Brown creeper.
Such a lovely sky today. More overcast than yesterday, but not completely so—not until late in the afternoon. Still breezy, windy even, but nothing like yesterday’s bluster. Cool, fragrant, fallish.
The bay.
I spent most of it at the kitchen table, working on a Sunday. A productive spell. Then dog and I got antsy. And we know what that means.
A couple cars in the Beech Hill lot when we arrived. Most of the clouds had moved away, although the hillsides lay dappled in a patchwork of sun and shade. I neither heard nor saw any birds coming up the trail—just admired relished the sight of the blue-and-gray sky and the feel of the October air. Finally I heard the faint chip! of a yellow-rumped warbler.
We met a few hikers headed down. And I heard a crow.
Back at the parking lot, I caught the peeps of chickadees in the trees overhanging the pickup, so I let Jack jump in and stayed to take a look. There they were, poking about in the bark and remnant leaves. And then I saw another bird—at first it looked like chickadee, too, but it behaved differently. It behaved like a nuthatch. Which is what it was. And then another little bird flitted up a neighboring trunk. I might’ve thought it another nuthatch, but it behaved more like a brown creeper, zig-zagging up the trunk. Which is what it was. And then I heard another yellow-rump’s chip. Saw that bird also.
The trail.
Four of five species on my hill list today, all in a fortuitous cluster.
Tonight the wind has blown away. There’s a stillness in the night air.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:30 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Yellow-rumped warbler
2. American crow
3. Black-capped chickadee
4. Tufted titmouse
5. Brown creeper
Elsewhere
6. Herring gull
7. House sparrow
8. Blue jay
9. Downy woodpecker
Tags: American crow, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, brown creeper, downy woodpecker, herring gull, house sparrow, tufted titmouse, yellow-rumped warbler
