This morning Captain Jack and I led a bird walk along the sunny, warming trails of Beech Hill Preserve. A real good number of folks (twenty-ish?) showed up, and the universe smiled on us.
Right away, birds—and among them, again, plenty of them warblers.
Other noteworthy birds were a pair of calling Broad-winged Hawks, a drumming Pileated Woodpecker, a photogenic kestrel, a plethora of towhees. But for the second straight day, I tallied two first-of-year warblers—a Yellow Warbler, and (my favorite) a Black-throated Blue Warbler. (The latter even posed for a nice photo.)
It was fun to tell a few stories of the hill, to offer a few tips, to recall some humorous bird-related memories. An auspicious day, this 9th of May.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:30 a.m. sun time (7:30 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Black-and-white Warbler
2. Brown Creeper (v)
3. Black-capped Chickadee*
4. Northern Cardinal* (v)
5. Ovenbird** (v)
6. Tufted Titmouse (v)
7. Eastern Towhee**
8. Blue Jay (v)
9. American Goldfinch
10. Chestnut-sided Warbler
11. Chipping Sparrow (v)
12. Eastern Bluebird
13. American Crow*
14. Turkey Vulture*
15. American Kestrel
16. Field Sparrow (v)
17. Song Sparrow**
18. Savannah Sparrow (v)
19. Tree Swallow
20. Eastern Phoebe**
21. White-throated Sparrow* (v)
22. Gray Catbird (v)
23. Yellow-rumped Warbler
24. Purple Finch
25. Black-throated Blue Warbler
26. Northern Parula
27. Yellow Warbler
28. Red-breasted Nuthatch (v)
29. Black-throated Green Warbler** (v)
30. Broad-winged Hawk
31. Pileated Woodpecker (drumming)
32. Hairy Woodpecker (v)
33. Common Raven (v)
34. Blue-headed Vireo (v)
35. Osprey
Elsewhere
36. Mallard
37. Pine Warbler (v)
38. House Finch
39. Herring Gull
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
†First-of-year
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American kestrel, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, blue-headed vireo, broad-winged hawk, brown creeper, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common raven, eastern bluebird, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, field sparrow, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, house finch, mallard, northern cardinal, northern parula, osprey, ovenbird, pileated woodpecker, purple finch, red-breasted nuthatch, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, turkey vulture, white-throated sparrow, yellow warbler, yellow-rumped warbler
