24 March 2023

Posts Tagged ‘blue jay’

Firsts-of-Year

Saturday, March 18th, 2023
Northern Cardinal, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 18 March 2023.
Northern Cardinal.

Know how I can tell spring is near? Well, first of all, before dog and I had hiked a hundred feet up the main Beech Hill trail, I’d heard several vocalizing bird species—including a flock of first-of-year Red-winged Blackbirds (whose flock flew over us soon afterward, heading north).

I also heard singing doves, chickadees, titmice, cardinals, a junco, a Brown Creeper, and bluebirds. And I spied a small flock of geese and a first-of-year Killdeer in northward flight.

Nuthatches, bluebirds, yellow-rumps—a wonderful range of bird species.

Oh, yeah, and the temperature never dipped below freezing last night, meaning the trails were clearer and the woods were muddy and watery.

Sure, we could get spring snowstorm, but I dearly love this sweet transitional time of year.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:11 a.m. (8:11 stupid DST), I hiked all trails.

1. Blue Jay (v)
2. American Crow*
3. Tufted Titmouse** (v)
4. Black-capped Chickadee*
5. Red-winged Blackbird†
6. Mourning Dove* (v)
7. White-breasted Nuthatch** (v)
8. Pileated Woodpecker (v, drumming)
9. Dark-eyed Junco
10. Eastern Bluebird
11. American Goldfinch (v)
12. American Robin
13. Northern Cardinal**
14. Brown Creeper (v)
15. Canada Goose
16. Killdeer†
17. Yellow-rumped Warbler
18. Red-breasted Nuthatch

Elsewhere

19. Herring Gull

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

†First-of-year

Nearly Spring

Friday, March 17th, 2023
Crow and solar panels, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 17 March 2023.
Crow and solar panels.

A chilly morning, mostly cloudy and right about freezing, but a calm one, with hardly a breeze. Had a great hike with dog, and listed a bunch of birds. Singing were titmice, chickadees, cardinals, bluebirds, a nuthatch, a junco—and crows and jays were hollering, as they like to do.

Got a pic of one of those crows with solar panels in the background. I want solar panels. I want an e-vehicle. I want to help save the planet.

Also saw a snowshoe hare, still nearly all white, and enjoyed the heck out of the few seconds it was leaping rapidly away.

Ducks at home. Gulls around. You can really tell it’s nearly spring.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:01 a.m. (8:01 fake time), I hiked all trails.

1. Blue Jay** (v)
2. Tufted Titmouse (v)
3. Northern Cardinal**
4. Black-capped Chickadee**
5. American Crow*
6. American Goldfinch** (v)
7. Eastern Bluebird
8. White-breasted Nuthatch
9. Downy Woodpecker** (drumming)
10. American Robin
11. Dark-eyed Junco (v)
12. Herring Gull (v)

Elsewhere

13. Mallard

Mammals

Snowshoe Hare

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

†First-of-year

Spring in the Air

Thursday, March 16th, 2023
Eastern Bluebird, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 16 March 2023.
Eastern Bluebird.

The storm had passed, and the temperature had risen to the point that big glops of wet snow had begun to drop from the whitened trees by the time dog and I headed up to the wooded trailhead. We got there kind of early.

Blue, blue skies, lighter winds, temps above freezing—several birds made their appearances known right away. It seemed a little like a bluebird day, but a bit windier and chillier, so the first thrill happened when, as we were nearing the summit, I heard the voice of a bluebird. I wondered if it was singing from the box at the top of the hill—and it was.

Cardinals, chickadees, and titmice singing. Also, toward the end of our hike, a Red-shouldered Hawk in flight somewhere out toward the bay.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:53 a.m. (7:53 stupid DST), I hiked all trails.

1. Northern Cardinal** (v)
2. Tufted Titmouse (v)
3. Black-capped Chickadee**
4. American Crow*
5. American Goldfinch** (v)
6. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
7. American Robin (v)
8. Eastern Bluebird
9. Yellow-rumped Warbler (v)
10. Blue Jay** (v)
11. Pileated Woodpecker (v)
12. Red-shouldered Hawk (v)

Elsewhere

13. Herring Gull
14. Red-breasted Nuthatch (v)
15. House Sparrow (v)

Mammals

American Red Squirrel

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

†First-of-year

 
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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