It rained a little overnight, I’m pretty sure, but I’m not positive. I do know that the sun shone blazingly on the bronze landscape—blazingly and misleadingly, considering the nippy temperature. And everyone’s talking about the big, wet snowfall that supposed to arrive tomorrow night. Six or eight inches, so they say. We shall see.

Got busy, got a lot done. Made a quick trip to town at the end of it all, but still early enough to enjoy the last angular sun rays that washed the ochre slopes of Beech Hill. A jovial little gang of chickadees greeted us at the parking lot. Then, at the gate, we ran into Joe, the keeper of the gate. He was planting a no-hunting sign (no hunting on the open trails) and reminded us that the season starts tomorrow (Maine residents only). I’ve already got dog’s blaze orange jacket ready to go. Jack’s jacket.

Joe and I saw three small passerines fly over. Looked like they might’ve been yellow-rumps. Or maybe finches. I couldn’t say.

On up the trail, where the oaks on the fringes wore burnt orange clothing that matched the ruddy fields. I did hear the chips of a yellow-rump then and saw the bird flutter above us before it descended into some undergrowth down the southern hillside.

A mass of coots still floated out in Chickawaukie Lake, I noticed. And it occurred to me that perhaps the pair of “small ducks” I saw headed that way a couple evenings ago might actually have belonged to that species. Their wings whistled a bit, I recall—not sure coots’ do that. I have a lot to learn yet.

A brisk wind combed the grasses at the summit and chilled my fingers. No pileated woodpecker today. Just a jay screaming somewhere down the hill.

Tonight the stars are fairly crackling in the inky sky. Filled the humidifier. Got the heat on low. And I’m feeling ready for whatever Nature has in store.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:45 p.m., I hiked the open trail.

1. Black-capped chickadee
2. Yellow-rumped warbler
3. American crow
4. American coot
5. Blue jay

Elsewhere

6. Herring gull

Tags: American coot, American crow, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, herring gull, yellow-rumped warbler

This entry was posted on Friday, October 28th, 2011 at 10:13 pm and is filed under Lists, Observations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.