This was an odd, windy, hazy, crazily quiet morning. Had no birds on my list until dog and I had walked about half way up the lower wooded trail—the distant caw of a crow. Next I heard woodpeckers excavating a tree up ahead: a pair of Pileated Woopeckers.
Weird.
For the rest of our hike, I counted a dozen other species. Fourteen total. The lowest number since our return to Maine
Come early afternoon, after the sun emerged and the air warmed into the 80s, and I decided to take a twelve-mile bike ride—I counted several additional species. And came eye to eye with a turkey right out the kitchen window.
Eerie.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:29 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. American Crow** (v)
2. Pileated Woodpecker
3. Eastern Towhee
4. Cedar Waxwing
5. Red-breasted Nuthatch
6. Herring Gull*
7. American Goldfinch
8. Song Sparrow
9. American Robin (v)
10. Yellow-rumped Warbler
11. Gray Catbird
12. Black-capped Chickadee**
13. Red-eyed Vireo
14. Blue Jay (v)
Elsewhere
15. Mourning Dove
16. Carolina Wren (v)
17. Wild Turkey
18. Rock Pigeon
19. Osprey (v)
20. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
Mammals
Eastern Gray Squirrel
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
†First-of-year
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, Carolina wren, Cedar waxwing, eastern gray squirrel, eastern towhee, gray catbird, herring gull, mourning dove, osprey, pileated woodpecker, red-breasted nuthatch, red-eyed vireo, rock pigeon, song sparrow, wild turkey, yellow-rumped warbler
