Field sparrow (juvie).
The quiet times continue. Worked all day, took a late bike ride, made it up to Beech Hill with Jack before the sun went down. Nobody else up there when we arrived. Faint evidence of bird life—voices, swaying twigs, swift shadows.
Chestnut-sided warbler, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 21 August 2013.
As we started up the main trail, I heard the chips of chestnut-sided warblers and spotted a little family of them flitting secretively through the brush. Heard a song sparrow. Heard a towhee. Heard—and this was surprising—an eastern wood-pewee. Spotted some sparrows also: young song, young field, and adult Savannah. A waxwing sitting on the highest spruce at the summit.
No telling how many young birds are out there, really, just chowing down and fueling up for the long migration to come.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5:45 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. American goldfinch** (v)
2. Blue jay (v)
3. Black-capped chickadee** (v)
4. Cedar waxwing**
5. Chestnut-sided warbler
6. Song sparrow (v)
7. Eastern towhee (v)
8. Field sparrow
9. Mourning dove* (v)
10. Eastern wood-pewee (v)
11. Gray catbird (v)
12. Savannah sparrow
Elsewhere
13. Herring gull
14. American crow
15. Rock pigeon
16. European starling
17. Northern cardinal (v)
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, herring gull, mourning dove, northern cardinal, rock pigeon, savannah sparrow, song sparrow
