A coolish, calmish, dryish morning with plenty of buzzing mosquitos—and a good plenty of bird species, too. An amazing array, in fact: four thrushes, three woodpeckers; a passel of warblers; lots of sparrows.
Most notable—a quiet juvenile Black-billed Cuckoo that showed up in a shady place about 20 feet in front of us, dog and me. We even managed to stay still enough to grab portrait.
I’ll take a day like today any day.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:18 a.m., I hiked most trails.
Cooler and damper after yesterday’s rain, sunny with a bit of a breeze. I truly had no expectations, just figured I’d hear and/or see a few birds, maybe learn a thing or two.
And I did—both. Notably, I heard/saw a Least Flycatcher, and spied a Red Crossbill (fem./imm.—first I’ve seen on the hill) high on a spruce at the summit and, in the woods toward the end of our hike, I heard two species of tanager.
First was a Scarlet Tanager, which I hunted for up in the leafy canopy but could not get a look at. Finally I spotted the bird apparently being chased by another tanager. And then I heard the voice of the other tanager—a Summer Tanager. Couldn’t get a good bead on that one, either, although I did watch it fly away
I’ll be keeping my eye peeled for tanagers going forward.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:22 a.m., I hiked most trails.
1. Song Sparrow** 2. Ovenbird 3. Red-eyed Vireo** 4. Black-throated Green Warbler (v) 5. Veery 6. Gray Catbird 7. Chestnut-sided Warbler 8. Eastern Towhee 9. Common Yellowthroat 10. American Crow* 11. American Goldfinch** 12. Black-and-white Warbler 13. Black-capped Chickadee** 14. Field Sparrow 15. Alder Flycatcher (v) 16. Yellow Warbler 19. Cedar Waxwing 20. Red Crossbill† 21. Purple Finch 22. American Robin* 23. Red-breasted Nuthatch (v) 24. Prairie Warbler 25. Least Flycatcher 26. Tufted Titmouse (v) 27. Herring Gull* 28. Broad-winged Hawk 29. Hermit Thrush (v) 30. Pileated Woodpecker (v) 31. Eastern Wood-pewee 32. Scarlet Tanager (v) 33. Summer Tanager (v)
Elsewhere
34. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
Mammals
Eastern Chipmunk
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
Not until we hit the trailhead, dog and I, did the wind pick up. The rush rose in the canopy as the leafed-out summer trees began to wag and sway. Made it tricky to hear the voices of birds—but hear them I still did, somehow. And while today’s list was shorter than recent ones, it still felt like a lively morning.
Notable were tiny pockets of squealing woodland fledglings, a hard-to-miss gaggle of waxwings, and a singing Prairie Warbler down by Beech Hill Road.
Also notable was the absence—for the second straight day—of the House Wren on the bluebird box down there. I wonder if the wren’s raucous, weeks-long presence is no more.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:36 a.m., I hiked most trails.
1. Red-eyed Vireo** 2. Ovenbird 3. Black-throated Green Warbler (v) 4. Veery 5. Eastern Phoebe 6. Chestnut-sided Warbler 7. Eastern Towhee 8. Common Yellowthroat 9. American Crow 10. Gray Catbird 11. Yellow Warbler 12. Field Sparrow 13. Mourning Dove 14. Song Sparrow 15. American Goldfinch 16. Prairie Warbler 17. Cedar Waxwing 18. Turkey Vulture 19. American Robin 20. White-breasted Nuthatch 21. Chipping Sparrow 22. Savannah Sparrow 23. Black-capped Chickadee 24. Hermit Thrush 25. Eastern Wood-pewee
Elsewhere
26. Herring Gull 27. Barn Swallow 28. Downy Woodpecker
Mammals
Eastern Chipmunk
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
