Beech Nut.
I got up at the crack of dawn to go cycling. Jack agreed to let me go if I promised still to walk with him up Beech Hill afterward.
See, a friend had organized an early-Friday-morning ride, and being a biking junky, I couldn’t resist. There were three of us this morning. The ride was hard, fun, exhilarating, tiring, inspiring. Of course, it being so early, I couldn’t resist keeping track of the various birds I (mainly) heard along our route.
American robin.
I was, frankly, astounded by the variety of species—although I suppose I shouldn’t have been, given the season, the distance (forty-seven miles), and the time of day. I counted forty-one spp., including eleven warblers, five sparrows, three thrushes, two flycatchers, a bobolink, a killdeer, a red-bellied woodpecker, and a kestrel. At one point a wild turkey dashed across the road in front of us. The morning was beautiful: sunny, green, calm, with temps about 60 degrees (F). Perfect for a ride.
Afterward, as promised, I took dog up the hill. (It hurt, I must confess.) Not a lot of variety there today—although I supposed it shouldn’t surprise me, given the (later) time of day. I didn’t even get any decent photos, the birds being especially shy. Just missed a chestnut-sided and red-eyed vireo, but there you go.
To tell you the truth, the day beyond the bike ride amounted to little more than afterglow. The wind picked up some, but the sun didn’t quit. I thrilled to the screams of an osprey above the oaks overhanging my place. The landscape seems somehow greener than it usually is at this time of year.
I’m thinking I’ll be hitting the sack a little early tonight.
Rosa rugosa.
Friday Cycling List
Beginning at 5:15 a.m., I rode 47 miles in Knox and Waldo counties. (Not in order of identification.)
1. Common yellowthroat (voice)
2. Chestnut-sided warbler (voice)
3. Ovenbird (voice)
4. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
5. Black-throated blue warbler (voice)
6. Yellow warbler (voice)
7. Black-and-white warbler (voice)
8. Nashville warbler (voice)
9. American redstart (voice)
10. Magnolia warbler (voice)
11. Northern parula (voice)
12. Blue jay (voice)
13. American crow
14. House sparrow (voice)
15. Chipping sparrow (voice)
16. Song sparrow (voice)
17. Savannah sparrow (voice)
18. White-throated sparrow (voice)
19. American goldfinch (voice)
20. Rose-breasted grosbeak (voice)
21. Northern cardinal (voice)
22. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
23. American robin
24. Wood thrush (voice)
25. Veery (voice)
26. Bobolink
27. Brown-headed cowbird (voice)
28. Tree swallow
29. Killdeer (voice)
30. American kestrel (voice)
31. Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
32. Eastern phoebe (voice)
33. Mourning dove
34. Rock pigeon
35. Gray catbird
36. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
37. Tufted titmouse (voice)
38. Herring gull
39. Wild turkey
40. European starling
41. Red-bellied woodpecker
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 9:15 a.m., I walked the wooded trails.
Ovenbird (voice)
Black-throated green warbler (voice)
Chestnut-sided warbler
Common yellowthroat
Red-eyed vireo
42. Eastern towhee
Black-and-white warbler (voice)
Veery (voice)
43. Common raven (voice)
American crow (voice)
White-throated sparrow (voice)
Gray catbird
44. Field sparrow (voice)
Yellow warbler (voice)
Song sparrow (voice)
Nashville warbler (voice)
Savannah sparrow (voice)
Eastern phoebe
45. Hermit thrush (voice)
Black-capped chickadee
Blue jay (voice)
American robin
Elsewhere
46. Double-crested cormorant
47. Laughing gull
48. Osprey
Tags: American kestrel, American redstart, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, bobolink, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common raven, common yellowthroat, double-crested cormorant, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, house sparrow, killdeer, laughing gull, magnolia warbler, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, osprey, ovenbird, red-bellied woodpecker, red-eyed vireo, rock pigeon, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-throated sparrow, wild turkey, wood thrush, yellow warbler
