It rained for a while this morning, but the rain moved through in a relative hurry, leaving dog’s and my hiking hill cloaked in fog. A few birds made themselves known early—very few—but the excitement waited until we were following the muddy wooded trails.
As often happens, it started with the voices of chickadees, voices I pay attention to, considering they typically have travel with an entourage. And that was the case this morning. And among the species in the chickadees’ little posse flitted a single Wilson’s Warbler—the first Wilson’s I’ve seen since our return from Salt Lake City nearly a year and a half ago.
This was the second straight day with evidence of the start of fall migration.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:14 a.m. EST (8:14 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Northern Flicker (v) 2. Gray Catbird 3. Song Sparrow 4. Common Yellowthroat 5. American Goldfinch 6. Black-capped Chickadee 7. White-breasted Nuthatch 8. Eastern Bluebird 9. Eastern Wood-pewee 10. Hairy Woodpecker 11. Red-eyed Vireo 12. American Redstart 13. Wilson’s Warbler 14. Eastern Towhee 15. Cedar Waxwing 16. Rose-breasted Grosbeak 17. Blue Jay
Elsewhere
18. Carolina Wren 19. American Crow 20. Herring Gull 21. Rock Pigeon 22. Mallard
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
Another warm one (hot one?)—a little warmer than yesterday’s room temperature experience at the beginning of my hike up the wooded trail with dog. Captain Jack spent more of our excursion panting.
Before we hiked, though, first thin in the morning, I found the carcass of a crow lying on the lawn. I spoke to the dead bird as I picked its mortal remains gently up and tossed them off into a bushy green patch.
The rest of the birds we encountered were all alive and well—although we didn’t encounter many on account (I suppose) of the heat and humidity.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:24 a.m. EST (8:24 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Pileated Woodpecker (v, drumming) 2. Blue Jay 3. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 4. Black-capped Chickadee** 5. White-breasted Nuthatch (v) 6. Red-eyed Vireo (v) 7. Hermit Thrush (v) 8. Song Sparrow* 9. Common Yellowthroat 10. American Goldfinch** 11. Turkey Vulture
Elsewhere
12. Carolina Wren (v) 13. Herring Gull 14. Wild Turkey 15. House Sparrow 16. Rock Pigeon 17. Mourning Dove
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
It was a warm one. Starting up the trail early, dog and I “enjoyed” a sort of humid room temperature. Once we got out of the shade, the air got summertime-warm in a hurry. Still, what a nice hike.
Mainly because of the variety of bird life. A vireo posed. So did a Broad-winged Hawk and a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Most interestingly, a young Cape May Warbler perched high in a summit spruce and might as well have begged to have his picture took—one of very few of the species I’ve seen up there.
In afternoon, I rode around on my bicycle in 80-something-degree (F) temperatures. Seems we get us a variety of weather around here, too.
Beech Hill List Starting at 6:45 a.m. EST (7:45 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Red-eyed Vireo 2. White-breasted Nuthatch (v) 3. Blue Jay 4. Gray Catbird 5. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 6. Hairy Woodpecker 7. Broad-winged Hawk 8. American Crow* (v) 9. Black-capped Chickadee** 10. Eastern Towhee (v) 11. Song Sparrow 12. Common Yellowthroat (v) 13. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 14. Cape May Warbler† 15. American Goldfinch 16. Downy Woodpecker (v) 17. Cedar Waxwing 18. Northern Flicker (v)
