White-breasted nuthatch.
A warming trend? Yes, it would appear—in advance of a big rainstorm the forecasters are warning of. The snow on the back deck, there since Monday, had vanished by mid-morning. Still a sheet of ice on the parking lot, but change is afoot.
The resident jogger passed with crows and gulls in attendance. He feeds them something along Route 1 just south of us. The gulls and crows bickered about whatever it is he feeds them. Out back, I heard a nuthatch—then saw the bird poking about near a cavity in the great oak that overhangs my building.
Birch.
Jack and I jumped in the truck before noon. Above us, several lesser gulls swirled, and a small flock of mourning doves sped away in a southerly direction. We arrived at Beech Hill before noon. Three vehicles in the lot belonging to three groups of people we met on their way down. The trail still held snow. No chickadees, no crows—just a still-whitened hill awaiting us. We ascended rapidly, and our breathing grew heavy.
Before we’d hit the half-way point, I heard a bird—a woodpecker. A pileated woodpecker, laughing repeatedly in the trees to the north of us. It’d be the only bird on my Beech Hill list today.
Gray clouds hung low. In fact, they hung low enough to cover the tops of the inland hills. Offshore, the low clouds cloaked the islands. A strong eastern wind hit us as we rounded the last curve before the summit. That would be the direction the storm is coming from.
Rounding Beech Nut, I spotted a curled-up woolly bear caterpillar in a place still covered with snow just yesterday.
Two islands.
We headed back via Route 17 today, to take care of an errand in town. I spotted a pair of ducks at Chickawaukie Lake and so figured we’d return that way and check ’em out. Pulled into the vacant swimming area. A few dozen mallards there, is all. Plus a couple ring-billed gulls floating in the open water near shore. The ice sheet that’d formed this past sub-freezing week was already breaking up.
Back home, the wind rose, and a little rain began spattering down. I heard a blue jay somewhere in the distance.
Tonight is windy. Still not a lot of rain—but I’m hoping for enough to melt the ice sheet on my parking lot. We shall see.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 11:45 a.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Pileated woodpecker
Elsewhere
2. American crow
3. Herring gull
4. White-breasted nuthatch
5. Mourning dove
6. Mallard
7. Ring-billed gull
8. Blue jay
The inland hills.
Tags: American crow, herring gull, mallard, mourning dove, pileated woodpecker, ring-billed gull, white-breasted nuthatch
