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Posts Tagged ‘laughing gull’
Tuesday, August 27th, 2013
 Yellow-rumped warbler. A day much like yesterday. Work, bike ride, Beech Hill hike.
 Savannah sparrow (juvie). Like yesterday, it was very quiet when Jack and I exited the pickup at the Beech Hill Road parking lot. Unlike yesterday, no little silent birds perched high in the trees around the parking lot. In fact, I didn’t notice any obvious migrants until we got about halfway up the hill, when I noticed warblers moving through the trailside birches. In particular, young black-throated green warblers.
I saw field and song sparrows, heard a pewee and catbirds and towhees. Goldfinches and cedar waxwings flew over.
Up at the summit, more yellow-rumps in the spruce grove, along with a young Savannah sparrow.
Returning, I heard blue jays and a crow.
One noteworthy sighting today: a road-killed crow, which I passed while cycling. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a road-killed crow before.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5:30 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Gray catbird (v)
2. American goldfinch**
3. Eastern towhee (v)
4. Cedar waxwing**
5. Field sparrow
6. Song sparrow
7. Eastern wood-pewee (v)
8. Black-throated green warbler
9. Hairy woodpecker** (v)
10. Savannah sparrow
11. Yellow-rumped warbler
12. Blue jay** (v)
13. American crow*
Elsewhere
14. House sparrow
15. Herring gull
16. Rock pigeon
17. Mourning dove
18. Black-capped chickadee (v)
19. Northern cardinal (v)
20. Laughing gull
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, field sparrow, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, house sparrow, laughing gull, mourning dove, northern cardinal, rock pigeon, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Sunday, August 25th, 2013
 Least sandpiper. I awoke to a summery Sunday. Could only manage half a day of work on my new novel before the allure grew too strong, and I had a crazy thought, and I grabbed Jack, and the two of us took a short trip to the Rockland Breakwater.
 Semipalmated sandpiper. I figured it would be crowded, and sure enough it was the most crowded I’d ever seen it down there. We parked waaay up the road, on the grass, and walked a looong way down to the breakwater trail. Many people, quite a few dogs. Warmth, little breeze, high tide. Goldfinches, waxwings, a house sparrow, gulls. Soon after we turned onto the breakwater itself, I heard the peep-peep! of, well, peeps. Least sandpipers, a few here and there, zipping along the granite in search of lapping shallows.
I could ID the least sandpipers, and for a while I thought that’s all that were there, but then I saw some lighter birds and wondered if they might be semipalmated sanpipers, but I’m not great at shorebirds and so had to wait until tonight to check with my friend Kristen, who confirmed my tentative ID.
Cormorants, loons, laughing gulls, a harbor seal. Friendly folks, friendly dogs. We had a good time.
Afterward, I rode my bike twenty miles. Bought beer and brownies at Megunticook Market. Saw turkeys and geese at Aldermere Farm.
 Buoy. Then Jack and I hiked Beech Hill. Quite a few birds up there, although I only saw one species: waxwings, flying over.
Tonight is lovely, cool and calm. The night has crickets and stars.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5:30 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Eastern towhee (v)
2. Black-capped chickadee** (v)
3. American goldfinch** (v)
4. Common yellowthroat (v)
5. American crow* (v)
6. Cedar waxwing**
7. Song sparrow (v)
8. Yellow-rumped warbler (v)
9. Blue jay** (v)
10. White-throated sparrow (v)
11. Gray catbird (v)
Elsewhere
12. Herring gull
13. House sparrow
14. Double-crested cormorant
15. Least sandpiper
16. Common loon
17. Osprey
18. Laughing gull
19. Turkey vulture
20. Rock pigeon
21. Northern cardinal (v)
22. Wild turkey
23. Canada goose
24. Mourning dove
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, Canada goose, Cedar waxwing, common loon, common yellowthroat, double-crested cormorant, eastern towhee, gray catbird, herring gull, house sparrow, laughing gull, least sandpiper, mourning dove, northern cardinal, osprey, rock pigeon, song sparrow, turkey vulture, white-throated sparrow, wild turkey, yellow-rumped warbler
Posted in Observations | No Comments »
Thursday, August 22nd, 2013
 Queen Anne’s lace. Kind of an odd day. Sunny, breezy, a little steamy, warm. Worked on a font all day, then I rode my bicycle—the south wind appeared to have risen a bit by then. Not a lot of birds about, or at least not that visible, though I heard the usual seasonal species (goldfinch, waxwing, etc.).
After my ride, I asked Jack where his leash was, and he showed me, and so we went to Beech Hill for a quick hike. Very windy up there, which meant rushing sound in my ears and moving leaves and branches—not an ideal birding situation. Sure enough, my list had only four species today. (Although I heard what was either a family of chestnut-sided warblers or a family of field sparrows, I couldn’t tell from the rush of the wind.)
Afterward, we swung by the grocery store, and walking across the parking lot I saw four black ducks fly over.
Weird.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5:30 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. American crow* (v)
2. American goldfinch**
3. Cedar waxwing**
4. Song sparrow
Elsewhere
5. House sparrow
6. Herring gull
8. Rock pigeon
7. Mourning dove
8. Laughing gull
9. American black duck
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American black duck, American crow, American goldfinch, Cedar waxwing, herring gull, house sparrow, laughing gull, mourning dove, rock pigeon, song sparrow
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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