A cool, cloudless morning greeted us when dog and I started up the wooded trailhead. Quiet in the trees, though. Mostly the usual suspects calling, with the occasional apparent begging sounds young birds.
Many, many waxwings, though. Also many robins. A few vultures overhead—and a single bluebird perching in the sun, projecting its shadow on a leaf.
Billowy clouds came this hot afternoon. Tomorrow’s supposed to be overcast.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:01 a.m. EST (8:01 DST), I hiked the all trails.
1. Black-capped Chickadee 2. Tufted Titmouse (v) 3. American Goldfinch 4. Downy Woodpecker (v) 5. Red-eyed Vireo** 6. Eastern Towhee 7. Hairy Woodpecker (v) 8. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 9. American Crow* 10. White-breasted Nuthatch (v) 11. Brown Creeper (v) 12. Gray Catbird** 13. Alder Flycatcher (v) 14. American Robin* 15. Common Yellowthroat 16. Cedar Waxwing 17. Song Sparrow 18. Barn Swallow 19. Turkey Vulture 20. Blue Jay (v) 21. Eastern Bluebird 22. Northern Cardinal (v) 23. Yellow Warbler (v)
Elsewhere
24. Herring Gull
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
Dog and I hiked up through such a cool and breezy and luscious wood this morning. Also rather quiet. Birds don’t sing or call so much when they’ve got youngsters to raise (as I’ve certainly mentioned before), and the numbers were low this day—but what I heard and saw in the nearly silent trees (as usual) moved me.
Birds occupied the open summit and airy barrens also—but they were drowned out by the sound of machines. Noise, I should say. It’s a pet peeve, I must say—the horrible metallic whines and groans and growls and clanks and screeches of humanity. A plane flying low above, an annoyingly loud tractor across the valley.
If we humans are so smart and creative, how come we can’t engineer machines that make no noise—or at least very, very little? Too often I find myself yearning for quietude.
Some days aren’t so bad, though. Maybe tomorrow will be like that (it’s supposed to rain).
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:05 a.m. EST (8:05 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Red-eyed Vireo (v) 2. Black-capped Chickadee 3. Tufted Titmouse 4. Downy Woodpecker 5. Northern Cardinal 6. American Goldfinch 7. Eastern Wood-pewee 8. White-breasted Nuthatch 9. Veery 10. Gray Catbird 11. Eastern Towhee 12. Alder Flycatcher 13. Mourning Dove 14. Cedar Waxwing 15. Song Sparrow 16. Common Yellowthroat 17. Barn Swallow 18. American Robin 19. Common Raven 20. Blue Jay
Cool again, but not as breezy and somewhat more humid. [The forecast rain—and a thundershower—came this late afternoon, so tomorrow might be less muggy.] A bunch of interesting bird activity, too—a highlight being the surprise appearance of a juvie Dark-eyed Junco along the wooded trail, hunting assorted insects. It stayed about twenty feet in front of dog and me until, finally, I managed a photo.
Young whitetail buck.
Another highlight—shortly after the junco—came when we surprised a young whitetail buck. He didn’t go far, then froze and checked us out for a bit. Again, a photo.
I’m still astonished not to have found a single deer tick since one tiny one appeared in spring on Jack’s nose. Crazy. (Not that I’m complainin’.)
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:07 a.m. EST (8:07 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Red-eyed Vireo 2. Hermit Thrush 3. Blue Jay 4. American Goldfinch 5. Black-throated Green Warbler 6. Hairy Woodpecker 7. Eastern Wood-pewee 8. Northern Flicker 9. Tufted Titmouse 10. Black-capped Chickadee 11. White-breasted Nuthatch 12. American Crow 13. Ovenbird 14. Dark-eyed Junco 15. Red-bellied Woodpecker 16. Eastern Towhee 17. Alder Flycatcher 18. Gray Catbird 19. American Robin 20. Cedar Waxwing 21. Song Sparrow 22. Common Yellowthroat 23. Purple Finch 24. Mourning Dove 25. Red-shouldered Hawk 26. Turkey Vulture 27. Yellow Warbler 28. Barn Swallow 29. Chestnut-sided Warbler 30. Blue-headed Vireo
