Chestnut-sided warbler (juvie).
All was still and quiet when Jack and I hiked Beech Hill this early evening. Here are the sounds I heard that no one would have heard a few centuries ago:
Gray catbird.
The faraway rush of motorized traffic on a busy summer road.
The faint hum of machinery at a metal shop on Route 1.
The distant slams of metal on metal momentarily silencing the hum.
The whisper of a jet plane flying far overhead.
Two moans from a train whistle over toward Rockland.
The hushed roar of a nearer plane a couple miles up in the sky.
The barking of an anxious dog down beyond the foot of the southern slope.
The faraway rush of traffic coming from another direction.
And here are the sounds I heard that have been around for thousands of years:
The chattering call of a goldfinch in flight.
The buzzing of a swarm of deer flies.
The peeps and chuckles of a family of chickadees.
The thin cry of a waxwing.
The trill of a cricket in the distance.
The soft mew! of a catbird.
A few notes from a red-eyed vireo.
Intermittent alarm cries from a towhee.
The drones of a swarm of mosquitoes.
The sharp chips of a young chestnut-sided warbler.
The tseet! of an unseen white-throated sparrow.
The chuck! of a yellowthroat in the thicket.
The louder chuck! of another catbird.
The nearer trill of a cricket.
The musical chips of a song sparrow.
The unexpected croak of a raven.
The cries of a herring gull off toward the shore.
The calls of two wood-pewees.
The calls of a wood frog.
The sound of a couple of acorns falling in the oak grove.
The percussive chips of an ovenbird.
The distant call of a flicker.
Song sparrow.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5:30 p.m., I hiked the wooded trail.
1. American goldfinch (v)
2. Black-capped chickadee
3. Cedar waxwing* (v)
4. Gray catbird
5. Red-eyed vireo (v)
6. Eastern towhee (v)
7. Chestnut-sided warbler
8. White-throated sparrow
9. Common yellowthroat
10. Song sparrow
11. Common raven (v)
12. Herring gull* (v)
13. Savannah sparrow
14. Eastern wood-pewee (v)
15. Ovenbird (v)
16. Northern flicker (v)
Elsewhere
17. American crow
18. Blue jay
19. Osprey
20. Northern cardinal
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common raven, common yellowthroat, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, gray catbird, herring gull, northern cardinal, northern flicker, osprey, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, white-throated sparrow
