A cool, active, birdy spring day.
I rose before 5 for another Friday bike ride with Shannon and James. This one was half the distance as last Friday’s but every bit as fun. And likewise it, too, passed through interesting populations of our native avian wildlife. Beginning with a noisy raven at Barrett’s Cove, commencing with many singing woodland birds, then a handful of water birds at Norton’s Pond, then field birds at the higher rural elevations, and ending 18 miles later with a small but thrilling group of blackburnian warblers at the shores of Lake Megunticook.
I could do that every day.
Again I’d promised Jack a walk up Beech Hill afterward, and so we set out on one. A quick one, as I had appointments, but nonetheless fruitful. Not only did I list thirty species—oddly, not including a few common ones like black-capped chickadee and savannah sparrow—but we flushed another woodcock. And I watched a pair of crows dive-bomb a raven. And a redstart nearly landed on my head.
The woodcock burst out of undergrowth toward the top of the upper wooded trail. (Again I looked for chicks; again I found none.) I heard the crows at the summit, then saw them flying high and bringing in their wings for a straight-down dive on something. I heard the voice of a raven also and at first figured maybe both big black birds were after a hawk or owl—but it turned out it was crow vs. raven. Or more accurately, two crows, one raven. This was confirmed by a mad chase low over the crowns of nearby trees and then right over us, dog and me. It was dramatic. At some points the raven would in a flash invert itself so its wings were below and its talons thrust above, in the direction of the crows. None of these birds were happy. They chased off to the south and out of sight—and, after a while, out of earshot.
Returning through the little stretch of wood-side meadow, I asked Jack to stop so I could check out a bird. While I was sizing it up (a yellowthroat), another flitted over the trail in front of us and into a small but dense-leafed hardwood. Looked like a redstart, to me. As I worked to figure out a way to take its photo, the bird suddenly fluttered out like a butterfly and then made a beeline for me. I got a great look at the little guy from up close (more intimate than photos) as i very nearly lit on my head.
Anyway. What a day. I even got another glimpse of the northern mockingbird at the busy Route 1 intersection.
Eighteen-Mile Bicycle Ride List
Beginning at 5:30 a.m., I rode through Knox and Waldo counties (not in order of listing).
1. Canada goose
2. Mallard
3. Ovenbird (voice)
4. Black-and-white warbler (voice)
5. Common yellowthroat (voice)
6. Yellow warbler (voice)
7. Chestnut-sided warbler (voice)
8. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
9. Black-throated blue warbler (voice)
10. American redstart (voice)
11. Nashville warbler (voice)
12. Northern parula (voice)
13. Blackburnian warbler (voice)
14. Song sparrow (voice)
15. White-throated sparrow (voice)
16. Chipping sparrow
17. Eastern towhee
18. Mourning dove
19. Black-capped chickadee
20. Tufted titmouse
21. Alder flycatcher
22. Great crested flycatcher
23. Eastern phoebe
24. Eastern wood-pewee
25. Eastern kingbird
26. Red-winged blackbird
27. Common grackle
28. Brown-headed cowbird
29. European starling
30. Bobolink
31. Gray catbird
32. Blue jay
33. American crow
34. Common raven
35. American robin
36. Veery
37. Wood thrush
38. American goldfinch
39. Rose-breasted grosbeak
40. House finch
41. Northern cardinal
42. Cedar waxwing
43. Red-eyed vireo
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8 a.m., I walked the wooded trails.
Ovenbird
Red-eyed vireo
Black-and-white warbler (voice)
Eastern towhee
American robin
Chestnut-sided warbler
Gray catbird
Common yellowthroat
Rose-breasted grosbeak (voice)
Alder flycatcher
44. Ruffed grouse (booming)
American redstart
Veery (voice)
Blue jay (voice)
45. American woodcock
Cedar waxwing
46. Hairy woodpecker
Song sparrow
Common raven
American crow
47. Northern flicker (voice)
American goldfinch
Nashville warbler (voice)
Yellow warbler
Mourning dove
Eastern phoebe
48. Field sparrow (voice)
49. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
Black-throated blue warbler (voice)
Black-throated green warbler (voice)
Elsewhere
50. Herring gull
51. Laughing gull
52. House sparrow
53. Northern cardinal (voice)
54. Rock pigeon
55. Northern mockingbird
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, American woodcock, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blackburnian warbler, blue jay, bobolink, brown-headed cowbird, Canada goose, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common grackle, common raven, common yellowthroat, eastern kingbird, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, great crested flycatcher, hairy woodpecker, house finch, mallard, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, northern flicker, northern parula, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, red-winged blackbird, rose-breasted grosbeak, ruffed grouse, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, wood thrush, yellow warbler