Another lovely morning hike—a fair morning this day, with cool temps and fragrant air. A good selection of birds, including a couple warblers, a couple woodpeckers, a couple nuthatches, and a hawk.
I only got a glimpse of the hawk through a window in the summit spruces, and the first thing I noticed was its sideburns, and I thought I might have one of only a few peregrines I’ve ever seen on the hill. Only later, after I took a close look at the photos (and then checked in with a bird ID expert pal) did I realize it was not a falcon at all. Turned out to be a Broad-winged Hawk—the commonest hawk in Beech Hill Preserve.
Still I neat sighting though. (So that’s why it was so quiet up there for a change!)
(Earlier, at home, I heard the Carolina Wren again. Love that sound.)
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:21 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Great Crested Flycatcher (v) 2. Blue Jay (v) 3. Red-eyed Vireo 4. American Crow* (v) 5. Black-capped Chickadee 6. American Goldfinch** (v) 7. Hairy Woodpecker 8. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 9. White-breasted Nuthatch 10. Red-breasted Nuthatch 11. Tufted Titmouse** 12. Eastern Towhee 13. Gray Catbird 14. Cedar Waxwing 15. Chestnut-sided Warbler 16. American Redstart 17. Common Yellowthroat (v) 18. Broad-winged Hawk 19. Song Sparrow 20. American Robin 21. Herring Gull* 22. Eastern Phoebe 23. Pileated Woodpecker (v) 24. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Cool again—but this time both literally and figuratively. Last night’s rain dripping from the trees, but blue approaching from the western skies. Drier air than in recent days. The fragrance of late August. And a couple dozen bird species.
Most notable, perhaps, was a turkey fly-by down on the lower wooded trail. (A hiking party on the upper trail spooked it.) Sadly, a dead turkey poult along the open trail.
Happily, a pair of ospreys (one with fish)—and a raven at the end.
Would do it again in a heartbeat.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:35 a.m., I hiked most trails.
1. Blue Jay (v) 2. American Crow 3. Red-eyed Vireo 4. Tufted Titmouse (v) 5. Black-capped Chickadee 6. White-breasted Nuthatch 7. American Goldfinch (v) 8. Wild Turkey 9. Brown Creeper (v) 10. Red-breasted Nuthatch 11. Gray Catbird** 12. Eastern Towhee 13. Purple Finch (v) 14. Ruby-throated Hummingbird 15. Common Yellowthroat (v) 16. Song Sparrow** 17. Cedar Waxwing 18. Cooper’s Hawk 19. Herring Gull 20. Pileated Woodpecker (v) 21. Mourning Dove* 22. Osprey 23. American Robin 24. Common Raven (v)
Elsewhere
25. Northern Cardinal (v)
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
Had a couple decent-sized rain showers pass by this morning about the time we’d usually hit the trail, so dog and I waited a few hours. Didn’t hit the wet trail until late morning. No rain, but a thick fog.
Amazingly, I got a few bird photos. Oddly, no crows. Luckily, a couple of redstarts appeared in a flock of small birds following a gang of chickadees.
All in all, a lovely soupy day.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 10:29 a.m., I hiked most trails.
1. Hermit Thrush 2. Black-capped Chickadee 3. American Redstart 4. Red-eyed Vireo 5. Tufted Titmouse (v) 6. Gray Catbird 7. Eastern Towhee 8. Song Sparrow 9. Common Yellowthroat 10. American Goldfinch** (v) 11. Red-breasted Nuthatch 12. American Robin* 13. Blue Jay (v)
Elsewhere
14. Mourning Dove 15. Herring Gull 16. American Crow 17. Rock Pigeon 18. Carolina Wren (v)
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
