American redstart (fledgling).
Today was something of a scorcher—by Maine standards, anyway. Nice and warm and sunny, but with a little breeze that cooled things down in the shade. I got a lot done. Got some desk work done, got some landscaping done, got some vacuuming done, removed some unused wiring both inside and outside. Wasn’t until late in the day that dog and I hit the hill (likely a wise move).
A couple cars at the main Beech Hill Preserve parking lot. The trail was dry and buggy—in the shade I mean, with mosquitoes all over the place. But I have come to rather like mosquitoes, since birds eat ’em.
Heard a Pileated Woodpecker right away. (Noteworthy, I think, because I haven’t had any woodpeckers on my list recently, and this morning I heard a Hairy Woodpecker in the trees out back of my place.) In fact, the first ten species on my list I simply heard. The first bird I saw, ironically, was a Herring Gull circling above us, and Herring Gulls rarely make an appearance up there. Not much to pique their fancy.
No photos, though. I took a shot of my favorite birch tree, of course, considering I do that every day. I took a shot of a butterfly I’d taken a shot of just a few days ago. I took another shot of the blueberries. By the time Jack and I had returned to the parking lot, I didn’t have squat in the way of photos. So I figured, what the hell, I’ll just hang around the leafy area around the lot and see what I might could see.
Good move, because soon I heard a scolding warbler very near us. It was a female American Redstart, and from her behavior I knew there had to be a young bird (or birds) about. Didn’t take me long to spot the little solitary fledgling perched on the branch of an apple tree. Jack stood there patiently for about ten or fifteen minutes while I worked to get some sort of decent photo in the dim light of the shade. And/or a video.
Turns out I got both.
Which all is to say that I had a very fruitful day today. Second one in a row.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:15 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Pileated Woodpecker (v)
2. Red-eyed Vireo** (v)
3. American Redstart**
4. Song Sparrow** (v)
5. Rose-breasted Grosbeak (v)
6. Cedar Waxwing (v)
7. Chipping Sparrow** (v)
8. American Goldfinch (v)
9. Common Yellowthroat** (v)
10. Yellow Warbler**
11. Herring Gull*
12. Field Sparrow (v)
13. Eastern Towhee (v)
14. Savannah Sparrow
15. American Robin (v)
16. Ovenbird (v)
17. American Crow* (v)
18. Veery (v)
19. Black-and-white Warbler (v)
20. Black-throated Green Warbler (v)
Elsewhere
21. Hairy Woodpecker
22. House Finch (v)
23. House Sparrow
24. Red-winged Blackbird
25. Double-crested Cormorant
26. Common Grackle
v = Voice only
*Also elsehwere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-throated green warbler, Cedar waxwing, chipping sparrow, common grackle, common yellowthroat, double-crested cormorant, eastern towhee, field sparrow, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, ovenbird, pileated woodpecker, red-eyed vireo, red-winged blackbird, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, veery, yellow warbler
