Palm warbler.
It was a sunny morning, a cool morning. Crows flapping about. But when I took Jack out, I didn’t hear many birds—the crows, a house finch, a song sparrow singing from the middle distance. Nothing much to write home about.
Red squirrel.
The day progressed slowly and rather purposefully—including a trip to the vet (dog and cat) in late morning—and involved a lot of staring at a computer screen, pulling out Bézier curves. The sun shone, the day warmed. In the back of my mind rose a hankering for a bike ride, but I found myself in the zone and kept pushing the ride back until later in the day. Then came the overcast, things cooled, and I decided to heck with the bike ride. A Beech Hill hike would have to suffice. For now.
Closed up shop a little early, grabbed Jack, got the mail, drove over to the wooded trail. En route, at their little pasture, I pointed out the cows to Jack (being a cattle dog, he appreciates it) and counted a few dozen herring gulls in the grass, along with a couple mallards.
Several minutes into our hike under overcast skies, I had the feeling today would be a repeat of yesterday—i.e., mostly quiet, few birds, the calm before the storm. Finally did hear the cries of some of the herring gulls (no doubt the ones we’d just seen a while before). About half-way up, I heard the thin, three-note calls of a kinglet. Then the voices of chickadees. A slight breeze clattered the upper limbs of the poplars. I noticed a few flying insects and wondered where the birds were.
Found art.
No sign of any kestrel scanning the upper fields. No harrier prowling the still-bronze slope. I did hear a song sparrow, at least. And a robin appeared in the little wooded area before the summit. And I did hear the song of a phoebe.
Ran into my friend Amy at Beech Nut, and just as I was lamenting the dearth of birds, I heard a chip over toward the spruce grove and pointed out the resident phoebe. At least I thought at first it was the phoebe over there flicking its tail. But since when did phoebes have a yellow glow about them? At once I realized I was looking at a palm warbler (another tail-flicker)—first of the year. The warbler flitted about the trunks of the trees, dipping down to the ground occasionally, collecting bugs, posing for photos. Best look I’ve ever had of a palm, in fact.
I suppose by now I should know better than to whine.
Coming back down through the lower woods, I heard what sounded like the chips of another palm warbler (never spotted it) and the percolating flight song of a goldfinch. And then a singing cardinal.
White-breasted nuthatches.
On returning home, while kicking off my clothing at the back door (picked four ticks off my pants legs), I heard the gentle purring sounds of a nuthatch, looked up, and saw a pair of them engaging in a courtship display at the old nesting cavity in the big overhanging oak limb. The same cavity that kept a successful nuthatch nest a few years ago (and an unsuccessful one the following year). It was an interesting display: as one bird poked its face out of the cavity, the other would appear to sweep the limbs, rocking back and forth, “wiping its sword.” After a while, this bird (the male, I presume) appeared with some nest fluff that it handed off to the other at the entrance to the hole. I could’ve stood there watching for a long time but felt a little like a voyeur.
A lot of squirrels out today, too: three red squirrels at Beech Hill, a chipmunk out back, and a gray squirrel carrying a clump of leaves into yet another hole in an oak several trees down from the nuthatches’.
A minute ago, I took Jack out. An overcast night (rain is due) and calm. Suddenly I heard the loud cry of a killdeer from somewhere across the road. Just a single cry—but loud enough to awaken another bird, apparently, because a few faint, high chips came from the trees. All of this to a sweet background chorus of spring peepers.
Beech Nut.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:30 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. Herring gull (voice)
2. Golden-crowned kinglet (voice)
3. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
4. Song sparrow (voice)
5. American robin
6. Eastern phoebe
7. American crow (voice)
8. Palm warbler
9. American goldfinch (voice)
10. Northern cardinal (voice)
Elsewhere
11. House finch
12. Rock pigeon
13. Mourning dove
14. Mallard
15. White-breasted nuthatch
16. Killdeer
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-capped chickadee, eastern phoebe, golden-crowned kinglet, herring gull, house finch, killdeer, mallard, mourning dove, northern cardinal, palm warbler, rock pigeon, song sparrow, white-breasted nuthatch
