The sun emerged this morning first thing, but the air remained nighttime-cool. I almost smelled a nip of fall in the air—but not quite. And it warmed up a lot as the day lengthened.
The excitement of the day—other than the random appearance of a kestrel—turned out to be a little batch of silent warblers. Their silence has persisted for a good while now, but sighting them has been a challenge, what with the tendency of most to stick to the leafy canopy. But I managed four on my list this morning (and photographed three).
Weather-wise, tomorrow’s supposed to be a similar kind of day. Hmmm…
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:13 a.m. EST (8:13 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Northern Flicker (v) 2. American Goldfinch 3. Red-eyed Vireo (v) 4. Eastern Wood-pewee** (v) 5. White-breasted Nuthatch** (v) 6. Black-capped Chickadee 7. American Crow* 8. Black-throated Green Warbler 9. Black-and-white Warbler (v) 10. Ovenbird 11. Tufted Titmouse (v) 12. Brown Creeper (v) 13. Gray Catbird 14. Eastern Towhee (v) 15. Common Yellowthroat 16. Cedar Waxwing 17. Song Sparrow 18. American Kestrel
Elsewhere
19. Mourning Dove 20. Wild Turkey 21. Rock Pigeon
Mammals
White-tailed Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
Yesterday’s forecast called for showers. This morning’s called for an overcast. Reality proved a combination of each—foggy, misty, drippy. My hike with dog started out very quiet, but over time a few bird voices piped up, and then I caught sight of flittings in the understory, and eventually I heard the loud calls of two woodpecker species.
A highlight was a near approach by a white-tail, who must’ve sensed our presence a few yards away, so turned, galloped invisibly through the drippy tangles, giving out a couple of husky calls of alarm.
Photography turned out a challenging pursuit, so you’ll have to settle for a random pic of a juvenile delinquent towhee.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:09 a.m. EST (8:09 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Eastern Towhee 2. Song Sparrow 3. American Goldfinch** 4. Gray Catbird 5. Common Yellowthroat (v) 6. Black-capped Chickadee 7. Red-eyed Vireo (v) 8. White-breasted Nuthatch (v) 9. Tufted Titmouse 10. Black-throated Green Warbler 11. Eastern Wood-pewee 12. Blue Jay (v) 13. Pileated Woodpecker (v) 14. Downy Woodpecker (v) 15. American Crow* 16. Yellow Warbler (v)
Elsewhere
17. Mourning Dove 18. Herring Gull
Mammals
White-tailed Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
Upon rising this morning, the sun emerged, then faded in and out and in again as swirly white clouds floated overhead from the west. And the birds were really quiet. We walked long stretches, dog and I, without hearing a (literal) peep—because (I figured), at least in part, they don’t want to draw attention to their youngsters.
Throughout our hike, scanning the canopy, I caught sight of just three wood-warbler species, poking about for insects and caterpillars. Not one of them uttered a single tweet.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:03 a.m. EST (8:03 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Blue Jay 2. American Goldfinch 3. Black-capped Chickadee 4. Red-eyed Vireo 5. Black-throated Green Warbler 6. Eastern Wood-pewee 7. Hermit Thrush 8. White-breasted Nuthatch 9. American Robin 10. American Crow 11. Eastern Towhee 12. Gray Catbird 13. Cedar Waxwing 14. Song Sparrow 15. Purple Finch 16. Red-tailed Hawk 17. Herring Gull 18. American Redstart 19. Black-and-white Warbler 20. Hairy Woodpecker
