Roadside crow.
So, I awoke to a nippy, gray, overcast day. Not a lot of wind, but temperatures in the 30s (F) and just a general look of chill, of still, of winter.
However, it’s spring. As the song of the cardinal will attest. And the song sparrow. The three note whistle of the tufted titmouse, and the clear fee-bee of the chickadee. Across Route 1, a house finch carries on. The resident crows are vocal, as always. Suddenly, the traffic rush grew louder, and I kmew that rain had come. But it blew away just as quickly, so dog and I headed for Beech Hill.
Two islands.
As I mentioned, not a lot of wind. A few people were walking the hill when we arrived, I saw from the cars in the parking lot. A titmouse called. And a crow, and a goldfinch, and some chickadees, and a raven.
In fact, the ravens calls seemed insistent, and mingling with the crows. Then I spotted the larger birds—they were in flight, high above, and there were four of them. A pair were dancing or jousting, coming together then separating again, as the other two flapped and soared along the edges. They kept up their croaking until they sailed over the hill and out of sight.
The bronze grass of the hill fairly glowed beneath the gray, colorless sky. I thought of how, in a few short weeks, the hill will be echoing with the songs of towhees, warblers, and savannah sparrows.
Two ravens.
Later, I went cycling. Sparrows flitted again along the sides of the roads—song sparrows mostly, I reckoned. A robin fluttered over. Herring gulls, ring-billed gulls, and rock pigeons in Rockland. Not long after my return, rain came again to soak this section of planet. Forecasters are warning of heavier rains tomorrow, of the prospect of flooding, and of the certainly of frigid temperatures in the wake of all the coming precipitation.
We shall see.
Today’s List
Northern cardinal
American crow
Tufted titmouse
House finch
Song sparrow
White-breasted nuthatch
Black-capped chickadee
Herring gull
American goldfinch
Common raven
Mourning dove
American robin
Ring-billed gull
Rock pigeon
Beech Nut.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-capped chickadee, common raven, herring gull, house finch, mourning dove, northern cardinal, ring-billed gull, rock pigeon, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch
