Mallard pair.
You might thing a rainy morning wouldn’t be the best day for birding, but you would be wrong—at least at this particular time of year. Before I’d hiked a hundred yards through the woods of Beech Hill this early morning, I’d come upon the first wave of warblers. And before my morning hike was done, I’d happened upon three of them. Listed twelve warblers in all, the most of any day so far this year.
Not great weather for photos, though.
Still, I did get a great look at a pair of Scarlet Tanagers near the summit. And I got a video of a singing Brown Thrasher.
But perhaps the most fitting photo I got was one of the first, a picture of the pair of Mallards that waddled ahead of me for a ways right at the outset of my hike. Then the snuck off into the grass to hide.
Northern Cardinal.
Yep, rain again this morning—and throughout the day. Steady rain tonight. Heck, it’s supposed to rain all week. How many sunny May days will we end up with, I wonder? And the summer is supposed to be hot and dry. #welcometotheanthropocene
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:30 a.m., I hiked all trails—then at 4 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Mallard
2. Northern Parula (v)
3. Ovenbird**
4. Blue-headed vireo (v)
5. Black-throated Green Warbler**
6. Chestnut-sided Warbler**
7. Eastern Phoebe
8. Eastern Towhee
9. Black-and-White Warbler**
10. Veery
11. Black-capped Chickadee
12. American Goldfinch
13. Common Yellowthroat**
14. Magnolia Warbler
15. Blackburnian Warbler
16. Prairie Warbler† (v)
17. Gray Catbird**
18. Canada Goose (v)
19. American Redstart**
20. Mourning Dove*
21. American Crow*
22. Common Raven (v)
23. Herring Gull*
24. Brown Thrasher
25. Yellow Warbler
26. Field Sparrow (v)
27. Blue Jay
28. Song Sparrow**
29. Scarlet Tanager
30. Savannah Sparrow
31. Brown-headed Cowbird
32. Ruby-crowned Kinglet (v)
33. Northern Cardinal* (v)
34. Rose-breasted Grosbeak (v)
35. Tree Swallow (v)
36. Nashville Warbler
37. Hermit Thrush
38. Black-throated Blue Warbler
39. Downy Woodpecker
40. Pileated Woodpecker (v)
Elsewhere
41. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
42. House Sparrow
43. Double-crested Cormorant
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
†First-of-year bird
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blackburnian warbler, blue jay, blue-headed vireo, brown thrasher, brown-headed cowbird, Canada goose, chestnut-sided warbler, common raven, common yellowthroat, double-crested cormorant, downy woodpecker, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, field sparrow, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, house sparrow, magnolia warbler, mallard, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, northern parula, ovenbird, pileated woodpecker, prairie warbler, rose-breasted grosbeak, ruby-crowned kinglet, savannah sparrow, scarlett, song sparrow, tree swallow, veery, white-breasted nuthatch, yellow warbler
