Weskeag Marsh.
Not overly cold temperatures today—upper-20s (F) to upper-30s—but a whipping wind made it feel pretty frigid. Under a morning sky of varied clouds and a hazy sun I took a drive to Owls Head, with a stop at the Weskeag Marsh. Ice yet covers most of the marsh, but birds were active in and above the channels of open water that crisscross its wide flatness. Scanning with binocs I spotted gulls, crows, black ducks, common ravens, and at least two red-tailed hawks. But most magical, to me, was how the southeast distance beyond the Weskeag held a sort of soft, transcendent glow.
Afternoon at Beech Hill.
Kristen joined me for another Beech Hill hike this afternoon, and not five minutes after I remarked that we’d likely see no birds on the lower wooded trail, she heard something, so we stopped and scanned the upper reaches of the hardwoods for small native winter species. Very soon I spotted a brown creeper, and Kristen counted a chickadee and two nuthatches. I tried for photos of all three birds, but the they were too small, too distant, too busy. I like how these three hang out together, though.
We met a couple of hardy hikers at the summit of the hill, where the sky had cleared to the point of a wonderfully orange halo around an already inspiring view. Hunted around a bit for yesterday’s shrike, unsuccessfully, but did find what appeared to be an old yellowthroat nest.
Yellowthroat nest?
On the slippery upper trail down, I noticed Kristen’s eyes widen and followed her gaze in time to see a streaking white shape: a snowshoe hare, stretching long, coiling, bounding, soon lost amid the small trunks of new-growth trees. I’d seen evidence of rabbits all winter—their tracks, their droppings—but this was only the second I’d seen in nearly 30 years in Maine.
Later recalling the swift white hare, I got thinking of coyote and fox, of bobcat and lynx. Of moose and flying squirrel. They survive by staying invisible to us, but there’s plenty of mammals up Beech Hill.
Today’s List
American crow
Black-capped chickadee
Herring gull
Ring-billed gull
Rock pigeon
European starling
Black duck
Common raven
Red-tailed hawk
Brown creeper
White-breasted nuthatch
Notable sighting: snowshoe hare
Beech Nut in late afternoon.
Tags: American crow, black duck, black-capped chickadee, brown creeper, common raven, European starling, herring gull, red-tailed hawk, ring-billed gull, rock pigeon, white-breasted nuthatch
