Beech Hill blueberries.
This morning I picked and ate three ripe blueberries. It’s the first day of July. This does not compute.
Black-and-white warbler.
I’d guess ripe blueberries are at least two or three weeks early on Beech Hill. But that just follows the crazy seasons we’ve had so far this year. Very warm late winter, early spring. In fact, ticks showed up a month or six weeks early. Lilacs and day lilies and apple blossoms—you name the flowers, they bloomed early.
On the other hand, I haven’t really noticed any craziness as regards the birds’ schedules for 2010. The usual year-to-year differences, true. Also true, ruby throated hummingbirds have been oddly absent from Beech Hill this year—which can likely be attributed to the fact that their favorite nectar comes from flowers that bloomed well before they actually arrived here after spring migration.
And frankly, for the first of July, today had cool and curious weather: 60s (F) early, and overcast; finally some sun breaking through; then a sudden shower; then more sun; another shower; more sun; another shower; more sun. No evidence of “global warming,” that’s for sure.
Savannah sparrow.
Then again, here are a few bird species that’ve moved their nests northward into our latitude these past twenty or thirty years or so: red-bellied woodpecker; turkey vulture; tufted titmouse; northern mockingbird; northern cardinal. And in my old home town of Austin, Texas, Mexico’s white-winged doves, exceedingly rare up until about two or three decades ago, are now abundant. Armadillos are even moving northward.
But I don’t pretend to be able to slow my brain enough to grok any large-scale trends. I just know that blueberries are ripening on Beech Hill weeks earlier than usual this year. Not that that’s all bad.
(Note: Beech Hill’s organic blueberry crop is managed by Coastal Mountains Land Trust, whose stewards arrange for harvest and sales. Whereas I’m sure there’ll be a free-pick weekend, as always, the barrens are not open for public harvest. I happened to pick three berries off plants growing along the open trail. If you look closely, you can probably find a few of these, too.)
Black-and-white warbler, Beech Hill, Rockport, Maine, 01 July 2010.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8 a.m., I walked all trails.
1. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
2. American crow
3. Chestnut-sided warbler
4. Veery
5. American robin
6. Rose-breasted grosbeak (voice)
7. Eastern towhee
8. Black-capped chickadee
9. Hairy woodpecker (voice)
10. Common yellowthroat
11. Gray catbird
12. American goldfinch
13. Eastern towhee
14. Black-and-white warbler
15. Cedar waxwing
16. Mourning dove
17. S0ng sparrow
18. Savannah sparrow
19. Tufted titmouse (voice)
20. Field sparrow
21. Yellow warbler (voice)
22. White-throated sparrow (voice)
23. Chipping sparrow (voice)
24. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
25. Purple finch (voice)
26. Hermit thrush (voice)
27. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
28. Great crested flycatcher (voice)
Elsewhere
29. Northern cardinal
30. Eastern phoebe
31. American redstart
32. House sparrow
33. Herring gull
34. Red-winged blackbird
Morning sky over the bay.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, field sparrow, gray catbird, great crested flycatcher, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, house sparrow, mourning dove, northern cardinal, purple finch, red-eyed vireo, red-winged blackbird, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, yellow warbler
