Much chillier this morning, with frost and a scattering of sleet on the mudless trail. Quite a breeze, too—but a lot of bird activity on the hill. Most notable, to me, was a calling and drumming male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, his call exotic and his drumming syncopated.
Elsewhere, I got a look at a little herd of turkeys, pecking away in a field, and two new ospreys arriving.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 9:15 a.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. American Crow*
2. Song Sparrow* (v)
3. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
4. Tufted Titmouse** (v)
5. American Goldfinch** (v)
6. Northern Cardinal (v)
7. Hermit Thrush
8. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
9. American Robin*
10. Yellow-rumped Warbler (v)
11. Eastern Phoebe
12. Purple Finch (v)
13. Black-capped Chickadee** (v)
14. Blue Jay (v)
Elsewhere
15. Wild Turkey
16. Mourning Dove
17. Osprey
v = Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Got out of my truck at Beech Hill to a serenade of wood frogs. Later, I spied my first Tree Swallow of the year. Also, at the summit, the first yellow-rump in spring plumage.
And so it begins.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked the open trail.
