Merlin.
A cool, bright day. A busy Friday. Worked at my desk. Ran errands and hiked Beech Hill with Jack. Then left Jack home and rode my bike. (By the way, big traffic jams on Route 1, both directions, on account of ill-timed road construction.) Then headed to a nice gathering at some friends’ in Rockland.
Some kind of darner.
Our Beech Hill hike, being somewhat early, started off slow: before the summit, I saw only some juncos as we drove up and heard the voices of a catbird and some crows. But then I heard a towhee and a yellowthroat. On our descent I saw a single waxwing and a solitary song sparrow. Then things got interesting.
A merlin sped suddenly down over the barrens alongside the trail. Too swift to photograph, but I watched it dip and rise away ahead of us. We rounded a curve, and I saw a dark patch in one of the trailside birches and focused my binoculars and saw a couple of crows in the tree—along with the little merlin. All the birds were facing south. Crazy.
I snapped off some photos as we drew slowly nearer the birch. The merlin eyed us. Then it took off and I got a couple more photos. Then the crows took off, cawing—turned out to be more than a couple crows (four, maybe?)—and above them I spotted a larger hawk: a young red-tail, circling.
Dragonflies were everywhere, flying and hovering, flashing in the sunlight. Some species of darner lit on a post, and I took a photo.
Tonight is cool as a beatnik and clear as a mountain pool.
Note: When I took Jack out late last night—early this morning, actually—I saw two bats flitting around.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 2:45 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Dark-eyed junco
2. Gray catbird (v)
3. American crow*
4. Eastern towhee (v)
5. Common yellowthroat (v)
6. Cedar waxwing
7. Song sparrow
8. Merlin
9. Red-tailed hawk
10. Blue jay** (v)
Elsewhere
11. Herring gull
12. Black-capped chickadee
13. Osprey
14. Rock pigeon
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, common yellowthroat, dark-eyed junco, eastern towhee, gray catbird, herring gull, merlin, osprey, red-tailed hawk, rock pigeon, song sparrow
