Morning sky.
Got up and out before 7. A sunny morning, as promised. A bit cool, not much wind. The phoebes were flitting about out back, and the house finch was singing out front.
Odd, but by the time we got to Beech Hill—not much more than a five minute drive—a wide stripe of clouds had moved across the sun. I’d had hopes of some nice photos, but the prospects on a cloudy morning aren’t great. Still, an ovenbird greeted Jack and me with its loud call of teacher teacher teacher! And the phoebe at the trailhead flitted away at our approach.
Eastern towhee.
Coming up the trail, I heard the voices of the familiar resident birds: flicker, towhee, crow, chickadee, gull. White-throated sparrows were still about, although not quite in the numbers of yesterday and the day before. Heard the calls of a goldfinch and a purple finch not minutes apart.
Warblers today were black-and-white, yellow-rumped, yellowthroat, and—on our way back down through the lower wooded trail—a black-throated green. Sparrows included white-throat, song, field, chipping, savannah, and junco. Saw a couple kestrels toward the summit; saw a pair of cowbirds and heard the call of a redwing.
Jay, robin, titmouse. At one point, a silent hermit thrush hopped up on a trailside twig. (Hermit thrushes have been common up there so far this year.) We met Chuck and his German shepherd dog, Greta, on the trail for the first time this year.
Returning down through the woods, I noticed Jack looking intently in a particular direction. We stopped. I heard rustling over that way in last fall’s leaves. Then I saw a turkey sneaking off along an old stone wall. I understand turkey season began today. There are plenty to go around, I guess—but I’m sort of rooting for the turkeys.
American crow.
Heard a few Canada geese fly over. Heard the clipped phrases of solitary blue-headed vireo. Then, not far from the parking lot, I heard what sounded like crows swarming something. I couldn’t spot the crows or whatever they were harassing—but I did hear the high whistle of a broad-winged hawk. Or was it a jay imitating the broad-winged? We stopped and I cast about the sky beyond the still-leafless branches of the big oaks. Finally, I spotted the source of the sound: a broad-wing, sure enough. Then I saw another. The pair of hawks circled above the trees for a while then zipped away, one after another, toward the east.
Quite a few bird on the hill today. In fact, only two on my list did not appear up there—house finch and cardinal. I heard the latter out back of my place as the sun went down.
The sun, by the way, emerged from behind the clouds not long after we returned from Beech Hill.
I understand rain is due tomorrow. That’ll likely change things around a bit. Still, I’m looking forward to what the next few days of May will bring.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Ovenbird (voice)
2. Eastern phoebe
3. Northern flicker (voice)
4. Eastern towhee
5. American crow
6. Black-capped chickadee
7. Herring gull
8. White-throated sparrow
9. American goldfinch
10. Purple finch (voice)
11. Yellow-rumped warbler
12. Black-and-white warbler (voice)
13. Downy woodpecker (voice)
14. Song sparrow
15. American kestrel
16. Common yellowthroat
17. Brown-headed cowbird
18. Savannah sparrow
19. Red-winged blackbird
20. Blue jay (voice)
21. American robin
22. Tufted titmouse (voice)
23. Field sparrow (voice)
24. Hermit thrush
25. Mourning dove (voice)
26. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
27. Chipping sparrow (voice)
28. Tree swallow (voice)
29. Wild turkey
30. Canada goose (voice)
31. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
32. Blue-headed vireo (voice)
33. Broad-winged hawk
Elsewhere
34. House finch
35. Northern cardinal
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American kestrel, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, blue-headed vireo, broad-winged hawk, brown-headed cowbird, Canada goose, chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, hermit thrush, herring gull, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, ovenbird, purple finch, red-winged blackbird, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, wild turkey, yellow-rumped warbler
