4 October 2023

Posts Tagged ‘Canada goose’

Hark, a Lark

Saturday, September 23rd, 2023
Horned Lark (immature male), Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 23 September 2023.
Horned Lark (immature male)

This first day of autumn brought a morning much like yesterday’s: sunny, cool, and fragrant. It also brought a surprising bird species: a Horned Lark. They’re not rare on the hill, but they typically come in small flocks. I rarely see just one, as I did today. An immature male, the bird was poking around the edges of the main trail—and at one point got very near to dog and me as we stood still, and I took photos.

Another oddball was a Nashville Warbler (haven’t seen any since spring, and few then), adult and juvie Hermit Thrush, and a bunch of the usual suspects.

All in all, a fun one.

Beech Hill List
Starting at 7:24 a.m. EST (8:24 DST), I hiked all trails.

1. Brown Creeper (v)
2. Black-capped Chickadee**
3. Blue Jay (v)
4. Downy Woodpecker (v)
5. Red-eyed Vireo (v)
6. White-breasted Nuthatch**
7. Tufted Titmouse (v)
8. Hairy Woodpecker (v)
9. White-throated Sparrow (v)
10. Nashville Warbler
11. Hermit Thrush
12. Gray Catbird
13. Purple Finch (v)
14. Eastern Towhee (v)
15. American Goldfinch (v)
16. Horned Lark
17. Song Sparrow
18. Yellow-rumped Warbler
19. Eastern Bluebird
20. American Crow* (v)

Elsewhere

21. Northern Cardinal
22. Herring Gull
23. Belted Kingfisher (v)
24. Canada Goose (v)

Mammals

Eastern Chipmunk (v)

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

†First-of-year

After the Storm

Sunday, September 17th, 2023
Osprey, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 17 September 2023.
Osprey.

What a difference a day makes, so they say. Yesterday galloped in like a wild river rider, fast and bucking and splashing water all over everything. Today dawned cloudless and merely breezy. As expected, fallen branches littered all preserve trails (along with a couple of toppled trees). I managed to neaten things pretty well, though—and was rewarded with a nice selection of bird species.

Notable were a hummingbird, a fish hawk, a vulture. And elsewhere—including a pleasant drive down a coastal peninsula—a kingfisher, geese, and an eagle.

Simply a lovely September day.

Beech Hill List
Starting at 7:28 a.m. EST (8:28 DST), I hiked all trails.

1. Black-capped Chickadee** (v)
2. Blue Jay** (v)
3. Tufted Titmouse (v)
4. Red-eyed Vireo (v)
5. Gray Catbird
6. American Crow*
7. American Goldfinch (v)
8. Osprey
9. Eastern Towhee (v)
10. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
11. Turkey Vulture*
12. American Robin (v)
13. Cedar Waxwing
14. Northern Flicker** (v)
15. Eastern Wood-pewee (v)
16. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)

Elsewhere

17. Herring Gull
18. Belted Kingfisher
19. Rock Pigeon
20. Canada Goose
21. Bald Eagle

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

†First-of-year

Raven & Rain

Tuesday, August 8th, 2023
Common Raven, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 08 August 2023.
Common Raven.

Was supposed to rain all day, so I’d prepared for dog and me to get wet. Welp, when we got to the trailhead, the sky was overcast, the air was damp, a wind was blowing—but no rain. We hiked our usual trails for nearly two hours, but the only wet we got was by brushing against trailside bushes.

Most notable this morning was the croak of a raven I heard within a couple of minutes of our arrival. Trees all around, I couldn’t see it. I wanted badly to see it. The raven continued to vocalize—changing its cries from croaks to wails—as we ascended the hill, its sounds coming from somewhere near the summit. Could not see it. Finally, it must’ve seen us below and took flight.

I grabbed a photo.

It was a truly lovely, bracing, invigorating hike. Soon after our return home, it began to rain. Just now, in evening, it’s still raining. Tomorrow, though, the sun’s supposed to make an appearance.

Beech Hill List
Starting at 7:09 a.m. EST (8:09 DST), I hiked all trails.

1. American Crow*
2. Common Raven
3. Black-capped Chickadee (v)
4. American Goldfinch
5. Northern Cardinal (v)
6. Song Sparrow*
7. Common Yellowthroat (v)
8. Eastern Bluebird (v)
9. American Robin (v)
10. Savannah Sparrow
11. Gray Catbird**
12. Eastern Towhee
13. Eastern Wood-pewee (v)
14. Tufted Titmouse (v)
15. Cooper’s Hawk
16. Cedar Waxwing

Elsewhere

17. Herring Gull
18. Canada Goose
19. Wild Turkey
20. Mourning Dove

(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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