First full day of winter. And it felt rather wintry—sub-freezing overnight, 20-something (F) as dog and I hit the trail, calm and overcast to start. But soon enough, the clouds moved away to reveal the bluest of skies.
Had some turkeys and nuthatches and chickadees in the woods, crows and goldfinches and yellow-rumps in the fields. And bluebirds. Many bluebirds.
But most notable, today, was the fact that we ran into a young friend and his new fiancée. And by “new,” I mean new as of this day, this blue-sky morning. They’d hiked up to Beech Nut at dawn and spent hours at Beech Nut, and at some point he popped the question, and she responded positively.
It made me very happy to mention to them that their engagement happened on what was unquestionably a bluebird day.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:13 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. White-breasted Nuthatch
2. Wild Turkey
3. Black-capped Chickadee**
4. American Crow*
5. Yellow-rumped Warbler
6. Red-breasted Nuthatch (v)
7. Eastern Bluebird
8. American Goldfinch
9. American Robin (v)
10. Downy Woodpecker
Elsewhere
11. Mallard
12. Canada Goose
13. Herring Gull
14. Rock Pigeon
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
†First-of-year
