Hermit thrush.
At deep twilight, I stepped out onto the back deck to take a look at Venus. The evening star, going down, had just about reached the tips of the tall pines up the hill. The air felt warm still—remnant warmth from a sun-stroked April day—and held the alluring fragrance of new growing things. And then there were the sounds. The rush of the tires of the intermittent cars passing along the road behind me. The urgent chorus of spring peepers in the wet spot off in the trees to the north. The distant barking of a dog. And the faint whistling-peeping sound of a woodcock somewhere descending.
American crow.
It was The Moment.
Earlier, I’d ridden my bicycle and enjoyed the strain and the endorphins and the cries of an osprey and the wind in my ears. With Jack I’d hiked the hill and met a dog and seen a hermit thrush. Before sunset, I watched a solitary turkey walk slowly through last fall’s leaves on its way up the hillside behind my place.
All in all, a lovely day.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:30 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. Eastern phoebe*
2. American goldfinch (v)*
3. Pileated woodpecker (v)
4. Tufted titmouse (v)*
5. Black-capped chickadee*
6. Herring gull*
7. Northern flicker
8. American crow*
9. American robin*
10. Hermit thrush
Elsewhere
11. Northern cardinal
12. House finch
13. European starling
14. Song sparrow (v)
15. Mourning dove
16. Brown-headed cowbird (v)
17. Osprey (v)
18. Rock pigeon
19. Wild turkey
20. American woodcock (flight song)
*Also elsewhere
(v) Voice only
Still life.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, American woodcock, black-capped chickadee, brown-headed cowbird, eastern phoebe, European starling, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, osprey, pileated woodpecker, rock pigeon, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, wild turkey
