Hairy Woodpecker.
Arose early to find that last night’s inch or so of snow had been washed away by an overnight rain. Still raining, too—lightly. Took Jack out, got busy at my desk. The rain soon passed, but it stayed cloudy. Worked through lunch, then glanced out the window to see what looked like the kind of concentric circles raindrops might make in that wide section of brook down there and figured I might should check the weather radar.
Wild wind.
Whoa! Big rain a-comin’. Within five minutes, dog and I were out the door.
I was surprised to see another vehicle in the lot at Beech Hill Preserve. The wind were extremely high. It battered and buffeted us. Met another guy and his little dog coming down. (He, too, was surprised to meet somebody else up there in those conditions.) I could see what looked like rain approaching from the southwest, but we managed to make it up and down in close to record time. Didn’t get wet.
Listed four bird species and saw only one—a Hairy Woodpecker poking around back down near the parking lot.
Owls Head.
Later, the big rain did arrive. Wind stayed high well into the evening. Power outages all over the State of Maine.
Not here, though.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 3 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Black-capped Chickadee* (v)
2. Tufted Titmouse** (v)
3. American Crow* (v)
4. Hairy Woodpecker
Elsewhere
5. Blue Jay (v)
6. Mourning Dove
7. Song Sparrow
8. American Goldfinch (v)
9. Downy Woodpecker
10. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
11. Eastern Phoebe
12. American Robin
13. House Finch (v)
14. Herring Gull
15. Song Sparrow
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, downy woodpecker, eastern phoebe, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, house finch, mourning dove, song sparrow, song sparrowa, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch
