Purple sandpiper.
Daylight this morning brought direct sunbeams for a change. Bright, warming sun. Outside early, I heard a titmouse, chickadees, mourning dove, downy woodpecker, a house finch—and what sounded to me exactly like a broad-winged hawk. I find it impossible to believe one could arrive so early, though, despite this earlier-than-usual spring, so I chalked it up to some whistling impostor or my ears playing tricks on me.
Long-tailed duck.
I did hear the check, check of a blackbird flying over. A solitary bird. I’m guessing a red-winged blackbird.
In early afternoon I introduced the dog to the breakwater. En route, I noticed a pair of buffleheads in Clam Cove. We arrived to find a number of cars—and a dead high tide. It was the warmest walk out there this year. Calm on the harbor side, blue breakers in the direction of the islands. Common loons showing signs of spring plumage. A black black guillemot (i.e., breeding plumage). And a half-dozen purple sandpipers arrayed above the benign harbor waves. If I got too close, they’d peep and flutter.
Long-tailed ducks, common eiders. Temperatures well into the 50s (F).
So of course I took my first bike ride of the season. Fourteen miles, wind in my ears, crows, chickadees, a goldfinch.
I hear no woodcocks out there tonight—but it’s starry and thrillingly mild.
Black guillemot.
Today’s List
Tufted titmouse
American crow
House finch
Downy woodpecker
Mourning dove
Red-winged blackbird
Black-capped chickadee
Northern cardinal
Herring gull
Bufflehead
Common loon
Black guillemot
Long-tailed duck
Purple sandpiper
Common eider
American goldfinch
Also notable: gray squirrel, red squirrel
Split tide.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, black-capped chickadee, bufflehead, common eider, common loon, downy woodpecker, herring gull, house finch, long-tailed duck, mourning dove, northern cardinal, purple sandpiper, red-winged blackbird, tufted titmouse
Blue jays are excellent mimics of broad-winged hawks and I’ve been fooled by them many times. Wonder if that’s what you heard. Haven’t seen any broad-wing reports on the Maine birding list-serv.
Duh. Thanks, K, for reminding me about hawk-mimicking jays. No doubt that’s what I’d heard—seeing as how broadwings are likely weeks away!