Scarlet tanager (male).
We had a hazy sun this morning. We had fairly mild temperatures. We had no wind to speak of. I arrived at the Rockville Street parking lot with Jack, my dog, at pretty close to exactly 7 a.m., ready to tackle Beech Hill.
Cedar waxwing.
Warblers were singing in the leafy canopy. And the canopy is leafy—so much leafier than at the beginning of this month that it’s honestly difficult to fathom. Each day in May, the foliage grows and the raspberries encroach and the greenery increases. This is the greening, burgeoning, exploding season.
I missed the hill yesterday and had half a hope that hummingbirds would be back, but no. Mostly the usual suspects: eight or ten wood-warblers, towhees, catbirds, savannah sparrows, field sparrow. I neither saw nor heard a crow or raven—but I did hear a chestnut-sided warbler. Or two. Or a couple dozen. I have no doubt at all that these little feisty, handsome birds are the most abundant on tdhe hill.
Toward the summit, as usual, I began to hear the low-growth, grassland birds: song sparrow, field sparrow, savannah sparrow, catbird, towhee, yellow warbler. I didn’t see the resident tree swallows or any hawk. But coming down over the open trail, I heard the high-pitched squee of a waxwing and then saw the bird itself perched in some trailside foliage. The waxwing flew just about the time another bird flitted up from behind me, landing in the crown of a low tree not fifty feet away. It emitted a couple of low, rich notes, allowing me to make out its head poking up amid the leaves: an eastern bluebird! First I’ve seen up there in a couple-three years.
Eastern bluebird.
Through my binoculars, I watched the bluebird fly off. It headed away through the blank sky, steadily flapping, fluttering high in a southwesterly direction. First I wondered where it might be bound. Then I hoped for its return—or another like it. And then, as it receded to little more than a speck, I saw the tiny, antic shape of a double-crested cormorant crossing its path a mile or more away.
Arriving at the opposite Beech Hill parking lot, I couldn’t help but hear the raggedy notes of a tanager in the tall, mixed grove of trees. Despite its brilliant color, it took a minute to spot the bird—but once I did, it did its best to pose for me amid the yellow-green leaves. I watched it flit after flies and grab tiny bits of bark or seed. Somewhere beyond it came the pure notes of a titmouse.
Later, returning through the wooded section, I encountered a surprising drama: a battle of ovenbirds. As I crossed its territory, a male sang loudly to my left, repeatedly; suddenly another sang very near it, on the other side of the trail. At once the skirmish was on. Dog and I stopped and took in the crazy chase and chitter and call and return call, as the two birds swept swiftly through the understory, one after the other—at one point zipping not five feet over my head. This little species is serious when it comes to staking out its claim on a shady hillside.
Many, many chestnut-sideds today. The usual sparrows. No crow or raven, for some reason. But a number of secretive woodland birds—including, as we neared the end of our circuit, the wee-oh-lay of a wood thrush.
After a few hours, the day clouded up—but I kept thinking back to bluebird and tanager.
Yellow warbler.
Beech Hill List
At 7 a.m., I walked all trails
1. Ovenbird
2. Chestnut-sided warbler
3. Common yellowthroat
4. Black-capped chickadee
5. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
6. American robin
7. American goldfinch
8. Eastern towhee
9. Gray catbird
10. Black-and-white warbler (voice)
11. American redstart (voice)
12. Blue-headed vireo (voice)
13. Blue jay (voice)
14. White-throated sparrow (voice)
15. Nashville warbler (voice)
16. Mourning dove
17. Yellow warbler
18. Song sparrow (voice)
19. Eastern phoebe
20. Field sparrow
21. Savannah sparrow
22. Hermit thrush (voice)
23. Cedar waxwing
24. Eastern bluebird*
25. Double-crested cormorant
26. Chipping sparrow (voice)
27. Red-eyed vireo
28. Scarlet tanager
29. Tufted titmouse (voice)
30. Northern flicker (voice)
31. Wood thrush (voice)
Elsewhere
32. American crow
33. Herring gull
34. Rock pigeon
35. Laughing gull
36. Great crested flycatcher
Savannah sparrow.
Tags: American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, blue-headed vireo, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, double-crested cormorant, eastern bluebird, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, field sparrow, gray catbird, hermit thrush, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern flicker, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, savannah sparrow, scarlet tanagert, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-throated sparrow, wood thrush, yellow warbler
