Foggy again. How many mornings in a row is that? Wait a sec, lemme check… appears this was the seventh day. Not that I mind too much, since the birds gotta make a living regardless. (As do we all, I suppose.)
Highlights of today were the alarm notes of a Wood Thrush, the song of a cardinal, the flushing of a woodcock—and the fact that there are fledgings everywhere these days.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:15 a.m. EST (8:15 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Ovenbird** 2. Wood Thrush 3. Red-eyed Vireo** 4. Veery** 5. Chestnut-sided Warbler 6. Eastern Towhee 7. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 8. Black-throated Green Warbler** (v) 9. Northern Cardinal (v) 10. Hermit Thrush 11. American Crow* 12. American Goldfinch 13. Alder Flycatcher (v) 14. Gray Catbird 15. Common Yellowthroat (v) 16. Yellow Warbler (v) 17. Song Sparrow 18. Cedar Waxwing (v) 19. Field Sparrow (v) 20. Purple Finch (v) 21. White-breasted Nuthatch (v) 22. Black-capped Chickadee 23. Mourning Dove* (v) 24. Black-and-white Warbler (v) 25. Northern Flicker (v) 26. Blue Jay (v) 27. Eastern Bluebird 28. Eastern Phoebe 29. Tufted Titmouse (v) 30. American Redstart 31. American Woodcock 32. Hairy Woodpecker
Elsewhere
33. Mallard
Mammals
Eastern Chipmunk
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
I do love an overcast day. I love a sunny day, too, of course—but a cool overcast like this morning’s makes for a luscious change-of-pace. Just the feeling of a protective roof over your head, preventing you from astral projection into the endlessness of space. Or something like that.
Anyway, dog and I had a real nice hike, with some pretty cool birds, to boot. Most notably, we flushed two American Woodcocks, and the cry of a Blue Jay alerted me to a Broad-winged Hawk flyby. Even got a teeny little glimpse of a singing male Scarlet Tanager way up in the leafy green canopy.
Was supposed to be raining during our usual hike time, but no—and apparently won’t be tomorrow either. But the forecast calls for another sweetly cloudy morn.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:30 a.m. sun time (8:30 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Red-eyed Vireo** (v) 2. Eastern Phoebe 3. Song Sparrow** 4. American Redstart** (v) 5. Ovenbird** 6. Black-and-white Warbler 7. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 8. Chestnut-sided Warbler** 9. Black-throated Green Warbler** (v) 10. Blue Jay 11. Eastern Towhee** 12. Veery (v) 13. Scarlet Tanager 14. Broad-winged Hawk 15. Gray Catbird** 16. American Woodcock 17. Common Yellowthroat (v) 18. Alder Flycatcher (v) 19. Tufted Titmouse (v) 20. Turkey Vulture 21. Field Sparrow 22. Yellow Warbler (v) 23. Eastern Bluebird 24. American Crow* 25. American Goldfinch** (v) 26. Northern Cardinal* (v) 27. Black-capped Chickadee 28. Hermit Thrush (v)
Elsewhere
29. Mallard 30. Herring Gull
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
A bright, chilly morning with a breeze. Upper 40s (F) to start, so I wore my birding hoodie—a smooth move. Wild birds, however, seemed relatively undaunted by the fact that the breeze was northeasterly, and dog and I had a nice hike.
That said, I had relatively few photo opportunities for much of our nature walk, which was a tad frustrating. Then, during our return, a long dark bird flitted across the hedgy trail ahead of us. It turned out to be my first Black-billed Cuckoo of the year. And the cuckoo stayed at its perch long enough for me to sneak up and get a few close photos of this handsome bird’s upper half.
Also noteworthy: a flushed woodcock, a vocal Least Flycatcher, and—at home—a fox carrying a deceased gray squirrel across the lawn.
Ah, spring!
Beech Hill List Beginning at 6:11 a.m. sun time (7:11 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Red-eyed Vireo** (v) 2. Ovenbird** 3. Chestnut-sided Warbler 4. American Redstart** 5. Eastern Phoebe** 6. Blue Jay (v) 7. Black-throated Green Warbler (v) 8. Hermit Thrush (v) 9. American Goldfinch 10. Gray Catbird** 11. Black-capped Chickadee (v) 12. Black-and-white Warbler (v) 13. Eastern Towhee 14. Common Yellowthroat (v) 15. Ruby-throated Hummingbird 16. American Woodcock 17. Veery 18. Song Sparrow** 19. American Crow* 20. Yellow Warbler (v) 21. Field Sparrow 22. Least Flycatcher (v) 23. American Robin 24. Alder Flycatcher (v) 25. Scarlet Tanager (v) 26. Chipping Sparrow 27. Purple Finch (v) 28. Eastern Bluebird 29. Herring Gull* 30. Tufted Titmouse (v) 31. Brown-headed Cowbird 32. Northern Parula (v) 33. Red-winged Blackbird (v) 34. Black-billed Cuckoo† 35. Broad-winged Hawk (v) 36. Rose-breasted Grosbeak (v) 37. Wood Thrush (v)
Elsewhere
38. Pine Warbler (v) 39. European Starling
Mammals
Eastern Gray Squirrel (live one) Red Fox
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
