Old Muddy Bill (Hermit Thrush).
Mallards can fly straight up in the air, rising like an elevator, for more than fifty feet. That’s something I learned today on my early Beech Hill hike with dog. That revelation came to me at the end of our swift hike through chilly, overcast, wicked windy conditions, as we passed the little woods pond near the Rockville Street trailhead. A mallard drake floated there, and my focusing a camera on the duck made it nervous, apparently, because it took wing. And flew straight up amid the trees until it reached the canopy, when it flew away in a manner I was accustomed to seeing.
Yeah, it was really windy up there. Nobody up there but me and Jack. Couldn’t hear, well, Jack on account of the wind, so my list is short. But I did see a pair of kestrels for the second straight day, hear (and saw) a ton more r-c kinglets, just missed a couple of amazing photos, nabbed a couple of middling ones.
Still impressed with that duck.
1. American Robin*
2. Hermit Thrush
3. Black-capped Chickadee
4. Eastern Phoebe
5. Northern Flicker
6. Eastern Towhee
7. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
8. White-throated Sparrow** (v)
9. Yellow-rumped Warbler
10. Song Sparrow**
11. Herring Gull*
12. American Crow*
13. Brown-headed Cowbird**
14. Chipping Sparrow (v)
15. American Goldfinch (v)
16. House Finch (v)
17. American Kestrel
18. Pileated Woodpecker (v)
19. Hairy Woodpecker (v)
20. Mallard
Elsewhere
21. Rock Pigeon
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American kestrel, American robin, black-capped chickadee, brown-headed cowbird, chipping sparrow, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, mallard, northern flicker, pileated woodpecker, rock pigeon, ruby-crowned kinglet, song sparrow, white-throated sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler
