Yellow warbler (female, collecting nest fluff).
Expected rain again, slept late again, but awoke to sun streaming through the blinds and got to hiking in a hurry. It had rained, and the trees were dripping, but the sky held blowing white clouds with patches of blue. And the trees held plenty of singing warblers.
Ovenbird.
And nesting warblers—nesting birds generally. We passed an ovenbird nest, apparently, judging by the pair of anxious, chipping birds that hopped up onto low limbs and gave us the evil eye. We also passed a couple of male black-and-white warblers delivering their deep-season, three-verse song from exposed twigs, evidence of an impending nest somewhere nearby. And an alder flycatcher was calling from the same tree as last year.
At the edge of an upper field, I happened to notice a female yellow warbler poking about in a caterpillar tent. At first I thought it was grabbing worms, but then I saw it was pulling away bits of silk, fluttering off a little distance, then returning for more.
At the summit, a little cluster of purple finches flitted around. A solitary chipping sparrow glared at us. A jay few over. And the phoebe called from the periphery, waiting for us to leave so it could return to its nest in the eaves of Beech Nut. As we rounded the hut, I caught sight of a savannah sparrow sneaking along the roof edge. I’m convinced they’ve got a nest up there.
It being late, we didn’t bother with the open trail today, but still my list ended up with thirty-three species. More ovenbirds giving us the evil eye, towhees jumping up to challenge us, veeries spying on us as we walked by.
Savannah sparrow.
I wonder just how many birds’ nests the hill will hold this year?
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:45 a.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. Tufted titmouse (v)
2. Ovenbird*
3. Common yellowthroat*
4. Red-eyed vireo*
5. Veery (v)
6. American goldfinch*
7. Chestnut-sided warbler*
8. Black-throated green warbler*
9. American robin*
10. American redstart*
11. Black-and-white warbler
12. Black-capped chickadee*
13. American crow*
14. Mourning dove
15. Eastern phoebe
16. Eastern towhee
17. Gray catbird
18. Alder flycatcher
19. Yellow warbler
20. Field sparrow (v)
21. Eastern bluebird (v)
22. Eastern wood-pewee (v)
23. Song sparrow
24. Hairy woodpecker
25. Nashville warbler (v)
26. Purple finch
27. Chipping sparrow
28. Blue jay
29. Savannah sparrow
30. Wood thrush
31. Mallard
32. Hermit thrush
33. White-breasted nuthatch
Elsewhere
34. House finch
25. Herring gull
26. Northern cardinal (v)
27. European starling
28. Red-winged blackbird (v)
29. Laughing gull (v)
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, laughing gull, mallard, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, ovenbird, purple finch, red-eyed vireo, red-winged blackbird, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-breasted nuthatch, wood thrush, yellow warbler
