Ruby-throated hummingbird.
Woke up, looked out, saw fog. A big, white, drippy miasma of fog. It persisted all day, the fog. I haven’t seen the sun for a week.
But that’s all right. We live on a water planet. Water feeds the plants that provide the oxygen we breathe, that feed us, that sustain the little critters of the woodland. In the clouds of water that surrounded me this morning, the bright song of a house finch echoed through the trees. Crows stalked the dewy grass. Ovenbirds sang loudly out back.
Savannah sparrow.
Went to town for lunch. Gulls, mourning doves, starlings. pigeons.
After work, Jack and I traveled through the fog to Beech Hill. This had to be the thickest fog of the year so far—you couldn’t see very far in front of you. Coming up the drippy trail, though, the birds were vocal. Within a few dozen yards, I heard ovenbirds, a flicker, a black-throated green warbler, and a robin. And my list of species kept climbing as dog and I did. The descending note of a veery. Then another one. Interesting how they tend to rise in pitch, a veery’s notes—ever higher, seemingly, the closer you get.
A yellowthroat, a chestnut-sided warbler. Gulls in the distance. A tufted titmouse off in the trees. At one point, an ovenbird flitted up into a small branch directly in front of us, but I couldn’t focus fast enough and missed the photo.
A hermit thrush singing. The notes of white-throated sparrows. More veeries. Veeries all over the hill today.
At the upper fields, I heard catbirds and song sparrows and more yellowthroats. Spotted a little hummingbird zipping across against the fog (first hummingbird sighting on the hill for me this year). A wood thrush singing from the same place as yesterday. The savannah sparrow was hopping around the grass in front of Beech Nut, as it’s been doing every day for the past week or so.
Descending, I heard the distant voice of a cardinal. More gulls. The voice of a goldfinch in overflight. Blue jays. Crows.
Down the lower wooded trail, I heard another black-throated green (or perhaps the same bird) and the single call of a parula. As we neared the parking lot, I heard a singing rose-breasted grosbeak. Then, out of nowhere, a hairy woodpecker called.
New oak leaves.
Back home: foggy. An ovenbird going nuts out there (they were having little territorial battles on Beech Hill also). And a veery singing up the hill. Singing. Such a lovely song.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5:15 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. Ovenbird
2. Northern flicker (voice)
3. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
4. American robin (voice)
5. Eastern towhee
6. Herring gull (voice)
7. Veery
8. Black-capped chickadee
9. White-throated sparrow
10. Black-and-white warbler
11. Common yellowthroat
12. Chestnut-sided warbler (voice)
13. Tufted titmouse (voice)
14. Hermit thrush (voice)
15. Gray catbird
16. Ruby-throated hummingbird
17. Song sparrow
18. Wood thrush (voice)
19. Savannah sparrow
20. Northern cardinal (voice)
21. Blue jay (voice)
22. American crow (voice)
23. American goldfinch (voice)
24. Northern parula (voice)
25. Rose-breasted grosbeak
26. Hairy woodpecker (voice)
Elsewhere
27. House finch
28. Mourning dove
29. European starling
30. Rock pigeon
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, eastern towhee, European starling, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, northern cardinal, northern flicker, northern parula, ovenbird, rock pigeon, rose-breasted grosbeak, ruby-throated hummingbird, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-throated sparrow, wood thrush
