|
|
 |
|
|
Posts Tagged ‘black-capped chickadee’
Friday, November 23rd, 2012
 Field stubble. Let’s see, what to do on a warm Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving? Go for a bike ride, that’s one thing. I took off in early afternoon and rode all over the place and had a grand time doing it. I saw gulls and crows and pigeons, heard chickadees and kinglets and titmice. I even ran into a friend in a car—well, not literally. (I hope I’m done running into cars.) It had to have hit 50 degrees (F).
 November light. And what else do you do? Go for a hike with a dog. Which I did about fifteen minutes after returning from the bike ride. Turns out I wasn’t the only one with that idea—the parking lot was jammed, with cars squeezed in every which way. Many, many people, from babies to old folks. Many dogs, too. The light was a lovely hazy yellow when the sun wasn’t out, which it was only for brief periods, and the air was fine, with just enough kick of breeze to chill my fingertips.
The sunset earlier than it did yesterday, I noticed. I reckon that trend will continue for a while.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 3 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Black-capped chickadee** (v)
2. Blue jay (v)
3. White-breasted nuthatch** (v)
4. Downy woodpecker (v)
Elsewhere
5. American crow
6. Herring gull
7. Rock pigeon
8. Golden-crowned kinglet (v)
9. Tufted titmouse (v)
v = Voice only
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, golden-crowned kinglet, herring gull, rock pigeon, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Thursday, November 22nd, 2012
 White-breasted nuthatch. And so we return to the mild side. Lots of Thanksgiving sunshine, light winds, temperatures in the upper-40s (F), I bet. I wrote at the kitchen table for a few hours, and then I got antsy, and so, with my dog, I did roam. To Beech Hill. Where the air is fresh, the landscape spacious, the views unmatched and distant.
 Eastern bluebird. Again there were the little birds flitting about the trees around the parking lot. You know the ones. But today, I also heard crows. On up the slope, and by God I saw them: bluebirds. They’re back. (Or, more likely, some new ones decided to stop by.) Same place—between the mown field and the little bare birches—fluttering about and calling their alluring little falsetto notes. They stick together, bluebirds do. If one flies, the others soon follow. At one point, as we were standing still and quiet, one bird fluttered directly over my head and lit in a tree right behind us. Backlit, or I’d’ve had better photos.
A lot of people at the summit, but only one other dog. Stopped to chat with a few. I pointed out a bluebird to one, in fact, and, back at the parking lot, a brown creeper that I happened to see climbing the trunk of a hardwood tree. The hikers were duly impressed.
A quick hike, a lovely hike, a hike that made my day.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 2:30 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. American crow* (v)
2. Black-capped chickadee**
3. Tufted titmouse
4. White-breasted nuthatch
5. Eastern bluebird
6. Brown creeper
Elsewhere
7. Herring gull
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, black-capped chickadee, brown creeper, herring gull, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 21st, 2012
 Mist. Today marked a change in the weather, a change from clear and mild to mostly cloudy and misty and about the right temperature for the time of year. Still on the mild side, but not the warming sun we’ve had for the past several days—for as short a time as it’s been shining. Got madly busy before the Thanksgiving holiday, but busyness is a good thing, as long as you’ve got something to show for it. Heck, even if you don’t.
 White-breasted nuthatch. After a while, not long before the sun headed down, dog and I found ourselves at the Beech Hill parking lot, where the little neighborhood yard birds were hanging out, as they have been lately. Four of same usual species, in fact: black-capped chickadee, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, downy woodpecker. Few other humans, no other dogs. No bluebirds along the fields, no coots off on the lake. No sparrows, no hawks, no jays—no crows, even. Not while we were there anyway.
From the summit, I saw little rays of sunlight breaking through cracks in the clouds, illuminating distant hillsides. Toward the south, the peninsulas and islands vanished in an orange mist. And I heard the cry of a flicker—another common species up there lately.
Back down at the parking lot, the same four little birds were still poking around. Familiarity is comforting, when you think about it..
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 2:45 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Black-capped chickadee
2. White-breasted nuthatch
3. Tufted titmouse (v)
4. Downy woodpecker
5. Northern flicker (v)
Elsewhere
6. Herring gull
7. American crow
v = Voice only
Tags: American crow, black-capped chickadee, downy woodpecker, herring gull, northern flicker, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
|
|
| |
| Bird Report is a (sometimes intermittent) record of the birds I encounter while hiking, see while driving, or spy outside my window. —Brian Willson |
|
|
