Common yellowthroat (female).
It had to happen eventually.
For the second straight day, showers overnight. The landscape wet, the sky overcast. Warmer today, though—and with a bit of a breeze.
Beech hill blackberries.
We hit the wooded trailhead and right away heard a goldfinch and a vireo. And then a crow. But after that, not very many birds sang or called or showed themselves.
Oh, a couple yellowthroats did, as always. But I wouldn’t have guessed they’d be the only species of wood-warbler I’d see today, that’s for sure. Nor would I imagine I would see or hear a robin, or a flicker, or an alder flycatcher, or a phoebe. I’d listed only eight birds by the time we’d hit the summit—never would I have imagined that’d be more than half my final total.
I did ID three sparrows (no field or chippy). I did hear a hermit thrush. But a stout wind was blowing from the southwest, and it rustled the summer leaves and resounded in my ears, drowning the usual distant calls of titmouse or wood thrush or pewee or cuckoo.
The one minor surprise was the appearance of a turkey vulture over the summit on our return hike up. It stuck around only briefly, not flapping its wings once, then soared away to the north.
The only bird that posed for me today: a female common yellowthroat.
(Ah, August: most covert, secretive month.)
Three mushrooms.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. American goldfinch (voice)
2. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
3. American crow (voice)
4. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
5. Common yellowthroat
6. Eastern towhee
7. Cedar waxwing
8. Gray catbird
9. White-throated sparrow (voice)
10. Song sparrow
11. Savannah sparrow
12. Blue jay (voice)
13. Turkey vulture
14. Hermit thrush (voice)
Elsewhere
15. Herring gull
16. House sparrow
Two islands.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, common yellowthroat, eastern towhee, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, house sparrow, red-eyed vireo, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, turkey vulture, white-throated sparrow
