Gray Catbird.
This morning at Beech Hill, on an open stretch of trail, a small twittering bird circled above my dog and me, seemingly checking us out, before fluttering away. “I think that was a Horned Lark,” I said to Jack—or something to that effect. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one solo, though. I’ll check that voice when we get home.”
Not long afterward, on the summit, I caught sight of a tight flock of little twittering birds flying swiftly south. Now, those, I thought, were larks.
But not until we ran into my expert birding friend, Evan, did I confirm that ID: he’d also seen the flock of ’em. (Thanks also to Evan’s ID skills, my list today had two more species—blackpoll and sapsucker—than it would have otherwise.) We flushed a woodcock, too.
Fall migration’s kind of a gas.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:15 a.m., I hiked the open trail.
Yellow-rumped Warbler.
1. American Robin
2. Tufted Titmouse (v)
3. Black-capped Chickadee**
4. Yellow-rumped Warbler
5. Hairy Woodpecker
6. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
7. American Crow* (v)
8. American Goldfinch
9. Blue Jay
10. Gray Catbird
11. Song Sparrow
12. Savannah Sparrow
13. Purple Finch (v)
14. Horned Lark†
15. Eastern Towhee (v)
16. Red-breasted Nuthatch (v)
17. Cedar Waxwing (v)
18. Eastern Phoebe
19. Blackpoll Warbler
20. Northern Flicker
21. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
22. American Woodcock
Elsewhere
23. Chipping Sparrow
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
†First-of-year bird
Seven-spotted Ladybird Beetle.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, American woodcock, black-capped chickadee, blackpoll warbler, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, chipping sparrow, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, horned lark, northern flicker, purple finch, red-breasted nuthatch, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, yellow-bellied sapsucker, yellow-rumped warbler
