Every spring for the past many years, I’ve seen kestrels pass through Beech Hill Preserve. They’ve tended to arrive in mid-April—hovering above the barrens, perching on little snags—and are gone by the first of May.
I’ve seen them dive and bring up prey. Even spied one once in the bare loan oak tree dining on a snake. But never have I seen evidence of a nesting pair on the hill.
Until this year. Every day for the past couple weeks (or more) they dependably appear, scanning the barrens from the roofs of the bluebird boxes, driving the swallows crazy. I wonder how this will change the order of things.
Already this spring has seen no evidence of nesting Savannah Sparrows (a first since I’ve been coming)—will there be no annual phoebe nest in the eaves of Beech Nut this year?
It’ll be interesting to see how things go.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:15 a.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. American Robin 2. Ovenbird 3. Black-capped Chickadee 4. Common Yellowthroat 5. Herring Gull 6. American Goldfinch 7. Eastern Towhee 8. Tufted Titmouse 9. Nashville Warbler 10. Black-and-white Warbler 11. Mourning Dove 12. Common Raven 13. Downy Woodpecker 14. Gray Catbird 15. Northern Parula 16. American Crow 17. Song Sparrow 18. Black-throated Green Warbler 19. American Kestrel 20. Tree Swallow 21. Blue Jay 22. Eastern Phoebe 23. Purple Finch 24. Veery
Elsewhere
25. Barred Owl 26. House Finch 27. Common Grackle 28. Northern Cardinal
v = Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
Overcast early, with wet earth and dew. Dog and I dragged ourselves out and up Beech Hill anyway.
Actually, it’s never a drag. It’s a gas. And in fact, the overcast soon burned away and the sun came out.
Maple leaf.
Bird notes today: a pair of mallards have a nest somewhere right along Rockville Street, and often wander into the road; hummingbirds still around, but I only heard ’em today; Black-and-white Warblers are establishing territories, as are Ovenbirds; redstarts are calling like crazy; heard two Wood Thrushes; hearing Red-bellied Woodpeckers also.
Mammal notes: encountered a snowshoe hare on the upper wooded trail today, got a nice distant look at it through the tangles; encountered a doe on the main trail—right on the edge of the trail—before she bounded down and into a copse of trees. (I searched for a fawn but found none.)
The leaves sure get big in a hurry in mid-May.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:15 a.m., I hiked all trails.
A hazy, humid morning. Slept in a little and kind of expected other hikers to have gotten the jump on Jack and me—but we only saw one other person on the trail, and she came by as we neared the end of our two-plus hours up there.
Common yellowthroat.
Warm. Muggy. Mosquitos and deer flies. The sun strove to crack the clouds but never really managed it. Still there were birds about.
The highlight was probably another Blackburnian warbler—third of the year—flitting around high in the canopy down the lower wooded trail. Man, those guys are hard to take pictures of, especially when there’s not a lot of light. While I stood angling for a photo is when the other hiker passed.
Savannah sparrow on the roof of the hut. Yellowthroat with a mite or tick larva near its eye. And along the open trail, a common ringlet (a little butterfly I only got to know today).
It cooled off as the day progressed. Took care of some Saturday chores and then headed out on a long bicycle ride. Any cooler, and I might’ve felt uncomfortable—however, I still worked up a good sweat.
Everybody’s talking about this year’s super moon. Too cloudy tonight, but maybe tomorrow evening.
Common ringlet.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Black-throated green warbler** (v)
2. Red-eyed vireo**
3. Chestnut-sided warbler
4. American crow*
5. Ovenbird**
6. Common yellowthroat**
7. Veery
8. Black-and-white warbler
9. Downy woodpecker
10. Gray catbird**
11. Scarlet tanager (v)
12. Eastern towhee
13. Eastern wood-pewee**
14. American redstart**
15. Alder flycatcher (v)
16. Mourning dove*
17. Yellow warbler**
18. Black-capped chickadee (v)
19. American goldfinch (v)
20. Blue jay (v)
21. American robin**
22. Song sparrow**
23. Eastern phoebe**
24. Savannah sparrow
25. Northern flicker
26. Tufted titmouse (v)
27. Northern cardinal** (v)
28. Rose-breasted grosbeak (v)
29. Field sparrow
30. House finch (v)
31. Brown-headed cowbird** (v)
32. Great crested flycatcher
33. Cedar waxwing
34. Blackburnian warbler
35. Black-throated blue warbler (v)
36. Hermit thrush (v)
Elsewhere
37. Herring gull
38. Rock pigeon
39. European starling
40. House sparrow
41. Chipping sparrow (v)
42. Dark-eyed junco (v)
v = Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
