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Posts Tagged ‘black-billed cuckoo’
Saturday, September 18th, 2010
 Yellow-rumped warbler. Now this was a birdy morning. Just a few days from fall, the sun rising late from Penobscot Bay into a cloudless sky, temperatures possibly as low as the upper-40s. [I need to revamp my weather station.] Jack and I got to the Beech Hill trail at about twenty minutes to seven.
 Scarlet tanager (juvenile and/or female). Not much right away. A hairy woodpecker’s voice. A couple chickadees. A crow in the distance. Towhee, goldfinch, catbird—the usual. But as the sun warmed the eastern sides of things, I knew just where to slow my pace and sneak around curves in the trail to watch for little birds in the warming foliage. Seems the night was good for migration, or something. Because nearly every such spot paid off.
By the time we reached first, about half-way up, I was already hearing the distinctive chip! notes of yellow-rumped warblers—these little guys seem to migrate early, both in spring and fall, and in large numbers—and sure enough they flitted into the very trees I’d stopped to survey. We must’ve stayed there ten minutes snapping photos. And, as usual, other species made an appearance: the voices of flicker and white-throat and jay and nuthatch, and a solitary female (maybe juvenile?) scarlet tanager that hopped up onto a twig not thirty feet away.
 American robin (juvenile). The next such spot also bore fruit: coming up into the open trail just before the summit, we paused to listen to more chip! notes and snap more photos of yellow-rumps. And shortly after, in the spruce grove at the summit, still more ‘rumps. Man, that species is abundant.
But less abundant birds also showed up today—in some cases, surprisingly. Coming down the open trail, I couldn’t help but notice several small birds in overflight, apparently in migration, some chipping like warblers, some peeping like finches. Then a couple small birds flew down close to the field and landed near Beech Nut: juncos. And seconds later, I spotted a pair of kestrels flapping lazily by, scanning the southern slope.
 Yellow-rumped warbler. Down at Beech Hill Road, I caught sight of the resident cardinal family (and heard their chip notes). A tight flock of waxings flew over. And I heard the sudden repetitive cu! notes of a black-billed cuckoo.
Coming back up and over, more ‘rumps in the spruce grove. And the sudden sound of Canada geese coming from somewhere toward the northwest, out in the direction of misty Blue Hill. Then diving into the lower wooded trail we came upon a riotous gang of songbirds: titmice and warblers (redstart, black-throated blue, black-and-white) and chickadees and brown creepers. There were little birds everywhere. One of the black-throated blues was even singing. Alas, it’s hard to get a good photo at any distance in the dim greenery down there.
But because of the bodacious bird activity, we ended up spending more time than usual on the hill this morning. And I left feeling more of a thrill.
For a birder, not many times of year match the start of fall migration.
 Brown creeper. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:45 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Hairy woodpecker (voice)
2. Black-capped chickadee
3. American crow
4. Eastern towhee
5. American goldfinch (voice)
6. Gray catbird
7. American robin
8. White-throated sparrow
9. Blue jay
10. Yellow-rumped warbler
11. Northern flicker
12. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
13. Scarlet tanager
14. Song sparrow (voice)
15. Eastern phoebe
16. Savannah sparrow
17. Dark-eyed junco
18. American kestrel
19. Northern cardinal
20. Red-eyed vireo
21. Cedar waxwing
22. Black-billed cuckoo (voice)
23. Canada goose (voice)
24. Tufted titmouse (voice)
25. American redstart
26. Black-throated blue warbler
27. Black-and-white warbler
28. Brown creeper
Elsewhere
29. Herring gull
30. Greater black-backed gull
 Mount Desert.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American kestrel, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-billed cuckoo, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, blue jay, brown creeper, Canada goose, Cedar waxwing, dark-eyed junco, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, gray catbird, greater black-backed gull, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, northern cardinal, northern flicker, red-eyed vireo, savannah sparrow, scarlet tanager, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler
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Monday, September 13th, 2010
 Pileated woodpecker. An overcast morning. Chilly, but a T-shirt was fine. Pretty quiet at the trailhead—just the subtle cu! notes of a black-billed cuckoo. A couple of them, actually. Then a chickadee. Then a crow.
Not a lot of wind. Some. A few leaves are turning, and things are starting to smell a little like fall.
 Common yellowthroat (female). Coming around the turn by the boulder, I heard a catbird’s mew! and and squee! of a robin. And then some faint tapping. A woodpecker, or nuthatch, or other bark-loving bird. It was coming from up ahead maybe a hundred feet or fifty yards or so. We walked slowly and quiet, Jack and I, until I saw movement. Big movement, in fact. Wide, black-and-white winged movement. A pileated woodpecker, flapping a few yards onto the trunk of a dead tree.
It was way too dim for a photo, but I tried anyway through a hole in the greenery. I could see the red crest. Then the bird called a loud short call of the kind pileateds do. And suddenly I could see another flash of a red crest lower on the same trunk. A pair of birds.
Way too dim for a photo. But I took a few anyway.
 Yellow-rumped warbler. On up the hill, we ran into the usual white-throated sparrows and towhees and heard the quay! of a red-eyed vireo. Also the sounds of goldfinches flying over—they always seem to be flying over. “Perk chicory,” is what I imagine them saying as they fly.
A couple savannah sparrows coming down the open trail. Toward Beech Hill Road, I heard a nuthatch and a titmouse. I thought I heard a field sparrow’s chip, but it wasn’t distinctive enough to count.
Back at the summit, amid the spruce grove, I heard the chips of what I thought was a yell0w-rumped warbler. I soon confirmed this. I also heard chips I didn’t recognize—and snapped a couple photos of a vireo, another Philadelphia, I’m pretty sure.
Nothing new down the lower wooded trail. I thought I might hear or see more brown creepers, but I didn’t.
 Penobscot Bay. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:30 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Black-billed cuckoo (voice)
2. Black-capped chickadee
3. American crow (voice)
4. Gray catbird (voice)
5. American robin (voice)
6. Pileated woodpecker
7. Eastern towhee
8. White-throated sparrow
9. Red-eyed vireo
10. Northern flicker (voice)
11. American goldfinch
12. Mourning dove
13. Savannah sparrow
14. Blue jay
15. Song sparrow
16. Common yellowthroat
17. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
18. Tufted titmouse (voice)
19. Cedar waxwing
20. Yellow-rumped warbler
21. Eastern phoebe
22. Philadelphia vireo
Elsewhere
23. Herring gull
24. Northern cardinal
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-billed cuckoo, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, gray catbird, herring gull, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, Philadelphia vireo, pileated woodpecker, red-eyed vireo, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler
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Thursday, September 9th, 2010
 White-throated sparrow. What a lovely morning. Partly—maybe mostly—cloudy but with sudden, bright surprises of sunlight. Still, with occasional zephyrs. Cool. Lots of bird activity at the hill.
The first to announce its presence: a hairy woodpecker calling off in the hardwoods near the parking lot. (I’d hear and/or see three or four more hairy woodpeckers this morning—though no other woodpecker species.) Next was a chickadee. (I’d hear and/or see maybe a half dozen little groups of our common tit over the next two hours.) Blue jays in the distance. And as we approached the first couple of chickadees, I spotted the bright yellow cheek patch of a black-throated green warbler feeding silently in the upper greenery.
 Song sparrow (juvenile). Farther up the hill, my attention to little flitting movements revealed a redstart, a gang of vireos, and a family of white-throated sparrows. White-throats were hiding out all over the hill.
In fact, I managed to list four sparrow species: white-throat, song, savannah, and field. A single savannah was lingering on the open trail, and a little group of field sparrows were chipping about in the thicket along the trail near Beech Hill Road.
Nearing the summit on our ascent, the sudden wingbeats of three ruffed grouse surprised Jack and me. I watched all three flutter at a low angle off into the trees, where one behaved as a mother hen might—squealing away back and forth through understory. Then we paused, as we usually do, under the spruce grove at Beech Nut, and a ruby-throated hummingbird zipped up and hovered not three feet from Jack near a single pink flower. The bird only stayed there for a second, though, before deciding it was too close to a canine, when it hurried away low and in a southwesterly direction, off behind the hut.
A red-breasted nuthatch was calling in the spruces; a white-breasted was calling down the lower wooded trail on our return. In fact, around the last little gaggle of chickadees down there, I saw not only the white-breasted, but also a couple of brown creepers and a warbler I couldn’t identify. (I also heard a both an unidentifiable warbler and finch on the hill this morning.) In the distance, two or three pewees were calling to each other.
Then, from somewhere, came the croak of a raven.
 American crow. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Hairy woodpecker
2. Black-capped chickadee
3. Blue jay (voice)
4. Black-throated green warbler
5. Common yellowthroat
6. Eastern towhee
7. Gray catbird
8. White-throated sparrow
9. American redstart
10. Red-eyed vireo
11. Cedar waxwing (voice)
12. American crow
13. American goldfinch
14. Ruffed grouse
15. Red-breasted nuthatch (voice)
16. Song sparrow
17. Eastern phoebe
18. Yellow-rumped warbler
19. Ruby-throated hummingbird
20. Savannah sparrow
21. Field sparrow
22. Black-billed cuckoo (voice)
23. Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
24. White-breasted nuthatch
25. Brown creeper
26. Common raven (voice)
Elsewhere
27. Herring gull
 Beech Nut.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, black-billed cuckoo, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, brown creeper, Cedar waxwing, common raven, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, field sparrow, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, red-breasted nuthatch, red-eyed vireo, ruby-throated hummingbird, ruffed grouse, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler
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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