Dawn came bright and early—earlier than yesterday, as we near the vernal equinox. I found myself having to scramble first thing, so Jack and I ventured out right away into a brilliant morning full of birdsong. Titmouse, chickadee, house finch, crow, dove. At the datacenter in Rockland, I heard a cardinal singing, and (unexpectedly) a song sparrow. In town were herring gulls, ring-bills, pigeons, starlings, and a blue jay. Not long after, headed to a dental appointment, I didn’t even bother with my hooded sweatshirt.

Later, I had a phone message reporting my bicycle is ready to ride. Alas, over-busyness prevented me from retrieving it today.

But nothing prevents dog and me from our daily hike up Beech Hill. Granted, we didn’t get there until 5:30—but that would’ve been 4:30 just a few days ago. Plus, there’s that thing about the lengthening photoperiod.

A mourning dove on the road barely moved as we pulled in. No cars in the parking lot. Hardly a cloud in the sky. The snow-ridge on the lower trail shows signs of imminent failure. On the upper trail, the going was swift. I was glad to have brought my sweatshirt on this trip, though, as I felt the still-icy wind sluice through my clothes. Pulled my hands up into the sleeves, even—but what a wondrous hike.

The waxing moon rose over the spruces at the summit. The panoramic view of the bay made me stand up just a little straighter. Then I spotted a solitary crow flying off down the snow-free southeastern slope.

With the wind at our backs, we hiked back down. About half-way, we came upon my friend Sarah and her two dogs. Jack only growled a little at the eager youngster.

Tonight the sky seemed strafed with stars. I wondered if the moon will achieve fullness on the first day of spring—but then I looked it up, and it appears that’ll happen the day before.

Suddenly, in the quiet of everything, I heard the honks of geese from somewhere in the moonlit sky.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5:30 p.m., I hiked the open trail.

1. Mourning dove
2. American crow

Elsewhere

3. Tufted titmouse
4. Black-capped chickadee
5. House finch
6. Herring gull
7. Northern cardinal
8. Song sparrow
9. Rock pigeon
10. Blue jay
11. Ring-billed gull
12. European starling
13. Canada goose

Tags: American crow, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, Canada goose, European starling, herring gull, house finch, mourning dove, northern cardinal, ring-billed gull, rock pigeon, song sparrow, tufted titmouse

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 15th, 2011 at 10:13 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.