Fern.
Birding in the rain can prove challenging. Especially if you mix a little coastal fog in there. Frankly I didn’t expect too much action.
White-throated sparrow.
Because it rained pretty much all day. Not a hard rain—in fact, more like a persistent mist. But even that can soak the landscape and cause a noticeable temperature dip. Didn’t take me long to shut most of the windows.
No bicycle riding today. Didn’t even get out until after work, when I ran a few errands with Jack before we took a spin by Beech Hill. Where, unsurprisingly, ours was the only vehicle in the parking lot. I like to think I can tell how birdy it’s going to be by the sound in the air as soon as I step out of the pickup. Well, today, there was only the whisper of mist on the leaves. Oh, well.
Then on coming around the first little curve, I heard something. A chickadee. We stopped so I could scan for it. Didn’t see a chickadee, but I did spot a couple little birds chasing each other toward the top of a young hardwood. They were flashing a bit of yellow. Through my binoculars, I identified them as young redstarts, no doubt from this year’s brood.
Then I heard a towhee.
Eastern phoebe (fledgling).
And then a white-throated sparrow suddenly began hollering at us from a trailside bush. We stopped again and I saw there were two sparrows in the bush—one an adult with a mouthful of caterpillar, and one an apparent fledgling, hollering for it. The youngster was out of luck as long as we stood there, though, looked like.
Then a savannah sparrow zipped away from the trail, and I heard crows.
We got pretty damp. At the summit, I heard the mew! of a catbird and spotted more sparrows. And heard the clear squeals of a young bird of some species up in the spruces. Found that bird—a young phoebe, I imagine from the nest up at Beech Nut. And then I caught sight of a female yellowthroat that popped up to see what all the fuss was about.
Nothing new on the way down. Just mist on the raspberries, droplets on the ferns.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5:45 p.m, I hiked the open trail.
1. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
2. American redstart
3. American goldfinch (voice)
4. Eastern towhee (voice)
5. White-throated sparrow
6. Savannah sparrow
7. American crow (voice)
8. Gray catbird (voice)
9. Eastern phoebe
10. Common yellowthroat
Elsewhere
11. Northern cardinal
12. Song sparrow
13. House sparrow
14. Herring gull
15. Double-crested cormorant
16. Mourning dove
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, black-capped chickadee, common yellowthroat, double-crested cormorant, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, gray catbird, herring gull, house sparrow, mourning dove, northern cardinal, song sparrow, white-throated sparrow
