Sunny morn. Not too chilly, not too warm. Plenty of birds about also. Quiet and furtive enough to make things interesting—but quick enough to deny me several exquisite photos.
Still I got a couple.
A good day for dog and me.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:15 a.m., I hiked all trails.
This morning I took two quick steps out the back door and turned around to check on the phoebe nestlings. I saw that they were large and sitting tall on the nest, and then they took off across the little yard, twittering, and lit in some trees. This brought the adults over in a hurry, peeping at their suddenly unchained brood.
Phoebe’s first perch.
Didn’t mean to cause such a ruckus, but it was interesting to watch the fledging process. One little bird sat on its first wild perch for a good long time without moving at all.
At the hill, birds were actively feeding nestlings and fledglings. I got a special welcome from a female yellowthroat with a beak crammed full of flying insects.
Later, I took a nice long bicycle ride and heard (and/or saw) quite a few additional species. Kept thinking about that yellowthroat, though.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 8 a.m., I hiked the open trail.
Scores of waxwings fluttered about the hill this morning, chasing flies. A wind blew, so the swarms floated diffusely, so the birds wheeled and hovered, flycatching. At the summit I spied a couple phoebes and heard the notes of a Least Flycatcher.
Eastern Phoebe.
Crickets, dragonflies, grasshoppers, cicadas, butterflies (including a couple monarchs), bees, and flies.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Red-eyed Vireo (v)
2. American Goldfinch
3. Gray Catbird (v)
4. American Crow*
5. Black-capped Chickadee (v)
6. Common Raven (v)
7. Eastern Towhee
8. Song Sparrow
9. Yellow Warbler (v)
10. Cedar Waxwing
11. Eastern Phoebe
12. Common Yellowthroat (v)
13. American Robin
14. Laughing Gull
15. Least Flycatcher (v)
16. Eastern Wood-pewee
17. Mourning Dove*
