Veery.
OK, so I slept in. Hell, it’s Saturday. Plus, I’m recovering from a bicycle accident—I T-boned a car a couple days ago going about 15 to 20 mph. Dented the heck out of the car, and my bike needs a new back wheel. But all I ended up with is some bruises. So it’s all good.
American robin.
But we didn’t get to Beech Hill until 8 a.m. this morning, Jack and I. Kind of late in the day to begin a summer bird walk—plus, it was really warm already. Sunny and humid and warm. Hot, even. Deer flies still swarming. But I had hopes of getting a decent photo or two, thanks to some nice, bright light.
Didn’t necessarily happen. In fact, I’d listed only ten species by the time we emerged into the first open field just below the summit. No garter snake on the stones it’s been frequenting. (It slipped away again yesterday, did I mention?) But sparrows began talking, and again I counted all five common Beech Hill species. It was also nice to hear three flycatchers—phoebe, alder, pewee. But not a lot of extraneous birds. No woodpeckers until the last few minutes, when I heard (what must’ve been) a hairy woodpecker drumming.
But there were plenty of insects out. Cicadas singing, butterflies on the milkweed. Deer flies, of course.
Later, in Camden, I visited an old friend in the shade of the Amphitheater. An art fair was going on. As we talked, I heard (then saw) an osprey crying high in its mid-summer flight display. I heard (then saw) a cluster of chimney swifts chattering above the town. And I heard (but didn’t see) a laughing gull.
All-in-all, a warm, humid, sweaty, luscious, wonderful, summery day.
(On our return hike I counted my paces from the Beech Hill Road parking lot up over the summit and down the lower wooded trail: 3,447.)
Black swallowtail.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8 a.m., I walked all trails.
1. Chestnut-sided warbler (voice)
2. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
3. Common yellowthroat
4. American goldfinch (voice)
5. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
6. American robin
7. Eastern towhee
8. Veery
9. Cedar waxwing
10. Field sparrow (voice)
11. Song sparrow
12. Eastern phoebe
13. Alder flycatcher (voice)
14. Hermit thrush (voice)
15. Yellow warbler (voice)
16. Blue jay (voice)
17. White-throated sparrow (voice)
18. Savannah sparrow
19. Chipping sparrow (voice)
20. Gray catbird
21. Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
22. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
23. Ovenbird (voice)
24. Black-and-white warbler (voice)
25. Hairy woodpecker (drumming)
Elsewhere
26. Northern cardinal
27. White-breasted nuthatch
28. Herring gull
29. Osprey
30. Chimney swift
31. Laughing gull
Oak leaves.
Tags: alder flycatcher, American goldfinch, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chimney swift, chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, field sparrow, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, herring gull, laughing gull, northern cardinal, osprey, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, veery, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, yellow warbler
