Eastern bluebird.
Jack and I got to Beech Hill early again. Sunshine, birdsong, and mosquitos. I’d thought about the mosquitos before dashing out the door, in fact, and had decided on a hooded sweatshirt despite the chance it’d prove uncomfortable, but the mosquitos simply focused on my face and hands. Also the black flies did.
American redstart.
But sweet bird activity distracted me. Plenty of singing warblers, vireos, and the rest of the hill’s familiar residents. As we crept up the trail, I took to stalking individual singers: a black-and-white warbler, a chestnut-sided, a redstart. Since I hadn’t yet managed a fine photo of a redstart, the very active male we encountered about half-way up got special attention. It sang from a low tangle of scrubby trees on a narrow stretch of trail. I kept getting glimpses of through little windows between the leaves, but it flitted crazily—unlike many redstarts I’d seen choose a particular perch to sing from for a while. But the morning sun was behind us, and the light would be good. I stood still, occasionally swatting away a mosquito or black fly. Jack was patient.
Then another redstart appeared from somewhere, and the first bird chased it around a while before returning to our general area. That’s when a chestnut-sided warbler showed up. The chestnut-sided was ticked off. Ticked off at me and Jack. Apparently we’d stopped too close to its nesting area, so it began to chip loudly, very near us. Then its mate showed up and began to chip also. Well, this got the attention of other warblers, and soon we were surrounded by black-and-whites, chestnut-sideds, the original redstart, even a yellow warbler that had come from a field edge some distance away. I didn’t know what to do, where to focus my camera (or attention), so mostly I just stood there and soaked up the feeling of being swarmed.
Yellow warbler.
In all, I probably spent twenty minutes waiting for a photo of the redstart, but it never came.
So we moved on up the hill and along the upper fields, where we got looks at common yellowthroats and yellow warblers. And we headed down the other side, where I spied a yellowthroat singing from high in one of the little trailside birches. As I was photographing it, I notice something dart by in my periphery and looked up to see a bluebird sitting in the next birch over. Bingo.
Down toward Beech Hill Road, I heard the wood thrush again singing ethereally from the same place as yesterday. And at the parking lot, I encountered another singing male redstart. But this one was far more cooperative. I bet I spent only about five minutes with Redstart No. 2 and managed four or five nice photos. Figures.
On our way back up and over, we ran into Steve from New Hampshire again. Steve showed me some great photos he’d gotten already—including one of a female oriole perched at the tip of one of the spruces on the summit. We chatted long enough that I got at least a half-dozen fly bites on my fingers and hands.
On our return, we startled a woodcock, which fluttered quickly away.
Black-and-white warbler.
Down in the woods, I heard the call of a broad-winged hawk as it circled high overhead.
And remember when I wrote yesterday about awaiting my first pewee and waxwing of the year? Well, I heard both species today. The last two birds on my list.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:30 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Ovenbird
2. Common yellowthroat*
3. Red-eyed vireo
4. Black-throated green warbler (v)
5. Chestnut-sided warbler
6. Black-and-white warbler
7. American goldfinch*
8. American crow*
9. Black-capped chickadee*
10. Downy woodpecker (v)
11. American redstart*
12. Veery
13. Gray catbird (v)
14. Mourning dove
15. Alder flycatcher (v)
16. American robin*
17. Blue jay
18. Tufted titmouse (v)
19. Herring gull* (v)
20. Eastern towhee
21. Yellow warbler*
22. Song sparrow
23. Northern cardinal* (v)
24. Ruby-throated hummingbird (wingbeats)
25. Eastern bluebird
26. Osprey
27. Purple finch
28. Eastern phoebe
29. Savannah sparrow
30. Field sparrow (v)
31. Nashville warbler (v)
32. Scarlet tanager (v)
33. Wood thrush (v)
34. Brown-headed cowbird (v)
35. Tree swallow
36. American woodcock
37. Broad-winged hawk (v)
38. Eastern wood-pewee (v)
39. Cedar waxwing (v)
Elsewhere
40. House finch (v)
41. European starling
42. Rock pigeon
43. Red-winged blackbird (v)
44. Canada goose
45. Laughing gull (v)
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, American woodcock, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, broad-winged hawk, brown-headed cowbird, Canada goose, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, herring gull, house finch, laughing gull, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, osprey, ovenbird, purple finch, red-eyed vireo, red-winged blackbird, rock pigeon, ruby-throated hummingbird, savannah sparrow, scarlet tanager, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, veery, wood thrush, yellow warbler
