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Posts Tagged ‘winter wren’
Saturday, May 9th, 2015
 Common Yellowthroat. Up early, cool day heavy overcast early. Did not hear a lot of birds first thing—but after a little while, there they all were. Several nesting species have not yet arrived at Beech hill—flycatchers, Yellow Warbler, hummingbird, tanager, Red-eyed Vireo—but nearly all those that have did show up on my list today.
 Veery. But perhaps most interesting this morning were some instances that convinced me I’m getting to know Beech Hill pretty well.
For instance, early in my hike with dog, I heard the drumming of a grouse ahead of us—quite nearby. Then came the song of a Chestnut-sided Warbler, and we started around a curve where I thought I might get a good look. But in the back of my mind, I thought, “That partridge is gonna flush,” and I kind of looked in the direction of its booming, and the grouse flushed, and I got to see it fly fast, right to left, in full view for three or four seconds.
As we walked in the upper woods, I noticed a thrush walking the trail about thirty feet ahead of us. The native (non-robin) thrushes all look similar at first glance, but I knew it was a Veery. Just knew.
Then, later, on the other side of the hill, I looked up in the fog to see a large black bird flying over—and I knew right away it was a raven, not a crow. Subtle clues, I guess: solitary bird, quiet, flying kind of low, coming from a particular direction. When it then began to soar, I wasn’t surprised. And after it disappeared over the trees, the voices of crows confirmed it.
Love, in a way, is familiarity.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Black-capped Chickadee**
2. Common Yellowthroat
3. Ovenbird**
4. Mourning Dove*
5. Pileated Woodpecker (v)
6. Eastern Towhee
7. Blue-headed Vireo (v)
8. Hermit Thrush
9. Herring Gull* (v)
10. Chestnut-sided Warbler
11. Ruffed Grouse
12. Veery
13. Black-and-white Warbler**
14. Black-throated Green Warbler
15. Northern Cardinal**
16. Blue Jay (v)
17. American Goldfinch**
18. Gray Catbird
19. White-throated Sparrow (v)
20. American Crow*
21. Northern Flicker
22. Song Sparrow**
23. Wild Turkey
24. Eastern Phoebe
25. Savannah Sparrow
26. Tufted Titmouse (v)
27. Palm Warbler
28. White-breasted Nuthatch** (v)
29. American Robin*
30. Nashville Warbler
31. Chipping Sparrow (v)
32. Common Raven
33. Red-bellied Woodpecker (v)
34. Northern Parula
35. Winter Wren (v)
36. Mallard
Elsewhere
37. House Finch (v)
38. Common Grackle
39. European Starling
40. Sharp-shinned Hawk
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, blue-headed vireo, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common grackle, common raven, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, European starling, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, mallard, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, northern flicker, northern parula, ovenbird, palm warbler, pileated woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker, ruffed grouse, savannah sparrow, sharp-shinned hawk, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, wild turkeyu, winter wren
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 6th, 2015
 Field Sparrow. An early morning, a flood of good birds. For whatever reason—a convergence of the season, meteorological conditions, and just the miracle of the universe—a bunch of new species showed up. Thirty-seven species, eleven of them warblers (three of those first-of-year birds), a first-of-year Veery, video of a pair of crows harassing a raven, video of a singing Northern Parula. Two-plus hours of hiking with my good dog Jack.
Here are a few photos.
 Crown and raven.  Northern Parula.  Black-throated Blue Warbler. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:45 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. American Goldfinch
2. Black-capped Chickadee**
3. Ovenbird** (v)
4. Common Yellowthroat
5. Black-and-white Warbler**
6. Tufted Titmouse* (v)
7. Eastern Phoebe
8. Blue-headed Vireo†
9. Chestnut-sided Warbler†
10. Black-throated Green Warbler (v)
11. Blue Jay (v)
12. Eastern Towhee
13. White-throated Sparrow
14. American Crow*
15. Gray Catbird
16. Northern Parula†
17. Hairy Woodpecker (v)
18. Purple Finch (v)
19. Red-winged Blackbird
20. Veery†
21. Northern Flicker (v)
22. Song Sparrow
23. Yellow-rumped Warbler
24. Ruby-crowned Kinglet (v)
25. Savannah Sparrow
26. Northern Cardinal** (v)
27. Nashville Warbler (v)
28. American Robin
29. Chipping Sparrow (v)
30. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
31. Downy Woodpecker
32. Common Raven
33. Palm Warbler
34. Winter Wren† (v)
35. Turkey Vulture
36. Black-throated Blue Warbler†
37. Pine Warbler (v)
Elsewhere
38. Mourning Dove
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
†First-of-year bird
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, blue-headed vireo, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common raven, common yellowthroat, downy woodpecker, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, northern flicker, northern parula, ovenbird, palm warbler, pine warbler, purple finch, red-winged blackbird, ruby-crowned kinglet, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, turkey vulture, veery, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, winter wren, yellow-rumped warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Monday, April 21st, 2014
 American kestrel. For whatever reason, this has been a great spring for woodpeckers. Red-bellieds, and Yellow-bellieds, and Pileated ’Peckers galore. And flickers. I forgot to mention yesterday that I stopped to count the number of notes in a particular flicker’s call at Beech Hill. A flicker’s call is so rapid and long, it was not an easy thing to do. I kept losing track—until I realized I could easily reckon in groups of eight. Forty-seven notes. That’s a lot.
 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (female). Today was sunny. The early trails were drier still than yesterday. Birds were about but seemingly not as visible. I did hear my first Purple Finch in a while—it was performing its vireo-like call.
No pictures, though, until Jack and I got up and over and down to Beech Hill Road, where I heard the telltale syncopated drumming of a Yellow-Bellied Woodpecker. Same tree as a couple days ago. A loud one. We stopped, I turned back a ways. The drumming moved to a quieter piece of wood—which turned out to be the same utility pole the Pileated Woodpecker’s been using. As I began to take a video of the drumming male, a female showed up, and the pair of them bobbed noisily up and down in a sort of courtship display I’d never seen. And soon after, I noticed three of them marching up a sloping tree trunk—two males on either side of the female, I’m pretty sure.
The Chipping Sparrow was singing down there, too, so I decided to use the note-counting trick I’d learned with the flicker. The chippy’s rapid call—about the same speed as the flicker’s, now that I think about it—included twenty-three notes.
Back up at the summit, a sparrow hawk showed up, and I got a few photos of it sweeping and hovering over the barrens. Then, back along the lower wooded trail, again I heard a Winter Wren. I wonder if a pair will be nesting down there somewhere this season.
As for woodpeckers, four species today: flicker, hair, sapsucker, pileated. Woodpeckers entertain me.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:30 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Northern Flicker (v)
2. American Robin*
3. Northern Cardinal (v)
4. House Finch** (v)
5. American Crow*
6. Black-capped Chickadee
7. Purple Finch† (v)
8. Herring Gull*
9. Mourning Dove* (v)
10. Pileated Woodpecker (v)
11. Brown-headed Cowbird (v)
12. Hermit Thrush
13. Eastern Towhee
14. Song Sparrow**
15. Eastern Phoebe
16. American Goldfinch (v)
17. Hairy Woodpecker
18. Red-winged Blackbird
19. Blue Jay
20. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
21. Fox Sparrow
22. American Kestrel
23. Winter Wren (v)
Elsewhere
24. House Sparrow
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
†First-of-year bird
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American kestrel, American robin, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, brown-headed cowbird, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, fox sparrow, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, pileated woodpecker, purple finch, red-winged blackbird, song sparrow, winter wren, yellow-bellied sapsucker
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
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| 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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