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Posts Tagged ‘common eider’
Sunday, May 6th, 2012
 Black-throated green warbler. Up early. Dog and I were hiking Beech Hill by 6:30.
 Black-and-white warbler. Birds everywhere.
Little arriving warblers chipping and flitting in the tiny leaves of the canopy. First-of-year black-throated greens singing from all directions. Two species of nuthatch across the road. Mating black-capped chickadees. First-of-year rose-breasted grosbeak, catbird, brown thrasher. First-of-year chestnut-sided and palm warblers.
We flushed four—that’s right, four—woodcocks poking about in the mud of the trail ahead of us. In overflight, I saw a huge vee of cormorants and about a half-dozen red-winged blackbirds (chuck! chuck!) flying in loose formation.
For the first time this month, the sun was bright and the sky was blue-blue.
At the summit, I caught sight of an osprey sailing over—bound from Chickawaukie Lake toward Rockport Harbor, looked like. It was carrying a fish.
A savannah sparrow sang from the peak of the sod roof of Beech Nut. What better nesting place for a savannah sparrow?
 Ovenbird. Down in the woods somewhere, turkeys were gobbling like crazy. Grouse boomed.
At the opposite parking lot, chipping sparrows sang dueling songs across Beech Hill Road. A cowbird—same bird as yesterday, I imagine—squeaked and squealed. Tree swallows, those most magnificent flyers, veered and spun above the blueberry fields.
On our way back up and over, I saw a solitary raven soar low over the summit.
We spent two and a half hours up there this morning.
And better still, this afternoon I had occasion to walk the breakwater with my friend Craig. (He’s shooting a short movie. I’m the “talent.”) Eiders, loons, cormorants, a guillemot, the voices of laughing gulls. And back at the parking lot, two species of sparrow—song and house—posed for photos.
Tonight Venus sets brightly to the west, and the moon rises brightly on the other side of the sky.
 Song sparrow. Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:30 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Tufted titmouse* (v)
2. Ovenbird
3. Song sparrow* (v)
4. Northern cardinal* (v)
5. Black-throated green warbler**
6. Red-breasted nuthatch (v)
7. American goldfinch*
8. Blue-headed vireo
9. Hairy woodpecker (v)
10. White-breasted nuthatch (v)
11. Black-capped chickadee*
12. Blue jay (v)
13. Black-and-white warbler
14. American crow* (v)
15. Yellow-rumped warbler
16. Chestnut-sided warbler**
17. Northern flicker (v)
18. Nashville warbler (v)
19. Rose-breasted grosbeak** (v)
20. White-throated sparrow
21. Wild turkey (v)
22. Eastern towhee
23. Herring gull*
24. American woodcock*
25. Ruffed grouse (booming)
26. American robin*
27. Mourning dove* (v)
28. Double-crested cormorant*
29. Red-winged blackbird
30. Gray catbird** (v)
31. Savannah sparrow
32. Brown thrasher** (v)
33. Tree swallow
34. Osprey
35. Palm warbler**
36. Chipping sparrow
37. House finch*
38. Brown-headed cowbird (v)
39. Common raven
40. Eastern phoebe
Elsewhere
41. Mallard
42. Rock pigeon
43. Turkey vulture
44. European starling
45. Common eider
46. Laughing gull (v)
47. Black guillemot
48. Great black-backed gull
49. Common loon
50. House sparrow
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**First-of-year bird
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, American woodcock, black guillemot, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, blue-headed vireo, brown thrasher, brown-headed cowbird, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common eider, common loon, common raven, double-crested cormorant, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, European starling, gray catbird, great black-backed gull, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, laughing gull, mallard, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern cardinal, northern flicker, osprey, ovenbird, palm warbler, red-breasted nuthatch, red-winged blackbird, rock pigeon, rose-breasted grosbeak, ruffed grouse, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, turkey vulture, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, wild turkey, yellow-rumped warbler
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 14th, 2012
 Clouds. In case you didn’t know, I don’t usually go looking for birds—well, except for a few notable times of year (fall migration at Monhegan Island, the Christmas bird count in December, and when I lead an occasional bird walk)—but rather just make a mental note of the birds that show up where I happen to be. Or, if I’m lucky, take their photos.
 Cloud. Today, another spring-like winter day, I came across a number of common species in my travels, but I crossed paths with no birds up at Beech Hill.
I did, however, come across some interesting late-afternoon clouds.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:30 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
(No birds seen or heard on the hill today, either.)
Elsewhere
1. American crow
2. House finch
3. Herring gull
4. Ring-billed gull
5. Rock pigeon
6. Common eider
 Beech Nut.
Tags: American crow, common eider, herring gull, house finch, ring-billed gull, rock pigeon
Posted in Lists, Observations | No Comments »
Saturday, December 17th, 2011
 Hooded merganser. Today being Christmas Bird Count day, I rose before dawn, had a good-sized breakfast, took dog out, and set off for the Rockland Breakwater, where I met fellow counters Kristen, Paul, Ron, Joe, and Paula. The sun rose in a golden line along the southeastern horizon. That golden line turned out to be a remnant clear patch, though, because the rest of the sky had gone overcast. In fact, it just might’ve been the coldest morning of the season—which didn’t surprise me, considering our recent run of frigid, icy CBC weather—but there wasn’t much wind, and the walk out across the harbor seemed almost mild.
 Red-bellied woodpecker. Highlights were a fast-moving merlin, four species of gull (I only saw three, having missed the great black-backed), horned and red-necked grebes, surf scoters, and a seal. Oh, and the fact that it began to snow.
And the snow grew heavier and continued for the rest of the morning. We walked the grounds of the Samoset Resort, where our friend Don had seen a lesser scaup in one of the ponds along the golf course. Yep, there it was, in the falling snow. Meanwhile, about a hundred Canada geese played through, which was not exactly a surprise. Then Ron thought he heard a yellow-rumped warbler and crashed off into the woods to look for it. And by-God-found it. (It turned out to be the only warbler seen in our entire section today.)
After that we took a little side-trip to a yard in the neighborhood, where a red-bellied woodpecker had been reported at a backyard feeder, and we found that, too. (Kristen spotted it first.) Also tree sparrows, titmice, chickadees, hairy woodpeckers, starlings, a mourning dove, a song sparrow. It turned out to be a productive little side-trip.
Not much at the Sea View Cemetery, but Clam Cove delivered a Bonaparte’s gull and an eagle. And a stop up at the entrance to the Bear Hill subdivision proved fruitful: three hooded merganser, two females and a male. (The male kept chasing one of the females around, and not in a loving way.) And at Chickawaukie Lake, we counted about six hundred coots.
 American tree sparrow. Then we stopped for lunch and conversation, and I skipped out on the afternoon.
Since Jack had been home alone for about six hours, on my return we took off for Beech Hill. A nice, brisk hike. You could see the huge raft of Chickawaukie coots all the way from up there. And I heard the voice of a crow.
Tonight it’s cold. I do believe the coldest night of the season so far (although not particularly cold for this season). Me? I’m still thinking about all those birds.
(You’ll find a few more photos below.)
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 2:30 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. American coot
2. American crow
Elsewhere
3. Black-capped chickadee
4. House sparrow
5. House finch
6. American goldfinch
7. Canada goose
8. Northern mockingbird
9. Herring gull
10. Mallard
11. Horned grebe
12. Black duck
13. Common goldeneye
14. Great cormorant
15. Ring-billed gull
16. Common loon
17. Common eider
18. Red-breasted merganser
19. Bonaparte’s gull
20. Long-tailed duck
21. Red-necked grebe
22. Merlin
23. Surf scoter
24. Black guillemot
25. Northern flicker
26. Bufflehead
27. Lesser scaup
28. Bald eagle
29. Tufted titmouse
30. European starling
31. American tree sparrow
32. Song sparrow
33. Hairy woodpecker
34. White-breasted nuthatch
35. Mourning dove
36. Red-bellied woodpecker
37. Northern cardinal
38. Hooded merganser
 Hooded mergansers.  Hooded mergansers.  Hooded mergansers.  Owls Head Light.
Tags: American coot, American crow, American goldfinch, American tree sparrow, bald eagle, black duck, black guillemot, black-capped chickadee, Bonaparte's gull, bufflehead, Canada goose, common eider, common goldeneye, common loon, European starling, great cormorant, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, hooded merganser, horned grebe, house finch, house sparrow, lesser scaup, long-tailed duck, mallard, merlin, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, northern mockingbird, red-bellied woodpecker, red-breasted merganser, red-necked grebe, ring-billed gull, surf scoter, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch
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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