I thought I saw an owl this morning. I feel pretty sure I did see an owl, in fact. A Barred Owl is my guess. But all I really saw was a hawk-sized brown bird float silently down between the (similarly brown) tree trunks along the trail I was hiking with Jack-my-dog. “Hawk!” was my first thought. But the broad-wings are gone—and at this season, what other hawk would decide to hang out among the trunks of a forested hillside?
Without a sure ID, of course, I couldn’t add the bird to my list today. Nor could I add two species with very different unfamiliar calls. I could add the woodcock we flushed, though. And a Pileated Woodpecker.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:10 a.m., I hiked all trails (and then some).
1. American Goldfinch**
2. Black-capped Chickadee
3. Blue Jay
4. American Crow*
5. Pileated Woodpecker
6. Pine Siskin (v)
7. American Woodcock
8. Song Sparrow
9. Red-breasted Nuthatch (v)
10. American Robin
11. Northern Flicker (v)
12. Purple Finch (v)
13. Eastern Bluebird (v)
Elsewhere
14. Northern Cardinal (v)
15. Wild Turkey
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
†First-of-year
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, American woodcock, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, eastern bluebird, northern cardinal, northern flicker, pileated woodpecker, pine siskin, purple finch, red-breasted nuthatch, song sparrow, wild turkey
