Today was a sunny one, and kind of cold. Not too windy, though, and I actually thought about going cycling—but I got busy and didn’t do it. I did, however, dash over Beech Hill with dog before running a few errands.
Nobody else at the hill when we arrived. Very soon into our ascent—in fact, before we’d even begun to ascend, really—I saw and/or heard a passel of species and saw a couple of bluebirds. We stopped so I could watch the bluebirds. There were just two at first, fluttering over to a tree across the road, but then a third showed up. Then I heard more bluebirds calling from nearby and spotted another batch hanging around the lower blueberry patch. They’d flit from branch to branch in twos and threes. A single bird would swoop over the field and hover for a second. They’d call and chatter at each other. Must’ve been a couple dozen of them in all.
Crows I heard. Robins. Nothing at the summit but a few yellow-rumped warblers in the spruce grove. And a chickadee.
Later, as we pulled out of the parking lot, we scattered a little group of mourning doves.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:15 p., I hiked the open trail.
1. American robin
2. Black-capped chickadee
3. Tufted titmouse (v)
4. Yellow-rumped warbler
5. Downy woodpecker
6. Eastern bluebird
7. American crow*
8. Song sparrow
9. White-breasted nuthatch (v)
10. Mourning dove
Elsewhere
11. Herring gull
12. Ring-billed gull (v)
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American robin, black-capped chickadee, downy woodpecker, eastern bluebird, herring gull, mourning dove, ring-billed gull, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, yellow-rumped warbler