Beech Nut.
Rain this morning and overcast for much of the day. By day’s end, though, the clouds blew suddenly away, and with clearing came high winds and a cold spell. For a windy month, these might in fact have been the strongest winds I’ve felt at the summit of Beech Nut in April. I had to clamp my hat down four or five times and finally just swung it around backwards.
Black-capped chickadee.
Didn’t get out at all before my hike with Jack. But by the time we did head up the trail, I had with me a new camera and a little nervousness about what it might do. Well, I hadn’t figured out its rapid-shot setting yet, but I did discover it has a sweet lens, a powerful zoom, and nice resistance to glare. I’m excited to be using it to capture warblers within the week. A week when April becomes May. A week of transformation.
May Day means the arrival of warblers—in my mind, anyway. It also means the acceleration of leafing-out. At the beginning of May, the leaves are tiny and yellow or yellow-green or coppery red; by the end of the month, the forests will be lush, and the world will be green.
One of my first photos with the new camera today shows the current state of foliage around here (the shot of Beech Nut, above). The state of the birds is limbo, more or less. Sure, early migrants have been back for a while, but now will come the arrival of a flood of FOY (first-of-year) birds. A dozen—more than a dozen—warbler species. Vireos, thrushes, tanagers, flycatchers, cuckoos, hawks, cedar waxwings, hummingbirds, rose-breasted grosbeaks. By the end of May, my daily tally should hover somewhere around forty or so.
Mallard pair.
Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. A time of anticipation. Of transformation.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. Black-capped chickadee*
2. Herring gull*
3. Eastern towhee (v)
4. American robin* (v)
5. Song sparrow (v)
6. Hairy woodpecker (drumming)
7. Mallard
Elsewhere
8. Northern cardinal (v)
9. Tufted titmouse (v)
10. American crow
11. Downy woodpecker
12. House finch
13. Mourning dove
v = Voice only
* Also elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American robin, black-capped chickadee, downy woodpecker, eastern towhee, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, house finch, mallard, mourning dove, northern cardinal, song sparrow, tufted titmouse
