Yellow-rumped warbler (male).
An overcast morning. Cool. First bird I heard was a tufted titmouse, singing its alluring three-note call.
Saw crows flapping around, and a solitary herring gull. The house finch was sounding off. When I took Jack out, I spotted a pair of silent phoebes. Then I got busy all morning. Then had a long (albeit routine) dentist appointment in afternoon. Finally, far into the day, I took my dog to town—more gulls, a pair of grackles (FOY species), an osprey flying low over Route 1. Then it was off to the wooded Beech Hill trail.
Yellow-rumped warbler (female).
By that time, a patch of light rain had moved through. The woods were foggy and drippy. I heard a robin singing out in the fog somewhere. And the cries of herring gulls, as (seemingly) always.
Towhees calling up the hill—not singing, just sending out their solitary wheep! note in the fog. Also chickadees somewhere. And a crow. And a far-off flicker. Not much chance of seeing any birds in such weather conditions, I figured.
I was wrong.
First I heard a single, hard chip! In my head I tried to come up with a description of the brief, staccato sound. Rather woody, almost like a twig being snapped. I recognized it as a warbler and thought perhaps it came from a yell0w-rump. Then I saw its source flit over the trail. A large-ish warbler, looked like. That would match a “rump.”
Soon I heard a couple more chips and a couple more birds flitted past. Then a few more. Before I knew it, we were surrounded by—sure enough—yellow-rumped warblers. Something of a minor fallout, in fact. Perhaps they’d been blown in with the weather from offshore and were descending onto the nearest high point of land, who knows? But there they were, dancing around in the low, leafless trees.
Suddenly a grouse exploded from the hillside. Didn’t seem to bother the warblers, though.
Yellow-rumped warbler (male).
As dog and I reached the upper fields, we found ourselves still surrounded by a multitude of chips coming from little bluish birds with yellow sides and yellow butts and tiny yellow stripes on their heads. Those would be the males—but there were also duller birds with faded yellow markings. It’s easy to tell male from female yell0w-rump at this time of year.
Then one of the males sang. A sweet jumbling series of notes.
Then another.
A song sparrow called from somewhere in the foggy field. We stopped at the edge of the open landscape and just watched the wave of warblers move along around us. (Or at least I did—not sure what Jack thought of us just standing there, but he’s a patient dog.)
Coming up the little wooded stretch to the summit, more rumps bounded about, chipping. I got a few grainy photos.
At the foggy summit, I spotted a phoebe. I also heard the hoarse quay! note of a hermit thrush. And by the time we’d begun descending again, the thrush was singing its miraculous song—a perfect song for a foggy April day on a wooded hillside in Maine.
A few more rumps moved through. We slogged down across the muddy lower track and, at the same spot as yesterday, another grouse erupted in flight. Just before we reached the vernal pool, I heard the telltale tsee! of a white-throated sparrow. The last species of the day.
Eastern phoebe.
Still drippy tonight. I haven’t checked the weather report. I wonder what tomorrow will bring?
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5:45 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. American robin (voice)
2. Herring gull (voice)
3. Eastern towhee (voice)
4. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
5. American crow (voice)
6. Northern flicker (voice)
7. Yellow-rumped warbler
8. Ruffed grouse
9. Song sparrow
10. Eastern phoebe
11. Hermit thrush (voice)
12. White-throated sparrow (voice)
Elsewhere
13. Tufted titmouse
14. House finch
15. Common grackle
16. Osprey
17. Mourning dove
18. Northern cardinal
Tags: American crow, American robin, black-capped chickadee, common grackle, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, osprey, ruffed grouse, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-throated sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler
