Sometime overnight the clouds dispersed, making this last summer day a sunny one. Also chilly, but in a good way. Rather quiet overall—but one of the first bird species to appear provided some early excitement.

A pair of Pileated Woodpeckers, tearing into a birch near the trailhead. They were excavating the heck out of that thing. And they had a couple exciting interactions, when the dominant bird chased the other around the tree a few times until it flew off to a new trunk nearby.

Three other woodpecker species, a couple of corvids, and a bunch of the usual suspects rounded out my last-day-of-summer list.

Bring it on, sweet autumn!

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:38 a.m., I hiked all trails.

1. Blue Jay
2. Black-capped Chickadee**
3. Pileated Woodpecker
4. American Crow*
5. Hairy Woodpecker
6. Gray Catbird
7. American Robin
8. Northern Flicker
9. Cedar Waxwing
10. American Goldfinch
11. Yellow-rumped Warbler
12. Purple Finch (v)
13. Eastern Towhee (v)
14. Common Yellowthroat (v)
15. Red-breasted Nuthatch (v)
16. Song Sparrow
17. Red-bellied Woodpecker (v)

Elsewhere

18. Rock Pigeon
19. Herring Gull
20. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)

Mammals

Eastern Chipmunk
Eastern Gray Squirrel

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
†First-of-year