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Posts Tagged ‘black-billed cuckoo’
Tuesday, June 25th, 2013
 Blackburnian warbler. I did not expect to hear and/or see so many bird species at Beech Hill this morning. (This “not expecting” stuff has gone way beyond a trend.) All the usual suspects showed up—and also such less common suspects as black-billed cuckoo, eastern bluebird, and Blackburnian warbler.
 Tiger swallowtail. But in fact, those last two have become less uncommon lately. I’ve had the Blackburnian—same individual, I’m sure—on my list for most of the last week, and bluebirds have been active nearly every day down in the lower fields. Also black-throated blue warblers—or warbler. (Probably also the same bird.) And scarlet tanager, I might add, although this latest one tends to sing a six-note phrase.
The highlight was the cuckoo. Heard him first, then spotted him when he popped up into the edge of a bush at the edge of a thicket. Got my camera ready—and he flew. (Naturally.) I similarly missed a nice shot of a veery, and a great crested flycatcher, and the bluebird.
Oh, well.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:30 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Red-eyed vireo** (v)
2. Ovenbird**
3. Black-throated green warbler** (v)
4. Eastern phoebe (v)
5. Common yellowthroat** (v)
6. Eastern towhee
7. Chestnut-sided warbler**
8. Veery
9. American crow*
10. Black-and-white warbler (v)
11. Gray catbird**
12. Hairy woodpecker (v)
13. Black-capped chickadee**
14. Yellow warbler** (v)
15. Alder flycatcher (v)
16. Cedar waxwing**
17. Eastern wood-pewee**
18. Hermit thrush
19. American goldfinch**
20. Song sparrow**
21. House finch**
22. Savannah sparrow
23. Field sparrow
24. Tufted titmouse** (v)
25. Northern flicker (v)
26. Rose-breasted grosbeak (v)
27. American robin**
28. Eastern bluebird
29. Black-billed cuckoo
30. Northern cardinal** (v)
31. Purple finch (v)
32. Brown-headed cowbird (v)
33. American redstart (v)
34. White-breasted nuthatch (v)
35. Great crested flycatcher
36. Tree swallow
37. Blackburnian warbler
38. Black-throated blue warbler (v)
39. Scarlet tanager (v)
40. Mourning dove* (v)
41. Blue jay** (v)
Elsewhere
42. Herring gull
43. European starling
44. Great black-backed gull
45. Chipping sparrow (v)
46. Northern parula (v)
47. Turkey vulture
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-billed cuckoo, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blackburnian warbler, blue jay, brown-headed cowbird, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, great black-backed gull, great crested flycatcher, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, northern parula, ovenbird, purple finch, red-eyed vireo, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, scarlet tanager, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, turkey vulture, veery, white-breasted nuthatch, yellow warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Friday, June 21st, 2013
 Common yellowthroat. Had an early hike with Jack today. Spent nearly two hours wandering around all the Beech Hill trails. Lots of birds on my list—mostly heard, true, and of those seen, many had bits of food in their beaks. The first day of summer means gaping bird mouths to feed.
 Veery. You could hear faint whispery whines here and there—the voices of the hatchlings. And the adults that would pop up to scold us along the trail often made odd-sounding chucks and chips, considering their mouths were crammed full of insects. A comely little yellowthroat. A catbird. An angry, protective veery.
Lovely, lovely day. Also went out to eat with my friend Gus, had a nice bike ride, worked, and hiked Mount Battie with a bunch of other people to celebrate another friend’s birthday.
And tonight, first-of-year fireflies, right on cue.
