Ah, what a lovely cool, clear, breezy morning. As we headed up through the woods, dog and I, we encountered more birds than in the past few days—and a few notable species not encountered in a good while. A Philadelphia Vireo, for instance, and the call of a Canada Warbler, and a juvie chippy poking about in the canopy.
The largest mouthful of caterpillars, however, belonged to a clucking Hermit Thrush which agreeably posed for a photo.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:09 a.m. EST (8:09 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Blue Jay (v) 2. Tufted Titmouse (v) 3. American Goldfinch** 4. Red-eyed Vireo 5. White-breasted Nuthatch 6. Eastern Wood-pewee 7. Black-capped Chickadee 8. Black-and-white Warbler 9. Chipping Sparrow 10. Philadelphia Vireo† 11. Hermit Thrush 12. Ovenbird 13. Eastern Towhee (v) 14. American Crow* 15. Canada Warbler† 16. Gray Catbird** (v) 17. Common Yellowthroat** (v) 18. Song Sparrow 19. Turkey Vulture 20. Herring Gull* 21. American Redstart 22. Cedar Waxwing
Elsewhere
23. Mourning Dove 24. Northern Cardinal (v) 25. Wild Turkey
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
Yesterday’s forecast called for showers. This morning’s called for an overcast. Reality proved a combination of each—foggy, misty, drippy. My hike with dog started out very quiet, but over time a few bird voices piped up, and then I caught sight of flittings in the understory, and eventually I heard the loud calls of two woodpecker species.
A highlight was a near approach by a white-tail, who must’ve sensed our presence a few yards away, so turned, galloped invisibly through the drippy tangles, giving out a couple of husky calls of alarm.
Photography turned out a challenging pursuit, so you’ll have to settle for a random pic of a juvenile delinquent towhee.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:09 a.m. EST (8:09 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Eastern Towhee 2. Song Sparrow 3. American Goldfinch** 4. Gray Catbird 5. Common Yellowthroat (v) 6. Black-capped Chickadee 7. Red-eyed Vireo (v) 8. White-breasted Nuthatch (v) 9. Tufted Titmouse 10. Black-throated Green Warbler 11. Eastern Wood-pewee 12. Blue Jay (v) 13. Pileated Woodpecker (v) 14. Downy Woodpecker (v) 15. American Crow* 16. Yellow Warbler (v)
Elsewhere
17. Mourning Dove 18. Herring Gull
Mammals
White-tailed Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
Pretty sure the bird in the photo above is a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. I don’t see this species often—in fact, I believe my first Beech Hill sighting happened in early September last year—but this particular bird happened to pop up right in front of me as dog and I were moseying along the upper wooded trail. If you’re patient, and attentive, and have developed sort of fine-tuned observatory senses, every now and then you get a gift like this.
Beech Hill List Starting at 6:53 a.m. EST (7:53 DST), I hiked most trails.
