Beech Nut.
Snowing a little this morning. Wet snow. A light mushy layer on everything. I hadn’t been sitting at my desk very long when I heard crows yelling at something out back of the neighbor’s place, so I walked up to the deck and took a look through binoculars, but all I saw were crows yelling at something. Something low to the ground. I’ve seen them harassing a fox back there before—maybe that’s what it was.
Hillside.
Out front, house sparrows were chirping up a storm, but I heard no titmice or chickadees.
Plugging away, plugging away. Finally pulled myself free late in the day to do a little snow-clearing. An easy job—but then just as Jack and I jumped into the pickup, it began to snow pretty steadily all of a sudden. Wet snow. Many flakes. On the way up Powerhouse Hill, I saw a large flock of many birds flying up ahead of us through the snow. They were crows, maybe two or three dozen of them, flapping swiftly and with a purpose. I figured a hawk had something to do with this and—being careful to stay in the travel lane—I scanned the birds until I saw it: a lone red-tail soaring in arcs at the head of the pack. At least I’m pretty sure it was a red-tail and not the solitary red-shouldered hawk that’s been hanging around up there.
When we got to Beech Hill, we were the only ones there.
Beech Nut.
By then the snow was really coming down, and the wind had risen and was blowing pretty strongly from the northwest. Not quite a white-out, but close. We ascended in a hurry—no snowshoes again today, whereas in fact I might could’ve used ’em—and, turning the final curve before the summit, found ourselves heading straight into the wind. The temperature was mild, right about freezing, but the wind-whipped flakes stung my face a bit. And I liked it. Brisk, bracing.
Spruce.
Coming back down, I heard the caws of some crows from somewhere in the wind. No little birds were out in it, though. Can’t say as I blame ’em.
Kept snowing into the night. Heard a couple ambulances scream by. But by 9:30 or so, the snow had stopped and the temperature had fallen into the teens and the wind really began to burst and gust.
I love an edgy winter’s night.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. American crow
Elsewhere
2. House sparrow
3. Red-tailed hawk
4. Herring gull
Tags: American crow, herring gull, house sparrow, red-tailed hawk
