Was supposed to be cold, and it was. When dog and I headed to the wooded trailhead, the temp was 17° (F), but the air in the woodlands was oh-so-calm. And the woods themselves were oh-so-quiet. Being Christmas Day, I heard no traffic, no small planes overhead, just a distant barking dog.
After the dog stopped barking—so silent but for a few squeaky branches as a breeze picked up. That is to say, no birds.
No birds until we reached the open fields, when I heard the cry of a flicker. Soon after, I heard the croak of a raven—but I couldn’t get a photo of the bird. I did hear crows, too, and, at the summit, chickadees
Two crows, two chickadees. Six individual birds. Tomorrow’s supposed to be a similar day, perhaps a tad bit warmer (like 20°?). We shall see.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:12 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Northern Flicker (v)
2. Common Raven
3. American Crow* (v)
4. Black-capped Chickadee
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
†First-of-year
Tags: American crow, black-capped chickadee, common raven, northern flicker