Yep. The longest day of the year.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:30 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Ovenbird**
2. Red-eyed vireo** (v)
3. Black-throated green warbler (v)
4. Common yellowthroat**
5. Gray catbird**
6. Black-capped chickadee**
7. Veery
8. Eastern towhee**
9. Chestnut-sided warbler**
10. American crow*
11. Black-and-white warbler** (v)
12. Hairy woodpecker
13. American redstart**
14. Mourning dove*
15. Hermit thrush** (v)
16. Alder flycatcher (v)
17. Yellow warbler**
18. American goldfinch**
19. Black-billed cuckoo (v)
20. House finch** (v)
21. Tree swallow
22. Song sparrow**
23. Eastern phoebe**
24. Savannah sparrow
25. Rose-breasted grosbeak
26. Great crested flycatcher (v)
27. Field sparrow
28. Tufted titmouse (v)
29. Blue jay**
30. Northern cardinal** (v)
31. Eastern bluebird
32. Northern flicker
33. Brown-headed cowbird** (v)
34. Cedar waxwing
35. White-throated sparrow (v)
36. Eastern wood-pewee
37. Scarlet tanager (v)
38. Black-throated blue warbler (v)
Elsewhere
39. Herring gull
40. Broad-winged hawk (v)
41. Rock pigeon
42. House sparrow
43. European starling
44. Chipping sparrow (v)
45. Chimney swift (v)
46. Dark-eyed junco
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, black-billed cuckoo, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, broad-winged hawk, brown-headed cowbird, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chimney swift, chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, dark-eyed junco, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, great crested flycatcher, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, rock pigeon, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, scarlet tanager, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-throated sparrow, yellow warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Thursday, June 13th, 2013
 Scarlet tanager. I wasn’t sure today’s hike with Jack would be an early one, but then the sun emerged, and I saw blue sky to the west, and that’s all the incentive I needed to grab Jack and my camera and binoculars and jump in the pickup and drive. Sunny, humid, mud, mosquitos. Birds.
 Common yellowthroat Quite a few birds. A lot of ’em. The usual suspects as we ascended the upper wooded trail—but then I heard an unfamiliar call. A sort of chatterly-chatterly-chatterly-chatterly. It sounded like a Carolina wren but seemed a little softer. We stood still for about five minutes, but I never saw the bird, and eventually it moved away.
Heard the alarm note of a cuckoo, but couldn’t spot that bird, either. Veery, towhee, crow. At the summit, a pair of barn swallows circled Beech Nut, and the phoebes are still hauling in food for their nestlings.
Down at Beech Hill Road, only one of the three redstarts was singing, oddly. I also heard the (kind of off-key) song a white-throated sparrow. Then, returning along the road, I heard chatterly-chatterly-chatterly. A bird moving in the yard of the house across the road. This one definitely sounded like a Carolina wren, and I decided it must’ve been the same bird I’d heard earlier, traveling in the same direction.
Back at the summit, the barn swallows were replaced by a pair of tree swallows. And coming down the lower wooded trail, I heard pewee, tanager, flicker. Decided to track down the tanager, so we left the trail and headed down into a realm of tall oakes and sparse undergrowth, where I finally spied the red bird. I’d never been there before, this open understory, bisected by an old stone wall—a very cool place. Snapped a couple (not great) photos, then returned a hundred yards or so to the trail (veering quickly a couple times to avoid patches of poison ivy).
 Frond. We ran into Pete and a couple of parties of middle school kids, working to shore up the muddy flow through the big oak grove. Had a nice chat with their teacher about the resident bird life (and Jack) and then tried to coax the tanager into revealing itself, but it flew off toward the east.
Clouds moved in again by early afternoon, and somehow I missed my usual bicycle ride. But all in all a satisfying day.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Ovenbird** (v)
2. Red-eyed vireo**
3. Black-throated green warbler (v)
4. Chestnut-sided warbler**
5. Blue jay (v)
6. Tufted titmouse** (v)
7. American goldfinch (v)
8. Rose-breasted grosbeak (v)
9. Gray catbird**
10. Veery
11. American crow*
12. Eastern towhee
13. Yellow warbler**
14. Carolina wren (v)
15. Black-billed cuckoo (v)
16. Common yellowthroat**
17. Yellow warbler**
18. Alder flycatcher
19. Black-and-white warbler (v)
20. Mourning dove*
21. Black-capped chickadee (v)
22. Northern cardinal** (v)
23. Hairy woodpecker (v)
24. Eastern phoebe**
25. Song sparrow**
26. Barn swallow
27. Savannah sparrow
28. Field sparrow
29. American robin*
30. American redstart** (v)
31. White-throated sparrow (v)
32. Purple finch (v)
33. Cedar waxwing (v)
34. Tree swallow
35. Eastern wood-pewee
36. Scarlet tanager
37. Northern flicker (v)
38. Black-throated blue warbler (v)
39. Herring gull*
Elsewhere
40. House finch
41. House sparrow
42. European starling
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, barn swallow, black-and-white warbler, black-billed cuckoo, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, Carolina wren, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, European starling, field sparrow, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, ovenbird, purple finch, red-eyed vireo, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, scarlet tanager, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, veery, yellow warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
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| Bird Report is a (sometimes intermittent) record of the birds I encounter while hiking, see while driving, or spy outside my window. —Brian Willson |
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