6 April 2026

Posts Tagged ‘white-breasted nuthatch’

The Presence of a Raven

Monday, November 28th, 2016
Canada Geese, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 28 November 2016.

Canada Geese.

Common Raven, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 28 November 2016.

Common Raven.

When first you see a particular raven,
chances are it’ll be on the move
in rapid flight, low between rows of trees
to avoid mobbing crows,
or making circles around a hill
on slow, strong wings,
or taking powerfully off from a perch
or from the ground.

Often, though, your first knowledge
of the presence of a raven
comes with its magical voice—
with croaks and gurgles
or sounds like dripping water
or South Africa’s clicking languages
or cries like from a human baby,
it makes its presence known.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked the open trail.

1. Black-capped Chickadee**
2. Golden-crowned Kinglet (v)
3. American Crow* (v)
4. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
5. American Goldfinch
6. Purple Finch (v)
7. Common Raven
8. Northern Flicker
9. Canada Goose

Elsewhere

10. Herring Gull
11. Rock Pigeon

v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

Demarcation, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 28 November 2016.

Demarcation.

Shrike Persists, Crows Abide

Sunday, November 27th, 2016
Northern Shrike, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 27 November 2016.

Northern Shrike.

Bookends (American Crows), Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 27 November 2016.

Bookends (American Crows).

Dog and I encountered another shrike today—or, I might dare say, the same shrike that’s been hanging around the hill for ten or twelve days now. On first glimpse, I watched as a flicker appeared to take a dive at it, but then withdrew.

A moment later, the shrike hopped off its stem and hovered on fast-beating wings a few feet off the ground for maybe three seconds.

I’m determined to get a video of that one of these days.

In the summit spruce grove, crows.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 9 a.m., I hiked the open trail.

1. Black-capped Chickadee**
2. Blue Jay*
3. Hairy Woodpecker (v)
4. American Crow*
5. White-breasted Nuthatch** (v)
6. American Goldfinch (v)
7. Yellow-rumped Warbler (v)
8. Northern Flicker
9. Northern Shrike
10. American Robin (v)

Elsewhere

11. Herring Gull

v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

 

Shrike, Chickadee, Raven

Saturday, November 26th, 2016
Northern Shrike, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 26 November 2016.

Northern Shrike.

Black-capped Chickadee, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 26 November 2016.

Black-capped Chickadee.

Rained overnight last night. This morning, birds emerged—including a raven patrolling the summit fields, a chickadee cracking bayberries, and a shrike hunting from the tops of trees.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 9:15 a.m., I hiked the open trail.

1. American Robin (v)
2. Blue Jay* (v)
3. American Crow*
4. White-breasted Nuthatch** (v)
5. Black-capped Chickadee**
6. American Goldfinch (v)
7. Common Raven
8. Northern Cardinal (v)
9. Herring Gull
10. Northern Shrike
11. Northern Flicker (v)
12. Downy Woodpecker (v)

Elsewhere

13. Herring Gull
14. Ring-billed Gull
15. House Sparrow
16. Rock Pigeon

v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

 

Common Raven, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 26 November 2016.

Common Raven.

 
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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