Another day when rain showers didn’t come early, as forecast. Instead, some blue sky appeared, and sun streamed down into the woodlands as dog and I headed up the trail. The sky was kind of amazing, actually—blue patches, big piled-up clouds with dark bottoms, reflections on the bay. And in our little birding patch, quite a few more species than in recent days.
Notable would be the random goose flying over, a Savannah Sparrow for a change, and just watching my old dog rolling over and over on the sweet green grass atop the hill. Matter of fact, I hiked up again in early afternoon with my friend’s young dog, when I added two species to my list (and heard of a sighting of a Mourning Warbler—which would be a new addition to the Beech Hill List—from a pair of birders coming down).
Quite a few birds posed for photos, even. And tomorrow’s forecast looks similar to today’s actual weather. That’d be real nice—I do love a variable, dramatic sky.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:30 a.m. sun time (8:30 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. American Redstart 2. Ovenbird 3. Red-eyed Vireo 4. Song Sparrow 5. Chestnut-sided Warbler 6. Eastern Wood-pewee 7. Black-and-white Warbler 8. Black-throated Green Warbler 9. Veery 10. Tufted Titmouse 11. Great Crested Flycatcher 12. Northern Cardinal 13. White-throated Nuthatch 14. Eastern Towhee 15. Scarlet Tanager 16. American Crow 17. Common Yellowthroat 18. Hermit Thrush 19. Alder Flycatcher 20. American Goldfinch 21. Yellow Warbler 22. Field Sparrow 23. Eastern Bluebird 24. Chipping Sparrow 25. Canada Goose 26. Turkey Vulture 27. Common Raven 28. Eastern Phoebe 29. Ruby-crowned Kinglet 30. Mourning Dove 31. Gray Catbird 32. Red-winged Blackbird 33. Rose-breasted Grosbeak 34. Savannah Sparrow 35. American Robin 36. Pileated Woodpecker 37. Broad-winged Hawk 38. Red-bellied Woodpecker
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
Had a thundershower overnight—one bolt of lightning struck a couple-three hundred yards away, startling my nearly deaf dog—and a steady light rain was in the forecast for today. But the light rain held off, which left Captain Jack and me with a chilly (upper-40s° F), breezy, deep blue-and-green sort of Beech Hill hike.
That’s right, Jack got back on the hill this morning, having descended a couple portable steps out of the truck instead of leaping too far down for his 15-year-old limbs. He was obviously happy to be there.
Wasn’t expecting many birds but got a nice number of species. Also photos—my favorite being a Veery that posed nicely down along the wooded trail.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 6:31 a.m. sun time (7:31 DST), I hiked all trails—and then some.
1. Eastern Phoebe 2. Red-eyed Vireo** (v) 3. American Redstart (v) 4. Ovenbird** (v) 5. Northern Cardinal 6. Tufted Titmouse (v) 7. Chestnut-sided Warbler (v) 8. Song Sparrow 9. American Crow 10. Black-and-white Warbler (v) 11. Northern Parula (v) 12. American Robin 13. Herring Gull* 14. Eastern Towhee 15. Field Sparrow 16. Turkey Vulture 17. Alder Flycatcher (v) 18. Hairy Woodpecker 19. Black-throated Green Warbler (v) 20. Veery 21. Gray Catbird** (v) 22. Common Yellowthroat (v) 23. Chipping Sparrow 24. Mourning Dove 25. Yellow Warbler (v)
Elsewhere
26. Mallard 27. Wild Turkey
Mammals
White-tailed Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
