Warm to start under mostly cloudy skies—about room temperature out. Light winds, drier than in recent days. Thunderstorms forecast for this evening, though, so coming days will be wetter.
Invasive Brown-tailed Moths litter the trails these days—I suppose they live short lives in the moth stage, just long enough to lay eggs. The caterpillars really got me this year.
Birds were active, despite (perhaps because of?) the overcast. Most notable were a raven, a gull, and a juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird. (I’d rather have a brown-headed critter than a brown-tailed one any ol’ day.)
Might get wet tomorrow, dog and I. We shall see!
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:06 a.m. EST (8:06 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (drumming) 2. Red-eyed Vireo** (v) 3. Ovenbird** 4. Tufted Titmouse (v) 5. Eastern Phoebe 6. Black-throated Green Warbler (v) 7. American Goldfinch 8. Brown Creeper (v) 9. Veery (v) 10. Hairy Woodpecker (v) 11. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 12. Black-capped Chickadee** 13. Blue Jay (v) 14. Hermit Thrush (v) 15. Scarlet Tanager (v) 16. White-breasted Nuthatch (v) 17. Black-and-white Warbler (v) 18. Gray Catbird** 19. Common Yellowthroat 20. American Robin* 21. Song Sparrow 22. American Crow* (v) 23. Yellow Warbler 24. Eastern Towhee (v) 25. Eastern Bluebird 26. Cedar Waxwing 27. Field Sparrow (v) 28. Purple Finch (v) 29. Mourning Dove (v) 30. Chestnut-sided Warbler 31. Downy Woodpecker (v) 32. Savannah Sparrow (v)
Elsewhere
33. Mallard 34. Herring Gull
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
The prognosticators were right: fog this morning. Not real warm, but warm enough to feel the impressive humidity of the air. And the birds—many more birds than just a couple months ago—didn’t seem to mind.
Many more birds because of reproduction, of course. And still the mission of keeping all those fledglings safe and healthy is in the misty air.
I often wonder just how many more birds are fluttering around at this time of year than there were at, say, the beginning of May. Twice as many? Three times as many? More?
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:49 a.m. EST (8:49 DST), I hiked all trails.
Every day lately on my hike with dog I’ve seen and/or heard young birds of various species—warblers, finches, a cowbird once, and today a jay. A recently fledged jay is about the size of an adult but with a youngsters voice and a tendency to open its beak and flutter its wings like any fledgling looking for a handout from a parent.
After a couple of sunny, humid days, today’s fog and cooler temps proved a bit of a relief. After yesterday’s first-of-year wood lily, today I saw at least a dozen. Also dewy clover and meadowsweet. Ate a few dewy blueberries.
Foggy weather returns tomorrow, so I’ve heard.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:29 a.m. EST (8:29 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Ovenbird 2. Red-eyed Vireo (v) 3. Black-throated Green Warbler (v) 4. Northern Cardinal** (v) 5. American Goldfinch 6. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 7. Cedar Waxwing (v) 8. White-breasted Nuthatch (v) 9. Veery** 10. Black-capped Chickadee 11. Northern Flicker (v) 12. Eastern Towhee 13. Blue Jay 14. American Crow* (v) 15. Downy Woodpecker (v) 16. Hermit Thrush (v) 17. Tufted Titmouse (v) 18. Chestnut-sided Warbler** 19. Common Yellowthroat 20. Gray Catbird 21. Field Sparrow (v) 22. Yellow Warbler 23. Song Sparrow 24. American Robin 25. Alder Flycatcher (v) 26. Hairy Woodpecker 27. Rose-breasted Grosbeak (v) 28. Mourning Dove (v) 29. Savannah Sparrow 30. Black-and-white Warbler (v) 31. American Redstart 32. Chipping Sparrow (v)
Elsewhere
32. Eastern Phoebe (v) 33. Herring Gull
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
