American kestrel.
Because I expected rain, I didn’t hop out of bed at 6 or 6:30. I slept in. That is, until a beam of sunlight caught my sleepy attention. What? Jumped up, stumbled about, and soon Jack and I were headed for Beech Hill.
Trout lilies.
Nice to hear an ovenbird first thing. The usual other species—goldfinch, the kiosk phoebe, towhee, chickadee, crow, gull. Also nice to see little buds on the trees: walnut-sized greenery on the maple twigs, peanut-sized on the oaks’. Trout lilies have barely begun blooming. Exciting to see Nature on the brink of busting loose.
Gulls in the periphery. The voices of black-and-white warblers, flickers and robins and white-throats. Up toward the summit, I heard (and saw) yellowthroats. A turkey vulture soared past.
Having started late, we didn’t have a load of time, so I simply stopped and listened at Beech Nut for a minute. Heard savannah sparrows and field sparrows from down the open slopes. A kestrel made an appearance, hovered for a minute, moved on. Before we started back down, I heard—then saw—a pair of Canada geese flying frantically off toward the bay. In the first little wooded stretch, I heard the gobble of a turkey near where I saw a hen yesterday. I wondered if it might’ve actually been a hunter’s call, but when I also heard a couple dueling flickers crying out in the same area (one with an odd descending call), I figured it must’ve been the real thing.
Broad-winged hawk.
We headed back down the upper trail, and at the first opening in the trees, a shadow passed over. I looked up. Not thirty feet above us was a soaring hawk. A broad-wing. A pair of broad-wings, in fact. I raised my camera right away, but they were too close to get a good fix on. Then they circled higher, and I managed a couple photos. And one of them called—a high-pitched whistled scree!
At the bottom, I heard a cardinal’s sharp chip note. Decided to walk a few steps to the vernal pool to see if the mallards were there. Sure enough, at least one of them was.
Finally, just before we reached the parking lot, I heard the rapid call of a white-breasted nuthatch.
Elsewhere today, spotted a couple mourning doves on utility lines. Heard house sparrows in town, and saw a couple starlings. And at one point on North Main Street, Rockland, I caught sight of an osprey flying low toward the east with a fish in its talons. That’s an image I’d like to capture someday. (Fish hawks are so perfectly built to do exactly what they do.)
At home this evening, I confirmed that both the nuthatches and phoebes still keep nests within a few feet of my back deck.
Tonight, the air is misty and making for a diffuse glow from the streetlights. I hear foghorns.
Addendum: woodcock calling from across the road at 10 p.m.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:15 a.m., I hiked the upper wooded trail.
1. Ovenbird (voice)
2. American goldfinch
3. Eastern phoebe
4. Eastern towhee
5. Black-capped chickadee
6. American crow
7. Herring gull
8. Black-and-white warbler (voice)
9. Northern flicker (voice)
10. American robin (voice)
11. White-throated sparrow (voice)
12. Yellow-rumped warbler
15. American kestrel
14. Song sparrow
15. Common yellowthroat
16. Turkey vulture
17. Field sparrow (voice)
18. Tree swallow (voice)
19. Savannah sparrow (voice)
20. Canada goose
21. Wild turkey (voice)
22. Broad-winged hawk
23. Northern cardinal (voice)
24. Mallard
25. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
Elsewhere
26. House finch
27. Mourning dove
28. House sparrow
29. European starling
30. Osprey
31. American woodcock
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American kestrel, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, broad-winged hawk, Canada goose, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, European starling, field sparrow, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, mallard, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, osprey, ovenbird, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tree swallow, turkey vulture, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, wild turkey, yellow-rumped warbler
