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.
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
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
