Alder flycatcher.
May is the fastest month—at least it is here on the 44th parallel. Each day of the month brings changes—big, noticeable changes—from the day before. Leaves spread and widen. Ferns unfurl. The sound of things turns from big and empty to close and compartmentalized. The air goes from spare to fragrant. Today hardly resembles the end of April at all.
Incognito (pileated woodpecker).
I awoke to angular sunlight, and Jack and I scrambled up and about and made it to Beech Hill within about fifteen minutes. By then, the sun had topped the thin clear line out over the bay, and things had gone overcast again. But that’s all right. My attention was focused nearer. To the voices of the ovenbird, titmouse, and thrush. Same birds as yesterday morning, but there’d been a noticeable change. Things were quieter generally—and not just because of the thicker foliage. The warblers are busy nesting.
Oh, I heard the black-throated green, the yellowthroat, the chestnut-sided, the ovenbird. But they weren’t calling as persistently as they were just twenty-four hours ago. (Well, except maybe for the ovenbirds.) Fact is, the warblers were more apt to burst into a flurry of chip-notes as we passed—drawing attention away from the particular secret of each. At one point, a chestnut-sided warbler—there are many on the hill—chipped and flitted through the brush in a big circle around us. Clearly we were the object of its attention.
We came upon a pileated woodpecker. It flapped off to ever-more-distant trees, spinning around to the backsides of trunks, away from us. We flushed a woodcock poking about on a muddy stretch of trail. But we did manage to sneak up on a calling alder flycatcher—same bird as yesterday, I’m sure—and I managed a few fairly decent photos. I also noticed another female yellow warbler raiding another caterpillar tent for nest fluff. Déjà vu.
Eastern towhee.
The sparrows weren’t as vocal at the summit. A few song sparrows sang, but I heard no savannahs. (Saw a couple.) Heard a single field sparrow’s song. A little flock of waxwings flew over, and a turkey vulture soared out toward the bay.
Then, down by Beech Hill Road, a mini-fallout occurred. I’d just heard a chipping sparrow and was looking for the bird when I also heard the buzz of a black-throated blue in a tree along the trail. As I was looking for the warbler, I heard the sharp, distinctive voice of a blackpoll warbler across the road. As I scanned for the blackpoll, I heard a parula up near where I’d heard the black-throated blue. I saw a little bird up there and grabbed my binocs and saw it was a Canada warbler. Four new warbler species a matter of yards from each other within a minute of time. While I stood there, I heard and/or saw—in the same general area—a purple finch, a grosbeak, a downy woodpecker, a flicker, and a white-breasted nuthatch.
We hurried back up and over (still no sun) and into the woods, where I added the last bird to my list for the day: an eastern wood-pewee.
Turkey vulture.
Tomorrow will be noticeably different still. From late fall through early spring around here, the arc of time seems to slow. Then it takes off like a rifle shot in May.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Ovenbird*
2. Wild turkey (v)
3. Tufted titmouse (v)
4. Hermit thrush (v)
5. Red-eyed vireo*
6. Black-throated green warbler*
7. American goldfinch*
8. Chestnut-sided warbler
9. American crow*
10. Black-and-white warbler
11. Common yellowthroat
12. American robin*
13. Black-capped chickadee
14. Veery (v)
15. American redstart
16. Alder flycatcher
17. Mourning dove* (v)
18. Eastern towhee
19. Pileated woodpecker
20. American woodcock
21. Song sparrow
22. Yellow warbler*
23. Cedar waxwing*
24. Nashville warbler (v)
25. Gray catbird
26. Field sparrow (v)
27. Eastern phoebe
28. Blue jay
29. Savannah sparrow
30. Turkey vulture
31. Wood thrush (v)
32. Chipping sparrow (v)
33. Purple finch (v)
34. Rose-breasted grosbeak (v)
35. Blackpoll warbler (v)
36. Black-throated blue warbler (v)
37. Northern parula (v)
38. Canada warbler
39. Downy woodpecker
40. Northern flicker (v)
41. White-breasted nuthatch (v)
42. Eastern wood-pewee (v)
Elsewhere
43. House finch (v)
44. Northern cardinal (v)
45. Herring gull
46. European starling
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 blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blackpoll warbler, blue jay, Canada warbler, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, downy woodpecker, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, northern flicker, northern parula, ovenbird, pileated woodpecker, purple finch, red-eyed vireo, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, turkey vulture, veery, white-breasted nuthatch, wild turkey, wood thrush, yellow warbler
