Beech Hill.
While descending the wooded Beech Hill trail this late-afternoon with Jack, I stopped at the top of a long, wide slope so we good get a look at the landscape. At this time of year, when the trees are still bare and the understory sparse, you can see the bones of the earth—better even than in stark winter, when snow hides the details. I like a long, wide view.
I couldn’t help but contemplate how, despite the impressive visibility, there was little (if any) animate life to see. I could hear the distant caws of crows, but even what wildlife you might catch sight of now—turkeys, for instance—are well camouflaged. Whereas when the migratory birds return and the animals grow active, there’s a bunch of leaves and stuff in the way. That’s the way the world works, of course, since animals, by definition, move. They move to hunt and forage, they move to avoid being eaten. They hide, they blend in, they chase, they flee. In the case of migrating birds, in fact, they travel a really long way.
And this all got me thinking of the miraculous system Nature has developed over millions and billions of years. It’s finely tuned, this system. It’s a delicate balance—but not so delicate that it can’t survive catastrophes. Oh, individual species (humans even) might not survive a catastrophe of the magnitude of, say, an asteroid strike. But still Nature will abide.
Yet here we were, dog and I, stuck in the delicious, fleeting moment, oblivious to the passage of time, looking out over the bones of the earth.
We both like a long, wide view.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. American crow
2. American goldfinch (voice)
3. Brown creeper
4. Mallard (voice)
5. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
6. Herring gull
7. Eastern phoebe
8. Song sparrow (voice)
9. American robin (voice)
10. Hairy woodpecker (voice)
Elsewhere
11. Common loon
12. Canada goose
13. Tufted titmouse
14. House sparrow
15. Northern cardinal
16. House finch
17. Rock pigeon
18. Mourning dove
19. American woodcock
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, American woodcock, black-capped chickadee, brown creeper, Canada goose, common loon, eastern phoebe, hairy woodpecker, house finch, house sparrow, mallard, mourning dove, northern cardinal, rock pigeon, song sparrow, tufted titmouse
