Clear again this morning, but cooler. Jack and I had an engagement a ways inland, so we hit Beech Hill early for a change. No one else was hiking the hill.

Not too chilly, not much wind. I heard both crow and raven—even saw some crows—and goldfinch, flicker, jay, and kinglet. Also a chickadee. The morning sun cast a silvery light on the distant bay.

Soon after, we headed with my friend Kristen to Greene, Maine, where Kristen’s friend Judy was hosting an early Thanksgiving dinner. I’d never been to Greene. Judy’s house is at the end of a long dirt road on a wooded hillside. Her property is amazing. We took a hike up through the woods, past old twisting woody vines, green-lichen-covered stumps, and glacial boulders that looked like giant frogs. Jack got to run free for a change, along with two other friendly dogs. Our footfalls, humans’ and dogs’, crashed noisily through the new-fallen leaves, and I didn’t notice any birds in the wood except for flitting kinglets. However, Judy had a feeder outside her sunroom: chickadees, two nuthatch species, titmice, downy woodpeckers, jays.

From the sunroom we also followed the course of a meadow vole that scurried through a tunnel made of leaves and out into the open to snatch fallen seeds and then back again—over and over and over. I enjoyed watching the vole.

Dinner was delicious. Conversation also. Dog and I grew tired after a while.

Now I’m home again, and the waxing moon is caught in the limbs of an oak. There’s a haze around the setting moon. Tomorrow might be cloudy.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:15 a.m., I hiked the open trail.

1. American crow
2. Black-capped chickadee
3. Common raven (voice)
4. Northern flicker (voice)
5. American goldfinch (voice)
6. Blue jay
7. Golden-crowned kinglet

Elsewhere

8. Herring gull
9. Pileated woodpecker
10. House sparrow
11. White-breasted nuthatch
12. Red-breasted nuthatch
13. Tufted titmouse
14. Downy woodpecker

Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, common raven, downy woodpecker, golden-crowned kinglet, herring gull, house sparrow, northern flicker, pileated woodpecker, red-breasted nuthatch, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 14th, 2010 at 10:58 pm and is filed under Lists, Observations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.