Monarch on the milkweed.
Ahhh, coolness. Well, compared to the last several days, anyway. Awoke about 7. Birds singing—robin, crow, cardinal, house finch, house sparrow, redstart, catbird. Dilly-dallied. Lingered over breakfast. Windows open, blue sky outside, temperatures dipping down into the lower 80s (F) inside. I set up at the kitchen table and began again to work on an ambitious type project.
Chestnut-sided warbler (female).
However, thanks to pushing myself a bit too much yesterday, my right hip was bothering me. Seemed a perfect bike-riding day—but I didn’t ride. I knew I’d be hiking Beech Hill (as always), and I figured it’d be good to rest my legs until then. Nineteen straight days of cycling. That’ll work.
So Jack and I didn’t make it out and away until late. The air was at least ten degrees cooler than yesterday—maybe more. (The deer flies apparently loved it also.) Vireos were calling out their quay! note at each other near the trailhead. It’s not easy to spot vireos at this time of year, what with their preference of high, leafy foliage, but I figured this was a family, fledged and flown. My hip seemed to hold up all right, so we increased our pace. Before long, the voices of other birds came filtering through—chestnut-sided warblers (adults and juviles), waxwings (overhead), chickadees. Heard crows in the distance and also herring gulls for a change. The peep note of a flycatcher.
At the corner by the upper fields, where I tend to stop to listen (very birdy there), I caught sight of towhees, yellowthroats, song sparrows. Heard a robin, saw waxwings fly over, along with a pair of circling goldfinches. The sky was blue, the air still but cool.
Evening bay.
At the summit, I ran into a nice young couple sharing a bottle of wine. We had a nice chat at Beech Nut as a little family of phoebes—the occupants of the nest in the eaves of the hut, I think—flitted about in low nearby trees. A couple young savannah sparrows appeared down the western slope, and I spotted a solitary monarch butterfly on a cluster of milkweed down in that direction. First monarch I’ve seen up there this year.
Coming back down, I ate six blueberries and gave Jack two. Heard a pewee in the woods and a young raven down toward the parking lot.
All in all, a very cool day.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:30 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
2. Chestnut-sided warbler
3. Cedar waxwing
4. Eastern towhee
5. American crow
6. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
7. Alder flycatcher (voice)
8. Common yellowthroat
9. Herring gull (voice)
10. Mourning dove (wingbeats)
11. American robin
12. Song sparrow (voice)
13. American goldfinch
14. Eastern phoebe
15. Savannah sparrow
16. Eastern pewee (voice)
17. Common raven (voice)
Elsewhere
18. Northern cardinal
19. House finch
20. House sparrow
21. Tufted titmouse
22. American redstart
23. Gray catbird
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-capped chickadee, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common raven, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, mourning dove, northern cardinal, red-eyed vireo, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse
