A cool morning, with sun to start but clouds soon moving over and a bit of a breeze. Rain in the forecast, but it didn’t come while dog and I were hiking. However, the birds must’ve known a secret, because as our hike reached about its three-quarter mark, a sudden flood of species moved through the trees above us. And most of them were wood-warblers.
Chestnut-sided, redstart, parula, yellow-rump, black-and-white—it seemed like a little preview of a migratory fallout. With their quick flitting and the dim, gray conditions, it was hard to grab a decent photo. But here’s a pick of a singing Chestnut-sided Warbler.
Rain is forecast for much of tomorrow.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:23 a.m. EST (8:23 DST), I hiked all trails.
Another warm one (hot one?)—a little warmer than yesterday’s room temperature experience at the beginning of my hike up the wooded trail with dog. Captain Jack spent more of our excursion panting.
Before we hiked, though, first thin in the morning, I found the carcass of a crow lying on the lawn. I spoke to the dead bird as I picked its mortal remains gently up and tossed them off into a bushy green patch.
The rest of the birds we encountered were all alive and well—although we didn’t encounter many on account (I suppose) of the heat and humidity.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:24 a.m. EST (8:24 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Pileated Woodpecker (v, drumming) 2. Blue Jay 3. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 4. Black-capped Chickadee** 5. White-breasted Nuthatch (v) 6. Red-eyed Vireo (v) 7. Hermit Thrush (v) 8. Song Sparrow* 9. Common Yellowthroat 10. American Goldfinch** 11. Turkey Vulture
Elsewhere
12. Carolina Wren (v) 13. Herring Gull 14. Wild Turkey 15. House Sparrow 16. Rock Pigeon 17. Mourning Dove
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
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!)
