Beech Hill fields.
Rose a bit earlier this morning—a cloudless morning, warm, with little breeze. Right away dog and I headed for Beech Hill.
For the third straight day: warblers. Black-throated green, ovenbird, chestnut-sided, black-and-white, yellowthroat. I had high hopes of capturing a portrait, but none would pose for me. Oh, they came close—black-and-whites in particular were everywhere—but I bet I missed a half-dozen chances thanks to some random crazy interruption. Oh, well. There’ll be more chances.
Hovering kestrel.
The wind picked up as we crowned the summit, dispersing the hordes of black flies. Saw the usual suspects on the hill today—aside from the lack of crow or gull. But two new species did make an appearance: veery and red-eyed vireo. These both are common Beech Hill birds, but they return a little later than other residents. Still no catbird, though.
In early afternoon, dark skies moved in. Big blue clouds carrying rain. A smattering. Then the sun reemerged. I checked the online weather radar to see if I might ride—and there looked to be a break, so I went cycling.
The sky was captivating. To the north was a great blue-gray slate of thundershowers moving off to the east. To the southwest spread a field of bulbous clouds resembling mammatocumulus (the clouds that spawn tornadoes). The wind whipped from the south when I embarked (southward) but soon turned westerly (as I returned to the north) and eventually spun around to the northwest (as I came back south again). Got little sun, got little rain. Saw pigeons and starlings; heard house sparrows.
Tonight I see no stars. The air is comfortably cool. I imagine these in the woods out back: owl and flying squirrel.
Wind-blown savannah sparrow.
Beech Hill List
At 6:30 a.m., I walked all trails.
American goldfinch (voice)
American robin
Black-capped chickadee
Black-throated green warbler (voice)
Eastern towhee
Black-and-white warbler
White-throated sparrow
Blue jay (voice)
Chestnut-sided warbler (voice)
Nashville warbler (voice)
Common yellowthroat
Veery* (voice)
Savannah sparrow
American kestrel
Eastern phoebe
Hermit thrush (voice)
Field sparrow (voice)
Tufted timouse (voice)
Northern flicker (voice)
Pileated woodpecker (voice)
House finch
Tree swallow
Common raven
Mourning dove
Red-eyed vireo* (voice)
Hairy woodpecker
*first-of-year bird
Elsewhere
American crow
Herring gull
European starling
Rock pigeon
House sparrow
Chipping sparrow
Fern.
Tags: American goldfinch, American kestrel, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, chestnut-sided warbler, common raven, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, field sparrow, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, house finch, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern flicker, pileated woodpecker, red-eyed vireo, savannah sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-throated sparrow
