American kestrel (female).
A few flashes of sunlight brightened this early morning—a kind of chilly morning thanks to some remnant dampness from a little overnight rain. The earth looked to be drying even, and I got to imagining an afternoon bike ride. Then, after a couple hours, it began again to drizzle. Not that it deterred the cardinal, or phoebe, or song sparrow, or crow. I heard a downy woodpecker out there, too.
American crow.
Never mind a little rain, dog and I had to walk. En route to the hill, I counted herring gulls, mourning doves, and robins. On the hill itself, I heard chickadees, phoebe, blue jays, and a titmouse. Some mud on the trail, but it wasn’t too bad.
Heading up the first rise, I noticed a solitary crow in one of the trail-side birches—and in another birch beyond and above it, a smallish bird sat alone. The crow, spotting man and dog, began to holler, and two other big black birds rose from the wet bronze grass, and the three of them flapped off up the hill. Then one of them veered purposefully toward the farther birch directly at the smaller bird—which flapped rapidly away. I wondered if it was a small hawk, perhaps a kestrel.
Quickly up the hill we walked. As the rain let up to nearly nothing, I got a sort of haughty feeling about being the only human up there. Over another rise, I spotted the three crows flapping antically up toward the sod-roof of Beech Nut. And then I saw the little falcon (if that’s what it was) take off from a low snag and soar over the lip of the eastern slope. I slowed the dog and readied my camera.
It took a moment, but I found the bird in the upper limbs of a smallish tree below. I got off a few photos before it flew. A kestrel for sure. A female. Another FOY bird for me.
White-breasted nuthatch.
Nothing much else to report except for a crow actually sitting on the roof of the hut. Soon after, on our descent, the dog and I both watched the three antic birds flit nervously about the hill, intent on dining, or staking out territory, or something. Back at the parking lot, a couple white-breasted nuthatches were poking at the bark of some trees.
Elsewhere on our drive were rock pigeons and many more mourning doves. Doves seemed to own this drizzly day.
Today’s List
Northern cardinal
Eastern phoebe
Song sparrow
American crow
Downy woodpecker
House finch
Mourning dove
American robin
Black-capped chickadee
Blue jay
Tufted titmouse
American kestrel
American goldfinch
White-breasted nuthatch
Rock pigeon
Silvery bay.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American kestrel, American robin, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, downy woodpecker, eastern phoebe, house finch, mourning dove, northern cardinal, rock pigeon, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch
