Hairy woodpecker (female).
Kinda rainy this morning, so Jack and I blew off our morning hike. Instead we headed for Beech Hill toward the end of the day—late afternoon. The rain stopped fairly early; things had mostly dried off by early afternoon; by mid-afternoon, the roads were dry enough for a bike ride.
Common yellowthroat.
As we hit the wooded trail, the sun was seemingly about to emerge. Deer flies swarmed. Mosquitos, too. The understory was wet, with mushrooms everywhere. Those fairy-like moths accompanied us up the hill—as did the voices of vireos, warblers, and (especially) veeries. Beech Hill has got to be the veeriest hill I’ve ever been to. Which is a good thing. I love their liquid songs, their shy manner, their subtle ways of keeping tabs.
Coming up over the summit, I could see a faint white ball where the sun should be. We’d noticed a tourist family descending the open trail, waited a bit. The hilltop was so quiet. Distant yellowthroats, savannah sparrows, song sparrows, towhees, a jay, a hermit thrush—and the outlandishly human-sounding voice of a young raven. I swear they sound like human babies.
Not many new species down at the Beech Hill Road parking lot. I suspect the time of day had something to do with that. But coming back over the top, passing under the grove of spruce up there, I heard a tapping, looked up, and saw a hairy woodpecker not ten feet above me. A female. Casually checking crevices for food.
Deer flies again as we descended. And mosquitos. Also a black-throated green warbler. And, finally, patches of sunlight filtering down into the understory, illuminating lichen and bolete.
Schooner.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:45 p.m., I walked all trails.
1. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
2. American robin
3. Ovenbird (voice)
4. Common yellowthroat
5. Chestnut-sided warbler
6. American goldfinch (voice)
7. Veery
8. Eastern towhee
9. White-throated sparrow (voice)
10. Gray catbird (voice)
11. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
12. Cedar waxwing (voice)
13. Song sparrow
14. American crow (voice)
15. Northern flicker
16. Field sparrow (voice)
17. Savannah sparrow
18. Blue jay (voice)
19. Common raven (voice)
20. Hermit thrush (voice)
21. Hairy woodpecker
22. Chipping sparrow (voice)
23. Herring gull
24. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
Elsewhere
25. Northern cardinal
26. American redstart
27. House sparrow
Still life.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common raven, common yellowthroat, eastern towhee, field sparrow, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, herring gull, house sparrow, northern cardinal, northern flicker, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, veery, white-throated sparrow
