Up the trail early with dog on the mostly overcast morning of a day that would later find me down in a different town under a warm and sunny sky. Still many bird species on the hill, including an invisible Great Crested Flycatcher.
A lovely hike it was, then in afternoon I asked Jack to guard the house and headed with my expert gardener friend down to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens for the first time. It was a very cool trip to a very cool place, with very cool botanicals and very cool birds of another feather—a soaring eagle among them.
I’d live this lovely June day over again if I could.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 6:38 a.m. sun time (7:38 DST), I hiked all trails.
A nearly cloudless sky this morning, with temperatures below freezing to start. The trails weren’t muddy headed up the hill, but a bit greasy headed down. In the interim, I managed to spy two dozen bird species—and get a single photo of a gray ghost. That right there sorta made my day.
But it was also nice to run into human and dog friends, and to see that the Beech Nut phoebe has returned. (Another eagle today also.)
Wonder what Easter Sunday will bring.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 6:18 a.m. real time (7:18 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Tufted Titmouse** (v) 2. Brown Creeper 3. American Goldfinch** 4. American Crow* 5. Downy Woodpecker 6. White-breasted Nuthatch (v) 7. Northern Cardinal** (v) 8. Eastern Bluebird 9. Blue Jay** (v) 10. Black-capped Chickadee** 11. American Robin* 12. Red-breasted Nuthatch (v) 13. Song Sparrow** 14. Eastern Phoebe** 15. Hairy Woodpecker 16. Yellow-rumped Warbler 17 Northern Harrier 18. Herring Gull* 19. Turkey Vulture 20. Bald Eagle 21. Dark-eyed Junco (v) 22. Common Raven 23. Common Grackle 24. Ruffed Grouse (drumming)
Elsewhere
25. Red-bellied Woodpecker (v)
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
An overcast morning with temps a bit above freezing and a smattering of drizzle and flurries. But despite the weather, many bird species made themselves heard before we’d proceeded a hundred yards or so up the trail. Over time, the numbers declined—and I broke me multi-day streak of 19 spp. (18 today)—but still a nice day of hiking and birding and being outside.
Notable might’ve been a grackle flyover and a Killdeer flyover (two), but otherwise no firsts-of-year today. Those will come soon enough, though.
Tomorrow will be sun.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7 a.m. sun time (8 stupid DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Blue Jay (v) 2. American Crow* 3. American Goldfinch** 4. Tufted Titmouse (v) 5. Black-capped Chickadee** 6. Red-bellied Woodpecker (v) 7. Downy Woodpecker** 8. Red-breasted Nuthatch 9. White-breasted Nuthatch** 10. American Robin** 11. Herring Gull* (v) 12. Eastern Bluebird 13. Red-winged Blackbird (v) 14. Song Sparrow** 15. Yellow-rumped Warbler 16. Northern Cardinal** (v) 17. Common Grackle (v) 18. Killdeer
Elsewhere
19. Mourning Dove 20. House Sparrow (v) 21. Hairy Woodpecker
Mammals
Eastern Chimpunk
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
