellowthroat
11. Purple Finch
12. Yellow-rumped Warbler
13. Cedar Waxwing
14. American Crow*
15. Herring Gull*
16. Blue Jay (v)

Elsewhere

17. Mourning Dove
18. Northern Cardinal
19. Canada Goose
20. Rock Pigeon

v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

 

Hawk and Warblers

Sunday, August 27th, 2017
Cape May Warbler (in fall plumage), Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 27 August 2017.

Cape May Warbler (in fall plumage).

A calm, cool cloudless morning, yet another with evidence of fall migration. Warblers flitting silently in the trailside tangles, a Cooper’s hawk scouting the summit, waxwings young and old stocking up on flies. I saw six warbler species—one of them the first Cape May I’ve ever seen at Beech Hill.

Cooper’s Hawk, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 27 August 2017.

Cooper’s Hawk.

We’ve had a dry, cool summer so far.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked the open trail.

1. Northern Flicker
2. American Goldfinch
3. Black-capped Chickadee
4. Tufted Titmouse
5. Hermit Thrush
6. White-breasted Nuthatch
7. Chestnut-sided Warbler
8. American Redstart
9. Gray Catbird
10. Downy Woodpecker
11. Blue Jay
12. Eastern Towhee
13. Eastern Phoebe
14. Eastern Wood-pewee
15. Chipping Sparrow
16. Northern Cardinal
17. Hairy Woodpecker
18. Common Yellowthroat
19. Yellow-rumped Warbler
20. Song Sparrow
21. Cedar Waxwing
22. Savannah Sparrow
23. Red-eyed Vireo
24. Cooper’s Hawk
25. Yellow Warbler
26. Least Flycatcher
27. Cape May Warbler

Elsewhere

27. Mourning Dove
28. Herring Gull

v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

Cardinal in an Apple Tree

Saturday, August 26th, 2017
Northern Cardinal (molting female), Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 26 August 2017.

Northern Cardinal (molting female).

A cool, cloudless morning on the hill. Not nearly so many birds as yesterday—but plenty of butterflies, crickets, flowers. I did hear ravens and got to watch three of the resident Broad-winged Hawks circle above the hut. And got a glimpse of a molting cardinal in an apple tree.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 9 a.m., I hiked the open trail.

1. American Goldfinch
2. Black-capped Chickadee (v)
3. Tufted Titmouse (v)
4. Song Sparrow
5. Gray Catbird
6. Eastern Towhee
7. American Crow*
8. Cedar Waxwing*
9. Common Yellowthroat
10. Yellow-rumped Warbler
11. Ruby-throated Hummingbird (v)
12. Eastern Phoebe
13. Broad-winged Hawk
14. Common Raven (v)
15. American Robin (v)
16. Northern Cardinal

Elsewhere

17. American Redstart (v)
18. Chipping Sparrow
19. Mourning Dove
20. Herring Gull

v = Voce only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

 

 
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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