Foggy again early, but it burned off into an overcast pretty quickly. Hit the hill with Jack and right away started listing birds. A lot of birds. Had nearly a score before we reached the summit.
One of those was quite apparent: a Snowy Owl, a male far down the eastern slope. Hard to miss the little white snowman against the snowless landscape. I feel sure this was the same bird I saw two days ago—and likely the bird the crows were mobbing in the fog yesterday, after all—but he looked a lot dryer and happier.
Had a lot of interesting birds, including a first singing Savannah Sparrow and a first-of-year Brown Thrasher (which I heard before spotting). Another towhee, but still no glimpse. Bluebirds and Tree Swallows and yellow-rumps and Palm Warblers.
All in all a wondrous hour’s walk this morning.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:15 a.m., I hiked the open trail (and then some).
1. Song Sparrow**
2. American Goldfinch (v)
3. White-throated Sparrow (v)
4. Purple Finch (v)
5. Brown-headed Cowbird
6. American Robin (v)
7. Downy Woodpecker (v)
8. Northern Cardinal** (v)
9. Eastern Phoebe**
10. Tufted Titmouse
11. Black-capped Chickadee**
12. Chipping Sparrow**
13. Field Sparrow
14. Blue Jay** (v)
15. Northern Flicker (v)
16. Yellow-rumped Warbler
17. Herring Gull* (v)
18. American Crow*
19. Common Raven (v)
20. Palm Warbler
21. Tree Swallow
22. Eastern Bluebird
23. Snowy Owl
24. Eastern Towhee (v)
25. American Kestrel
26. Brown Thrasher†
27. Double-crested Cormorant
28. Savannah Sparrow
29. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
30. Pileated Woodpecker
Elsewhere
31. House Finch (v)
32. Mourning Dove
33. House Sparrow (v)
34. European Starling
35. Common Grackle
36. Rock Pigeon
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
†First-of-year bird
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American kestrel, American robin, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, brown thrasher, brown-headed cowbird, chipping sparrow, common grackle, common raven, double-crested cormorant, downy woodpecker, eastern bluebird, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, European starling, field sparrow, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, palm warbler, pileated woodpecker, purple finch, rock pigeon, savannah sparrow, snowy owl, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler
