Another sunny, summery morning—but cooler, and with a breeze. The wild birds are busy taking care of their youngsters these days, whether corvid or raptor or warbler or thrush. Noteworthy today was a Red-shouldered Hawk (which dog and I spooked, so I got no good photo), a silent, hunting Alder Flycatcher, and a bunch of juvie thrushes.
One of the latter posed politely for me (seemingly curious about these two animals of different species). Thank you, little Hermie.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:07 a.m. EST (8:07 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Red-eyed Vireo** 2. Eastern Phoebe 3. Black-throated Blue Warbler (v) 4. Black-throated Green Warbler (v) 5. Ovenbird** (v) 6. Song Sparrow** 7. Red-bellied Woodpecker (v) 8. American Goldfinch (v) 9. American Crow* 10. Eastern Towhee 11. Black-capped Chickadee (v) 12. American Robin* 13. Tufted Titmouse (v) 14. White-breasted Nuthatch 15. Blue Jay (v) 16. Eastern Wood-pewee 17. Hermit Thrush 18. Red-breasted Nuthatch 19. Northern Flicker (v) 20. Chestnut-sided Warbler (v) 21. Common Yellowthroat 22. Gray Catbird 23. Yellow Warbler (v) 24. Cedar Waxwing 25. Red-shouldered Hawk 26. Field Sparrow (v) 27. Brown Creeper (v) 28. Black-and-white Warbler 29. Eastern Bluebird 30. Alder Flycatcher 31. Turkey Vulture 32. Blue-headed Vireo (v)
Elsewhere
33. Herring Gull
Mammals
American Red Squirrel
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
No rain in this morning’s forecast, but foggy again to start. (A lot of moisture in the air lately.) Still, soon enough, the sun began to break through occasionally, and the temperature rose a bit. Another very calm day.
Fewer birds than yesterday, but a few interesting ones—most notable being a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers excavating for food along the upper woodland trail. (And I heard the call of a Great Crested Flycatcher as we began our return trip.)
Finally, I’ve marveled at how many dead or dying Brown-tail Moths litter the trails just now. Many hundreds in the past few days—seemingly more each day. (They must live only long enough to lay a fresh batch of eggs.)
Tomorrow’s supposed to be bright and warm.
Beech Hill List Starting at 6:30 a.m. EST (7:30 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Red-eyed Vireo** (v) 2. Eastern Phoebe** 3. Black-throated Green Warbler (v) 4. Ovenbird** (v) 5. Tufted Titmouse (v) 6. Veery 7. American Goldfinch** 8. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 9. Black-capped Chickadee (v) 10. Blue Jay (v) 11. White-breasted Nuthatch (v) 12. Northern Flicker (v) 13. Hermit Thrush 14. American Crow* 15. Gray Catbird** 16. Eastern Towhee 17. Common Yellowthroat** 18. Chestnut-sided Warbler** 19. Alder Flycatcher (v) 20. Song Sparrow* 21. Pileated Woodpecker 22. Yellow Warbler** 23. Field Sparrow (v) 24. Barn Swallow 25. Cedar Waxwing* 26. Eastern Bluebird 27. American Robin* 28. Downy Woodpecker (v) 29. Purple Finch 30. Great Crested Flycatcher (v)
Warm to start under mostly cloudy skies—about room temperature out. Light winds, drier than in recent days. Thunderstorms forecast for this evening, though, so coming days will be wetter.
Invasive Brown-tailed Moths litter the trails these days—I suppose they live short lives in the moth stage, just long enough to lay eggs. The caterpillars really got me this year.
Birds were active, despite (perhaps because of?) the overcast. Most notable were a raven, a gull, and a juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird. (I’d rather have a brown-headed critter than a brown-tailed one any ol’ day.)
Might get wet tomorrow, dog and I. We shall see!
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:06 a.m. EST (8:06 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (drumming) 2. Red-eyed Vireo** (v) 3. Ovenbird** 4. Tufted Titmouse (v) 5. Eastern Phoebe 6. Black-throated Green Warbler (v) 7. American Goldfinch 8. Brown Creeper (v) 9. Veery (v) 10. Hairy Woodpecker (v) 11. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 12. Black-capped Chickadee** 13. Blue Jay (v) 14. Hermit Thrush (v) 15. Scarlet Tanager (v) 16. White-breasted Nuthatch (v) 17. Black-and-white Warbler (v) 18. Gray Catbird** 19. Common Yellowthroat 20. American Robin* 21. Song Sparrow 22. American Crow* (v) 23. Yellow Warbler 24. Eastern Towhee (v) 25. Eastern Bluebird 26. Cedar Waxwing 27. Field Sparrow (v) 28. Purple Finch (v) 29. Mourning Dove (v) 30. Chestnut-sided Warbler 31. Downy Woodpecker (v) 32. Savannah Sparrow (v)
Elsewhere
33. Mallard 34. Herring Gull
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
