Common yellowthroat.
Sunlight streaming, up in a hurry, off to Beech Hill.
Nobody in the parking lot so early. As Jack and I hopped out of the truck, first thing I heard was a fog whistle. (Clear above, but it must’ve been thick out in the bay.) Then I heard, in quick succession, the voices of a titmouse, an ovenbird, and a black-throated green warbler.
Savannah sparrow.
Coming up the trail, the birds began to announce themselves: nuthatch, goldfinch, chickadee, towhee. A cardinal singing off somewhere. Then veery (second straight day), jay, white-throat, towhee, robin, crow—the usual, you might say. But in a nice change-of-pace, I heard fluty notes coming from the upper canopy: a rose-breasted grosbeak, first of the year.
Other typical birds sounded off as we ascended, including a couple of yellow-rumps. (They tend to diminish as spring progresses.) Toward the top, I heard a chestnut-sided warbler—they will soon become incredibly common—and a the call of a yellow warbler (an oddly aborted call). Another first-of-year bird.
They kept coming. As we reached the open fields, I heard crows hollering at something and had an idea I might see a hawk, but it turned out they were harassing a solitary raven.
A kestrel up top. The phoebes, of course. Song and savannah sparrows. A Nashville warbler calling. In fact, I’d had thirty species on my list by the time we reached the summit. Nice.
Hermit thrush.
Coming down the open trail, I heard a field sparrow (a species that didn’t appear on yesterday’s list, oddly) and the neighborhood chippy down toward Beech Hill Road. Mourning dove, robin, and another titmouse down that side, too. And as we started our return, I thought I caught the voices people in conversation—until I realized it was just a pair of Canada geese flying over, honking.
On our way back down the wooded trail, I heard a little commotion and watched as three hermit thrushes chased each other. Two males vying for the same female? Who knows—but it was a dramatic display. More ovenbirds on the lower wooded trail (many ovenbirds today), and chickadees, and woodpeckers.
We returned home and I had time to pull two ticks off each of us before Jack and I headed down to Owls Head, where we would meet my friend D and Jack’s friend, Boone, for some ball-chasing at Birch Point Beach State Park. A great day for it—the park’s still closed, but the tide was low and the flats were perfect for running dogs. (En route: starling, pigeon.) We watched an osprey fly over carrying nesting material, heard parulas and black-throated greens and black-and-whites, listened to a red-winged blackbird, and spotted two species of duck. And watched dogs play. (Jack took a high-speed face plant and wound up with a minor abrasion. No big deal.)
Returning home, I swung by Weskeag Marsh in South Thomaston, which was pretty quiet. However, I did see a goose, a greater yellowlegs, and a (first-of-year) barn swallow. Also a redwing and a brown-headed cowbird.
Osprey.
Today I had evidence that both the phoebes and nuthatches are for sure nesting out back. And tonight, thick fog moved in. We’re still supposed to get rain, albeit later than originally forecast. We shall see.
Note: had a tree swallow showed up on the hill, or had I confirmed the grackles in town, I would’ve had fifty birds on my list today. Oh, well!
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:45 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Tufted titmouse (voice)
2. Ovenbird
3. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
4. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
5. American goldfinch
6. Black-capped chickadee
7. Eastern towhee
8. Northern cardinal (voice)
9. Veery (voice)
10. Blue jay (voice)
11. White-throated sparrow
12. American robin
13. American crow
14. Rose-breasted grosbeak
15. Black-and-white warbler (voice)
16. Gray catbird
17. Hairy woodpecker
18. Yellow-rumped warbler
19. Common yellowthroat
20. Mourning dove (voice)
21. Northern flicker
22. Chestnut-sided warbler (voice)
23. Yellow warbler
24. Purple finch
25. Song sparrow
26. Common raven
27. Savannah sparrow
28. Herring gull
29. Eastern phoebe
30. Nashville warbler (voice)
31. American kestrel
32. Field sparrow (voice)
33. Chipping sparrow (voice)
34. Cedar waxwing (voice)
35. Canada goose
36. Hermit thrush
Elsewhere
37. House finch
38. European starling
39. Rock pigeon
40. Northern parula
41. Golden-crowned kinglet
42. Red-winged blackbird
43. Osprey
44. Common eider
45. Mallard
46. Double-crested cormorant
47. Greater yellowlegs
48. Barn swallow
49. Brown-headed cowbird
