Brown Creeper.
Freakin’ cold this morning (±40 degrees (F)), and blustery. Sunny, though. Again I didn’t expect to list many birds—especially since about all I could hear was the wind—but was pleasantly surprised.
Chestnut-sided Warbler.
The coolest and most surprising thing happened on our way back down the lower wooded trail, when I heard the song of a Brown Creeper. I’ve only heard that song three times, I think. Dog and I stopped. I moved my head around to try to gauge direction—although I’m lucky to be able to still hear great still, I sometimes have trouble with direction—and a pair of creepers zipped suddenly down and landed on the trunk of a tree too near for me to focus. (I could’ve reached out and grabbed one of them.)
It was a fascinating courtship ritual. One of the birds (the male I assume) was carrying a fat spider in its bill, and the other was carrying a tiny twig. They kept displaying these items to each other while chasing around the trunks of trees. It was cute. Wish I’d gotten better pictures.
That sure was a load of fun, though—proof that if you stop and pay attention, you can learn a heck of lot just from walking around in the woods.
It’s supposed to warm up tomorrow. We shall see.
Note: I did not encounter any Scarlet Tanagers today, so it’s possible the pair from yesterday was just traveling through. Or not—what do I know?
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:30 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Ovenbird**
2. Black-throated Green Warbler (v)
3. Red-eyed Vireo
4. Eastern Wood-pewee (v)
5. American Redstart
6. Eastern Phoebe**
7. Hermit Thrush
8. Black-capped Chickadee**
9. Great Crested Flycatcher (v)
10. Black-and-white Warbler (v)
11. Common Yellowthroat
12. Blue Jay**
13. Chestnut-sided Warbler
14. Eastern Towhee
15. Yellow Warbler** (v)
16. American Crow*
17. Nashville Warbler (v)
18. Gray Catbird
19. Veery (v)
20. American Goldfinch (v)
21. Mourning Dove*
22. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
23. Song Sparrow
24. Field Sparrow (v)
25. Herring Gull*
26. Chipping Sparrow (v)
27. Brown-headed Cowbird (v)
28. American Robin* (v)
29. Alder Flycatcher
30. Brown Creeper
31. Downy Woodpecker
Elsewhere
32. Common Grackle
33. Rock Pigeon
34. Northern Cardinal (v)
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, brown creeper, brown-headed cowbird, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common grackle, common yellowthroat, downy woodpecker, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, field sparrow, gray catbird, great crested flycatcher, hermit thrush, herring gull, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, rock pigeon, song sparrow, veery, white-breasted nuthatch, yellow warbler
