This was kind of a nice, calm, sunny day—well, half of it. Maybe low-50s (F). In early afternoon, just as I was comtemplating a late-season bike ride, clouds moved over, and then I didn’t feel like it anymore. So instead I worked until 4 or so, when Jack and I ran a few errands then, for some reason, ended up at Beech Hill.

Nobody else up there today. Overcast and markedly quiet. I didn’t hear any birds or animals or people at all for the first few minutes of our hike. Finally, I heard some crows. Then, farther up the slope, I could hear some faint traffic noise in the distance. And then I heard a jay. We stopped to listen. Distant jay, distant chickadee, distant flicker—and the not-so-distant chip of a yellow-rumped warbler. In fact I saw the bird. Two of them. In the same little brushy area where I heard them yesterday.

At the summit, I could see the faraway stripe of clear sky that had moved away a couple hours before. Mount Desert Island sat blue and firm against the horizon.

Returning, I heard the notes of a finch. Looked up, and there it was, high above us, flying north. Not sure what species it was—house or purple finch maybe?—but there it was. And closer to the road, we stopped again to listen, and I heard the notes of a robin, a white-throated sparrow, and a couple more yellow-rumps. Fact is, ‘rumps were the commonest species up there when we were.

Elsewhere, doing errands, I saw several other species, including tight flocks of starlings on utility lines and a solitary cormorant at Chickawaukie Lake.

All in all, a quiet day.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:30 p.m., I hiked the open trail.

1. American crow* (v)
2. Blue jay (v)
3. Yellow-rumped warbler
4. Black-capped chickadee** (v)
5. Northern flicker (v)
6. Finch (sp.)
7. American robin (v)
8. White-throated sparrow (v)
9. Golden-crowned kinglet (v)

Elsewhere

10. Herring gull
11. House sparrow
12. Rock pigeon
13. European starling
14. Double-crested cormorant

v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

Tags: American crow, American robin, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, double-crested cormorant, European starling, finch, golden-crowned kinglet, herring gull, house sparrow, northern flicker, rock pigeon, white-throated sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler

This entry was posted on Friday, November 2nd, 2012 at 10:59 pm and is filed under Lists, Observations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.