7 November 2026

Birds that are blue

Thursday, June 12th, 2014
Eastern Bluebirds, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 12 June 2014.

Eastern Bluebirds.

Gray and drizzly and cool today. For a change. Not bad, after you have a string of warm and sunny days. I went to camden and wrote for a while at the Owl and Turtle cafe, which was nice. (PSA: great coffee.) Then I worked on a font until late afternoon, when I yoinked dog into the pickup and we hiked up the open Beech Hill trail, whose edges had been freshly mowed.

Blue flags, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 12 June 2014.

Blue flags.

A dim, dark sky made photography a challenge with my trusty cheapo camera—but as I was angling for a shot of a trailside yellowthroat, I heard the voice of bluebirds. And there they were, a little family of them, flitting about in the trees. At least the blue against the green makes for an eye-catching photo.

Heard several other species—including another blue one (jay)—and spotted some Song Sparrows. In fact, I spotted more birds away from Beech Hill Preserve than I did up there today.

But that’s OK.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:15 p.m., I hiked the open trail.

1. Chestnut-sided Warbler (v)
2. Red-eyed Vireo (v)
3. American Robin* (v)
4. American Redstart** (v)
5. American Goldfinch (v)
6. Ovenbird (v)
7. Yellow Warbler** (v)
8. American Crow* (v)
9. Alder Flycatcher (v)
10. Song Sparrow**
11. Common Yellowthroat**
12. Eastern Bluebird
13. Eastern Towhee (v)
14. Savannah Sparrow (v)
15. Blue Jay (v)
16. Chipping Sparrow (v)
17. Tufted Titmouse (v)

Elsewhere

18. House Sparrow
19. Herring Gull
20. European Starling
21. Common Grackle
22. Mourning Dove
23. Osprey
24. Black-capped Chickadee (v)

v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

 

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Bird Report is a (sometimes intermittent) record of the birds I encounter while hiking, see while driving, or spy outside my window. —Brian Willson



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