White-breasted nuthatches.
A brilliantly sunny, nippy day with snow all around. After the first few inches of wet snow yesterday, several more inches of dry snow fell overnight, leaving a good little shovel job for me. Spent more than an hour at it and worked up a good sweat. Good thing I enjoy shoveling snow. The temperature didn’t top freezing, though, I think—will have to work to melt a little of that in the morning before the next forecast snowfall.
Beech Nut.
Took Jack up to Beech Hill in mid-afternoon. Just before plowing into the empty parking lot, we flushed six or seven mourning doves out of the road.
No other cars in the lot, but that’s because it hadn’t been plowed: a couple vehicles were parked along the road, and we met a gang of hardy hikers (a few in snowshoes) coming down. Alas, one group had a leashless dog. But what you gonna do?
Chickadees and nuthatches in the trees coming up, coots out in Chickawaukie Lake, a crow somewhere in the distance. Wind-blown shapes traced the snow on the slopes. The hike took a little longer than usual, and clomping through about six or eight inches of snow gave me another good workout. A titmouse serenaded us on our return (although I guess it’s a stretch to call it’s faint peeps and chatters a serenade, exactly).
Tonight we’ve got the thirteenth moon of the year lighting up the snow-covered landscape. I heard the high notes of a bird out there a minute ago. Not an owl—in fact, I think it might’ve been some kind of waterfowl in flight. I’m not that great with the calls of waterfowl, however.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 2:15 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Mourning dove
2. Black-capped chickadee** (v)
3. White-breasted nuthatch
4. American coot
5. American crow* (v)
6. Tufted titmouse (v)
Elsewhere
7. Herring gull
8. European starling
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American coot, American crow, black-capped chickadee, European starling, herring gull, mourning dove, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch
