This was an odd, windy, hazy, crazily quiet morning. Had no birds on my list until dog and I had walked about half way up the lower wooded trail—the distant caw of a crow. Next I heard woodpeckers excavating a tree up ahead: a pair of Pileated Woopeckers.
Weird.
For the rest of our hike, I counted a dozen other species. Fourteen total. The lowest number since our return to Maine
Yard bird.
Come early afternoon, after the sun emerged and the air warmed into the 80s, and I decided to take a twelve-mile bike ride—I counted several additional species. And came eye to eye with a turkey right out the kitchen window.
Eerie.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:29 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. American Crow** (v) 2. Pileated Woodpecker 3. Eastern Towhee 4. Cedar Waxwing 5. Red-breasted Nuthatch 6. Herring Gull* 7. American Goldfinch 8. Song Sparrow 9. American Robin (v) 10. Yellow-rumped Warbler 11. Gray Catbird 12. Black-capped Chickadee** 13. Red-eyed Vireo 14. Blue Jay (v)
Elsewhere
15. Mourning Dove 16. Carolina Wren (v) 17. Wild Turkey 18. Rock Pigeon 19. Osprey (v) 20. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
Mammals
Eastern Gray Squirrel
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
Another lovely morning hike—a fair morning this day, with cool temps and fragrant air. A good selection of birds, including a couple warblers, a couple woodpeckers, a couple nuthatches, and a hawk.
I only got a glimpse of the hawk through a window in the summit spruces, and the first thing I noticed was its sideburns, and I thought I might have one of only a few peregrines I’ve ever seen on the hill. Only later, after I took a close look at the photos (and then checked in with a bird ID expert pal) did I realize it was not a falcon at all. Turned out to be a Broad-winged Hawk—the commonest hawk in Beech Hill Preserve.
Still I neat sighting though. (So that’s why it was so quiet up there for a change!)
(Earlier, at home, I heard the Carolina Wren again. Love that sound.)
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:21 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Great Crested Flycatcher (v) 2. Blue Jay (v) 3. Red-eyed Vireo 4. American Crow* (v) 5. Black-capped Chickadee 6. American Goldfinch** (v) 7. Hairy Woodpecker 8. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 9. White-breasted Nuthatch 10. Red-breasted Nuthatch 11. Tufted Titmouse** 12. Eastern Towhee 13. Gray Catbird 14. Cedar Waxwing 15. Chestnut-sided Warbler 16. American Redstart 17. Common Yellowthroat (v) 18. Broad-winged Hawk 19. Song Sparrow 20. American Robin 21. Herring Gull* 22. Eastern Phoebe 23. Pileated Woodpecker (v) 24. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Had a couple decent-sized rain showers pass by this morning about the time we’d usually hit the trail, so dog and I waited a few hours. Didn’t hit the wet trail until late morning. No rain, but a thick fog.
Amazingly, I got a few bird photos. Oddly, no crows. Luckily, a couple of redstarts appeared in a flock of small birds following a gang of chickadees.
All in all, a lovely soupy day.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 10:29 a.m., I hiked most trails.
1. Hermit Thrush 2. Black-capped Chickadee 3. American Redstart 4. Red-eyed Vireo 5. Tufted Titmouse (v) 6. Gray Catbird 7. Eastern Towhee 8. Song Sparrow 9. Common Yellowthroat 10. American Goldfinch** (v) 11. Red-breasted Nuthatch 12. American Robin* 13. Blue Jay (v)
Elsewhere
14. Mourning Dove 15. Herring Gull 16. American Crow 17. Rock Pigeon 18. Carolina Wren (v)
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
