Another clear sky with a breeze from a favorable direction, but I didn’t expect early fall migration would grace me with so many species during my morning hike with dog. Thirty.
Notable additions to the usual suspects were a pair of hawks (sharpie and broad-winged), White-throated Sparrow (rarely seen since spring), Ruby-crowned Kinglet—and at the end of our hike we spooked an American Woodcock.
A week from today, dog and I will be Monhegan bound for an even more exciting glimpse of fall migration in action.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:25 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. American Crow* 2. Hermit Thrush 3. Blue Jay** 4. Black-capped Chickadee* 5. Red-breasted Nuthatch** 6. Gray Catbird 7. Common Yellowthroat 8. Hairy Woodpecker (v) 9. American Redstart 10. Black-and-white Warbler 11. Red-eyed Vireo 12. Red-bellied Woodpecker (v) 13. Northern Flicker 14. American Robin* 15. White-breasted Nuthatch 16. American Goldfinch 17. Eastern Towhee 18. Yellow-rumped Warbler 19. White-throated Sparrow 20. Cedar Waxwing 21. Song Sparrow 22. Savannah Sparrow 23. Eastern Bluebird 24. Sharp-shinned Hawk 25. Chipping Sparrow 26. Broad-winged Hawk 27. Ruby-crowned Kinglet 28. Tufted Titmouse (v) 29. Brown Creeper (v) 30. American Woodcock
Elsewhere
31. Carolina Wren (v) 32. Northern Cardinal (v)
Mammals
Eastern Gray Squirrel Eastern Chipmunk
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
In the 50s (F) when dog and I headed up the trail this morning. Quiet in the shadows, but activity up in the sunlit edges. A good, cool, sun-soaked hike, with flitting warblers, juvie bluebirds, and a glimpse of a (first-of-year) Swainson’s Thrush.
Truly, you can feel it. The coming pull of fall. The diminishing daylight, the dewy, bittersweet aroma in the air, the prime directive of migration among wild birds.
Stirrings.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:44 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Red-eyed Vireo 2. American Crow* 3. Black-capped Chickadee 4. Eastern Towhee 5. Gray Catbird 6. American Goldfinch** 7. Common Yellowthroat 8. Cedar Waxwing 9. Hairy Woodpecker (v) 10. Song Sparrow** 11. Swainson’s Thrush† 12. Northern Flicker (v) 13. Red-breasted Nuthatch 14. American Redstart 15. Yellow-rumped Warbler 16. Black-throated Green Warbler 17. Eastern Bluebird 18. Purple Finch 19. Chipping Sparrow 20. Northern Cardinal** (v) 21. Eastern Phoebe 22. Hermit Thrush
Mammals
Eastern Chipmunk (v)
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
A morning similar to yesterday’s, but with no threat of rain. About 60° (F), breezy, dim, misty, with a cool breeze. We began our hike later than usual, dog and I, and I heard/saw few birds to start (although three Great Blue Herons in overflight was noteworthy). But after we’d covered about three-quarters of our route, things began picking up.
A vireo with two youngsters. A pair of gulls flying over. A kestrel in the summit, getting checked out by a hummingbird. Then—again, in a repeat of yesterday—as we approached the parking lot, we encountered a couple dozen birds, at least, flitting about the trees and trail.
