They’re everywhere at this time of year. I’m talking about Yellow-rumped Warblers—a.k.a. (in the lingo of my birding crowd) “Butter Butts” or just “’Rumps.” There they were on this nippy, breezy, cloudless morning, flitting about in their drab fall plumage, delivering their familiar dry chip notes, by far the most abundant of the migratory species.
Also had white-throats and kinglets again, heard the voice of a Red-shouldered Hawk, had a couple other cool migrants. But just about everywhere dog and I walked, we were accompanied by yellow-rumps.
Will miss them when they’re gone.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:48 a.m. EST (8:48 DST), I hiked all trails.
This morning dog and I hiked a calm, cool quiet, early autumn trail. Migration was going on—many yellow-rumps, a kinglet, White-throated Sparrows—but after four sweet days on an island, it felt mostly like being back amid close family.
Best family photo? A close-up of a resident chickadee.
[On our morning hike, I dropped my Garmin device. Didn’t notice till we got back to the truck. So in afternoon, I went back without Jack—and, by golly, someone had found it and left it on a bench at the hut. Added a raven.]
Beech Hill List Starting at 8:03 a.m. EST (9:03 DST) and again at 1:09 (2:09), I hiked all trails.
This first day of autumn brought a morning much like yesterday’s: sunny, cool, and fragrant. It also brought a surprising bird species: a Horned Lark. They’re not rare on the hill, but they typically come in small flocks. I rarely see just one, as I did today. An immature male, the bird was poking around the edges of the main trail—and at one point got very near to dog and me as we stood still, and I took photos.
Another oddball was a Nashville Warbler (haven’t seen any since spring, and few then), adult and juvie Hermit Thrush, and a bunch of the usual suspects.
All in all, a fun one.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:24 a.m. EST (8:24 DST), I hiked all trails.
