Rained overnight, and this morning when the sun rose, the woods were damp and drippy. Awful quiet, but birds were lurking and skulking and flitting—mostly just out of sight. A few revealed themselves, though: flickers, robins, a lone Swainson’s Thrush; calling raven and jays and goldfinches; a flushed grouse.
Even quieter on our way back down the lower wooded trail, until just a few hundred yards from the trailhead, when chickadees piped up, and a glance into the damp foliage exposed a wave of little birds—warblers, creepers, a wood-pewee.
I’m a big fan of this time of year—a time you might call summer’s last gasp.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:45 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Common Raven (v) 2. Blue Jay** 3. Black-capped Chickadee 4. Northern Flicker 5. Yellow-rumped Warbler 6. Gray Catbird 7. Eastern Towhee 8. Swainson’s Thrush 9. American Robin* 10. Red-eyed Vireo 11. American Goldfinch** 12. Ruffed Grouse 13. American Crow* 14. Common Yellowthroat 15. Cedar Waxwing 16. Red-breasted Nuthatch (v) 17. Song Sparrow 18. White-breasted Nuthatch** (v) 19. Savannah Sparrow 20. White-throated Sparrow 21. Downy Woodpecker (v) 22. Brown Creeper 23. Black-and-white Warbler 24. Chestnut-sided Warbler 25. Black-throated Green Warbler 26. Eastern Wood-pewee
Mammals
Eastern Gray Squirrel Eastern Chipmunk
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
Another lovely morning hike—a fair morning this day, with cool temps and fragrant air. A good selection of birds, including a couple warblers, a couple woodpeckers, a couple nuthatches, and a hawk.
I only got a glimpse of the hawk through a window in the summit spruces, and the first thing I noticed was its sideburns, and I thought I might have one of only a few peregrines I’ve ever seen on the hill. Only later, after I took a close look at the photos (and then checked in with a bird ID expert pal) did I realize it was not a falcon at all. Turned out to be a Broad-winged Hawk—the commonest hawk in Beech Hill Preserve.
Still I neat sighting though. (So that’s why it was so quiet up there for a change!)
(Earlier, at home, I heard the Carolina Wren again. Love that sound.)
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:21 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Great Crested Flycatcher (v) 2. Blue Jay (v) 3. Red-eyed Vireo 4. American Crow* (v) 5. Black-capped Chickadee 6. American Goldfinch** (v) 7. Hairy Woodpecker 8. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 9. White-breasted Nuthatch 10. Red-breasted Nuthatch 11. Tufted Titmouse** 12. Eastern Towhee 13. Gray Catbird 14. Cedar Waxwing 15. Chestnut-sided Warbler 16. American Redstart 17. Common Yellowthroat (v) 18. Broad-winged Hawk 19. Song Sparrow 20. American Robin 21. Herring Gull* 22. Eastern Phoebe 23. Pileated Woodpecker (v) 24. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
On our hike this foggy, misty morning, dog and I encountered a bird wave. Well, more like a ripple, perhaps—and Captain Jack didn’t really care to notice—but I found myself transfixed with the variety of little bird species flitting in the dewy greenery.
Coming up through the woods, few species. At the summit, one or two. Down toward the main gate of Beech Hill Preserve? A whole bunch of ’em.
