Mount Desert (from Beech Hill).
This morning differed from yesterday morning in one significant way: it was overcast. In fact it was even colder by a few degrees (F), though not nearly so windy, when dog and I jumped out of the pickup at about 6:30 a.m. The wooded trailhead didn’t exactly ring with birdsong, but I did hear crow, ovenbird, black-throated green.
Black-throated blue warbler.
I didn’t see much at all, though. In fact, it took until my fifteenth species for me actually to catch sight of a bird: a black-throated blue warbler, whose small dark form surprised me by appearing in the low branches of a birch just in front of us on the trail. It was singing its buzzy song. It was flitting pretty actively. My few half-baked photos hardly did it justice. But it was nice, finally, to see a bird.
At the summit, a phoebe sat on its Beech Nut nest. Savannah sparrows sang—though not as many as on a calmer, warmer day. Down the hill toward South Street, I heard the yellow warbler and hermit thrush, but not the titmouse.
A ruffed grouse drummed. Numerous Nashville warblers sang from all over the hill—which in my experience is somewhat unusual. At one point on the open trail I heard the song of a house finch, looked up, and spotted it soaring overhead in undulating flight, all the while singing full bore. Soon after, I thought for a few seconds that I’d heard the strange voice of some unfamiliar species—that is, until I recognized the song as a partial towhee call, missing only the “Drink” of “Drink your tea!”
A distant scrap of clear sky out over the bay made the eastern view light up, but it was a promise receding. To me, the sky looked dramatic, passionate, all-powerful. No doubt warmth and sun will come—only, it appears, somewhat later than last year.
Tent caterpillars/
Beech Hill List
At 6:30 a.m., I walked all trails.
1. American crow (voice)
2. Ovenbird (voice)
3. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
4. Black-capped chickadee
5. Chestnut-sided warbler (voice)
6. Common yellowthroat (voice)
7. Ruffed grouse (drumming)
8. Herring gull (voice)
9. Eastern towhee
10. Gray catbird (voice)
11. Nashville warbler (voice)
12. American robin (voice)
13. Mourning dove (voice, wings)
14. White-throated sparrow (voice)
15. Black-throated blue warbler
16. Tree swallow (voice)
17. Eastern phoebe
18. Savannah sparrow
19. American goldfinch (voice)
20. House finch
21. Yellow warbler (voice)
22. Hermit thrush (voice)
23. Blue jay (voice)
24. Blue-headed vireo (voice)
25. Black-and-white warbler
26. Cedar waxwing
Morning sky (from Beech Hill).
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, gray catbird, herring gull, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, ovenbird, ruffed grouse, savannah sparrow, tree swallow, white-throated sparrow, yellow warbler
