Maple leaf.
The morning dawned overcast with a promise of precipitation. But the forecast rain wouldn’t come until late in the day, and we had places to go, Jack and I.
Bald eagle.
When I first took him out, I saw a sharp-shinned hawk circling above Route 1, more-or-less southbound. (I believe that’s the first sharpie I’ve seen from my place.) Soon after, we headed up Route 1 to Belfast to meet my friend Liz, who’d invited us on a little hike at Moose Point State Park, a place I’d never been.
First stop was at Liz’s expansive and very birdy yard, where we saw mourning doves, blue jays, hairy woodpeckers, and a goldfinch. More hairys in a nearby tree, along with a white-breasted nuthatch. Herring gulls flew over. Pretty soon we embarked for Moose Point. The tide was high.
Out-of-season meant a closed gate, so we parked outside of it along with a couple other cars and walked a short distance to the trailhead. Right away, I spotted an adult bald eagle soaring over the water.
The trail rims a rocky beach that Jack would’ve preferred to follow had the tide been lower. We hadn’t gone far when I noticed a horned grebe in winter plumage diving nearby. We met a couple other Sunday hikers out for a leisurely stroll, including a birder who said she’d spotted a couple ducks offshore but hadn’t been able to ID them without binoculars.
Horned grebes.
Coming around the point, we noticed other water birds—a pair of red-breasted mergansers (the birder’s ducks), two more grebes, a loon in winter dress. Heard a song sparrow in the bushes nearby. And in a cluster of conifers, on our return, a couple golden-crowned kinglets were calling.
Belfast proper offered up herring gulls, rock pigeons, starlings. Then we swung by “The Muck”—a small urban skating pond—where floated a pair of mallards and a pair of hooded mergansers. Two pair of ducks to top off a perfect morning outing.
Shortly after our return to Rockport, I asked Jack if he was up for a Beech Hill hike, as usual. He couldn’t contain his enthusiasm at the idea.
The wind had risen and rain felt nearer. Our hike was brisk. Heard chickadees, jays, and crows—that’s all. I couldn’t help noticing how the November landscape differs markedly from the October one around here.
Afterward, as the first raindrops began smattering, I heard a titmouse on the hill and grabbed my camera. Didn’t see the tit, but I did notice a gray caterpillar descending on a tiny silky filament to my back deck. It looked to be some sort of inchworm. Today I learned that some Maine inchworms might stick around a full week into November.
Tonight is windy, rain is coming down, and lots of leaves are blowing off the oaks and maples.
Hooded mergansers at "The Muck."
Moose Point State Park List
Beginning about 10:30 a.m., I hiked the loop.
1. Black-capped chickadee
2. Bald eagle
3. Horned grebe
4. Red-breasted merganser
5. Common loon
6. Herring gull
7. Song sparrow
8. Golden-crowned kinglet
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 2 p.m., I hiked the open trail
Black-capped chickadee
9. Blue jay
10. American crow
Elsewhere
11. Sharp-shinned hawk
12. Blue jay
13. Mourning dove
14. Hairy woodpecker
15. American goldfinch
16. White-breasted nuthatch
17. Black duck
18. Mallard
19. Hooded merganser
20. European starling
21. Rock pigeon
22. Tufted titmouse
Three hills.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, bald eagle, black duck, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, common loon, European starling, golden-crowned kinglet, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, hooded merganser, horned grebe, mallard, mourning dove, red-breasted merganser, rock pigeon, sharp-shinned hawk, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch
