Beech Hill.
This day began and ended overcast. Betweentimes, the sun poked through. And it was warm—and by “warm,” I mean maybe mid- to upper-40s (F)—with little wind, so I figured I’d embark on maybe my last long bike ride of the year.
American crow.
Which I did about midday. Was nice. While cycling, I saw herring and ring-billed gulls and heard a starling. And upon returning from cycling, Jack and I hiked Beech Hill.
A group of people had just pulled in, and we hung behind them for a bit (while listening to the lovely, low voice of a pileated woodpecker no doubt calling to an intimate relative). Their little dog was a barker, so we passed in a hurry and walked fast up the hill. Crows were calling from the upper fields, several distant and a few nearby. They all took wing on our approach. One had something in its bill.
Still not a lot of wind. Rippling clouds spread away to the east above the water. Somewhere across the naked landscape I heard the sharp note of a flicker.
Monhegan.
Returning, I admired the comforting sky, the brilliant redness of some trailside berries, the purplish look of the leafless limbs of a poplar grove down the southern slope. Only as we were about to get back in the truck did I hear a distant chickadee-dee-dee!
Tomorrow, they say we’ll get some rain. Today I appreciate the clouds.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 2:15 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Pileated woodpecker (voice)
2. American crow
3. Northern flicker (voice)
4. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
Elsewhere
5. Herring gull
6. Ring-billed gull
7. European starling
Berries, Beech Hill, Rockport, 30 November 2010.
Tags: American crow, black-capped chickadee, European starling, herring gull, northern flicker, pileated woodpecker, ring-billed gull
