Yet another warm, humid morning—albeit not quite as warm or humid as the past couple of days. Many more species than yesterday, including a few raptors, among them a first harrier since last spring (sign of early migration).
Several species posed for photos, too, but my favorite happened to be a woodpecker who posed for the last photo I took this day.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:15 a.m. EST (8:15 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Blue Jay (v) 2. Red-eyed Vireo (v) 3. Black-capped Chickadee 4. Tufted Titmouse (v) 5. Gray Catbird (v) 6. American Crow* 7. Hermit Thrush 8. Eastern Towhee (v) 9. Black-and-white Warbler (v) 10. Eastern Phoebe 11. Common Yellowthroat 12. Cedar Waxwing 13. Yellow-rumped Warbler 14. American Goldfinch** (v) 15. Northern Harrier 16. Osprey* 17. Sharp-shinned Hawk 18. Song Sparrow 19. Broad-winged Hawk 20. Hairy Woodpecker
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)
Another nippy morning—low-60s (F) to start—that warmed into a lovely late-summer day. On the hill, birds were stirring, including one species I hadn’t encountered since spring: Scarlet Tanager. I heard a high, loud, abrupt call that I didn’t recognize coming from up in the wooded canopy. Turned out to be a female tanager. (Learned another bird call today!)
