Beech Nut.
Another sunny, cool day. A bit warmer than yesterday—maybe upper-40s (F). Managed to get out on my bicycle in early afternoon—heard and/or saw crows, robins, chickadees, jays, gulls.
A busy day. But toward the end of it—late afternoon—we took off for our daily walk, Jack and I. En route, we passed a pair of roadside mourning doves.
Northern harrier with prey.
A couple vehicles in the Beech Hill Road parking lot. We met a pair of ladies coming down (owners of the vehicles, apparently) and then had the hill to ourselves. Heard a chickadee and a robin. Heard what sounded rather like a purple finch flying over, but I couldn’t say for sure. Then, as we climbed the steep part of the open trail, a harrier rose from the upper field with something in its talons. A mouse or vole, I suspect, but simultaneously some kind of sparrow flew fast in our direction and away from the hillside hawk.
Not a great photo of the harrier, alas, but I kept my eyes peeled.
The wind was not light from the south when I was riding, but by day’s end—again—the air had grown still. Such a lovely, mid-autumn evening. The sun set beyond a layer of striped clouds. I heard a jay, I heard a flicker, I heard a crow. Beams of sunlight lit portions of the bay, individual islands. We paused at the summit, one of my favorite places in the world.
Coming back down, I heard a hairy woodpecker and a crow.
Not a lot to report, I’m afraid, except for the miraculousness of the day itself. And the dark red hillsides. And the mottled sky.
After dark, the stars came out. I’d been admiring Jupiter for a while from the back deck when I heard the sudden caw of a crow up the hill out back. It carried on for several seconds, and I wondered if it had sensed the presence of an owl or something. I suppose I’ll never know. It was 9:20 p.m.
Sunset.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:30 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Black-capped chickadee
2. American robin
3. Unknown finch
4. Northern harrier
5. Unknown sparrow
6. Northern flicker
7. Blue jay
8. Hairy woodpecker
9. Dark-eyed junco
10. American crow
Elsewhere
10. Herring gull
11. Mourning dove
Mount Desert.
