Ruby-crowned kinglet.
It pays to hit the hill early, it seems. Or earlier than I’ve been up there in recent days. This morning—the first fall morning with noticeable frost here at Clam Cove, by the way—I had a date to meet my friend Liz for an 8:30 bird walk at Beech Hill. I was thinking she might be disappointed with nothing but yellow-rumps and a few other species. Turns out that was wrong thinking.
Golden-crowned kinglet, Beech Hill, Rockport, Maine, 19 October 2010.
Blue sky, chilly, still. Just waiting in the parking lot I saw or heard seven species—including a small flock of juncos just as I turned in, a robin calling from somewhere, and a little bunch of golden-crowned kinglets flitting about in the low branches of some trees beyond the far lot. Kinglets flit like crazy, and it was dim in the trees, and it was hard to get a photo, but I got proof of the ID, if nothing else. After Liz showed up, a flicker flew directly overhead in an eastbound direction.
Not twenty paces up the trail, a pair of tiny birds zipped into view just a few feet from us. They were ruby-crowned kinglets. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen both our native kinglets so close together. Despite their flitting ways, I got one fairly decent photograph.
Yellow-rumped warbler.
And quite a few other species appeared. A crow flew by. Jays called in the distance, and a goldfinch. White-throat, song, and savannah sparrows showed up. Over in the east, where dozens of lobster boats floated like tiny flecks on the silvery bay, I saw a cormorant flapping furiously, southbound. And of course yellow-rumped warblers were zipping around all over the place. Scores of them. Everywhere.
We only walked the open trail, but returning we heard the guttural voice of a raven. Then a female hairy woodpecker appeared just a few feet off the trail, seemingly oblivious of the dog and two humans so nearby. All in all a lovely morning hike up the chilly hill.
Earlier, soon after rising, I’d heard a pileated woodpecker’s call on the hill out back of my place. Also a house sparrow across Route 1 at the Claddagh Motel. Later in the day, while out cycling, I spotted herring gulls, starlings, and pigeons.
Today I learned that an October maple tree, when the late afternoon sun shines over a low roof and into its flaming red-orange crown, can itself illuminate the shady dooryard of a white-painted house with warm, almost ethereal glow.
Tonight, Jupiter is hanging very close to the nearly full moon.
Hairy woodpecker.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Dark-eyed junco
2. Blue jay (voice)
3. Black-capped chickadee
4. Golden-crowned kinglet
5. Yellow-rumped warbler
6. American robin (voice)
7. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
8. Northern flicker
9. Ruby-crowned kinglet
10. White-throated sparrow
11. American crow
12. American goldfinch (voice)
13. Double-crested cormorant
14. Savannah sparrow
15. Common raven (voice)
16. Song sparrow
17. Hairy woodpecker
Elsewhere
18. Pileated woodpecker
19. House sparrow
20. Herring gull
21. European starling
22. Rock pigeon
Morning bay.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, common raven, dark-eyed junco, double-crested cormorant, European starling, golden-crowned kinglet, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, house sparrow, northern flicker, pileated woodpecker, rock pigeon, ruby-crowned kinglet, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler
