The sky was clear and blue when dog and I arrived at the main trailhead parking lot. We met friends (human and dog) for this hike, and it was an amazing morning.
Not only sociable, but full of late-April birds.
Most notable might’ve been the Winter Wren singing down along the lower wooded trail. Or perhaps the raven flying over with what appeard to be a mouse or vole in its beak. Or the swallows, bluebirds, sparrow species, drumming woodpecker.
Most memorable to me now, hours later, was the blue, blue morning sky.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:01 a.m. real time (8:01 DST), I hiked most trails.
1. Northern Cardinal** (v) 2. Tufted Titmouse (v) 3. Black-capped Chickadee 4. Red-breasted Nuthatch (v) 5. American Robin 6. Chipping Sparrow 7. Song Sparrow** 8. American Crow* 9. American Goldfinch (v) 10. Herring Gull* 11. Eastern Bluebird 12. Field Sparrow 13. Turkey Vulture 14. Eastern Towhee** 15. Tree Swallow 16. Common Raven 17. Savannah Sparrow 18. Eastern Phoebe 19. Yellow-rumped Warbler 20. Dark-eyed Junco 21. Pine Warbler (v) 22. Winter Wren (v) 23. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (drumming) 24. Red-bellied Woodpecker (v)
Elsewhere
25. Mourning Dove
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
Around here, May is the month when things really start hoppin’. At least that’s been my observation over the past few decades. It’s why I timed my move with Jack back to Maine at the end of April a year ago. And today you could really tell it’s nearly May.
Another nippy morning, but blazingly sunny to start. (Sunnier than the forecast, in fact.) Some breeze, blue skies, but fewer bird species than yesterday at the beginning of my hike with Captain Jack.
However, that soon changed. Not only did I end up with twenty-eight species today—including a first-of-year Winter Wren, by the way—but it was a crazy cool selection. Not only that, but on our return down the wooded trail, we encountered a fellow hiker who’s just seen two Snowshoe Hares. This encounter happened just after I’d heard something crashing through the undergrowth. So I took her word for it and put the hare on today’s list
Supposed to be a rainy one tomorrow.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 6:17 a.m. real time (7:17 DST), I hiked all trails.
