Northern harrier.
Breezy was the morning. Sunny to begin with, but hazy clouds soon moved over. On my first trip out with Jack, I counted eight bird species: house finch, song sparrow, northern cardinal, house sparrow, black-capped chickadee, herring gull, hairy woodpecker, crow. Took care of a few inside chores then headed to town.
Osprey.
A few starlings fluttering about, a few pigeons. Gulls, of course. We hit the post offices and the supermarket before heading out Route 17 toward Beech Hill. Passing the Chickawaukie Lake swim beach, I noticed a large bird flapping low over the pond and quickly turned in. I thought it might’ve been an immature eagle but soon saw it was an osprey, circling very close to shore. I grabbed my camera, jumped out, and snapped a bunch of photos—although the hazy backlight didn’t help with details. The bird circled, hovered, circled again, hovered again, then finally flapped off toward the east.
The wind was blowing pretty good when we pulled into the Rockville Street parking lot. Overhead, a hazy sky that let a little intermittent sun through. Before long I heard herring gulls in the breeze. Along the sumac grove, I saw what looked like a scattering of feathers on the trail, but looking closer I recognized small clumps of fur. An owl got a vole, or something. Not much more to report until we reached the upper fields, when I glanced over at the kestrel tree—and there it was, perched where I’d seen it before. I raised my camera and, as if it knew, the kestrel lifted off and veered away. About that time I heard the voice of a song sparrow.
Coming up the last wooded stretch, I heard a chickadee’s spring fee-bee! Then I saw the little bird. Got a good look at its puffed up throat and tiny parted beak as it sang. Nothing much happening at Beech Nut, so we began walking swiftly down the open trail.
Pussy willow.
Suddenly, nearing the road, coming from one of the trailside birches, I heard a sharp, quick chip! We stopped. There in the birch sat a little yellow bird. I trained my binoculars on it: a pine warbler—first warbler of the year. When I then lifted my camera, it flew away. (And I usually lift my camera first, too.) A moment later, I heard a more mellifluous chirp! and spotted a phoebe sitting on a small twig in the middle of the lower blueberry field. I watched it wag its tail a couple times, dip down to grab a ground bug, then flit back up again. The sprigs it sat on were only a foot tall, tops. It kept up like this, making its way along the field.
Along the road, I heard a robin singing off in the breeze.
Returning, we were facing what had risen to become a strong, cold wind. Around the final curve before the summit I caught sight of a harrier to our left, sailing low into the wind. It caught sight of us, too, apparently, because it wheeled around and out of sight. But I wanted a photo. So we retraced our steps a couple hundred yards down—and I saw it again well to the north, heading back east. So we turned again, faced the wind again, rounded the curve again—and there it was again, very near. So near, in fact, that I couldn’t focus on the hawk, as it was gliding low enough to be shielded by some near brush. It emerged just long enough for a couple quick shots. Not long after, I watched it soaring low over the distant eastern field.
Eastern phoebe.
Not far into the woods, a hermit thrush zipped silently onto a low branch about forty feet away, mostly obscured by nearer twigs and branches. As we crossed the boardwalk, I heard a goldfinch fly over and, from somewhere, the caw of a crow.
Neither heard nor saw any other birds on the lower wooded trail—that is, other than the voices of herring gulls.
Tonight, the wind is whipping viciously through the oaks out back. I hear a line of strong storms has been sweeping the Eastern Seaboard. We’re advised to expect a hard rain.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 12:30 p.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Herring gull (voice)
2. Song sparrow (voice)
3. American kestrel
4. Black-capped chickadee
5. Pine warbler
6. Eastern phoebe
7. American robin (voice)
8. Northern harrier
9. Hermit thrush
10. American goldfinch (voice)
11. American crow
Elsewhere
12. House finch
13. Northern cardinal
14. House sparrow
15. Hairy woodpecker
16. European starling
17. Rock pigeon
18. Osprey
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American kestrel, American robin, black-capped chickadee, eastern phoebe, European starling, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, northern cardinal, northern harrier, osprey, pine warbler, rock pigeon, song sparrow
