Beech Nut.
Yet another late-hike day. This morning dawned bright and nippy, with frost reports in neighboring towns—none here, though. Just a lot to do early. (Morning meeting in town.) Sun warmed the day, but we had more wind than the past couple days. Still, my afternoon bike ride felt great. An invigorating chill in the air, a couple robins in the roadside shrubbery, the complex smell of fallen leaves.
Fall leaves.
We hit the open Beech Hill trail at a quarter to five, Jack and I. A couple folks were just headed back to their cars, so we had the hill all to ourselves. Banks of clouds were rolling in from the southeast, and here and there across the autumn landscape the sun shone through openings in those clouds, leaving occasional bright swaths of color. Jays were calling in all directions. Yellow-rumped warblers still flitted about, but fewer it seemed than yesterday. Chickadees, crows—not much else, frankly, during our ascent.
At the summit, I liked the look of the stalks of the weeds on the roof of Beech Nut, silhouetted against a dramatic sky. In the other direction, the islands lay quietly, illuminated irregularly by the setting sun. I scanned the shore with my binoculars and caught sight of a large dark bird soaring this side of the islands. Headed more or less into the breeze, it never flapped its wings. I suspected a turkey vulture—but its outspread wings seemed flatter than a vulture’s telltale vee. The bird began to circle slowly, descending. I watched it circle again—and then one last time, flashing its rounded white tailfeathers before disappearing behind the trees out beyond Beauchamp Point. An adult bald eagle.
I also saw some flickers flapping southward down the eastern slope. Heard the voice of a song sparrow. Stood and just soaked in the lovely, dying afternoon.
Nearing the end of our descent, a small bird hopped suddenly up onto a low limb of a birch and we stopped. I took a look through my binocs: a hermit thrush, watching us quietly. As I lifted my camera to attempt a photo, it flitted away into the shadows with a low chuck.
Rain is due after midnight. Rain and a blow. Odds are tomorrow will be a different kind of day.
Inland hills.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:45 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Blue jay (voice)
2. Black-capped chickadee
3. Yellow-rumped warbler
4. American crow
5. Bald eagle
6. Song sparrow (voice)
7. Northern flicker
8. Hermit thrush
Elsewhere
9. Herring gull
10. Rock pigeon
11. American robin
12. Mourning dove
Bald eagle soaring.
Tags: American crow, American robin, bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, hermit thrush, herring gull, mourning dove, northern flicker, rock pigeon, song sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler
