A mostly sunny morning for Captain Jack and me, but also a chilly one (temps in low–50s (F) to start). Still, a much birdier hike than in recent days.
Yellow-rumps still, late-to-migrate catbirds and towhees and thrushes and vireo. A kinglet. The usual chickadees and jays and crows. And three woodpecker species.
Most woodpeckers hereabouts don’t migrate, which makes their presence comforting in a way. Flickers will move around some in the colder months, but for several years now a few have wintered over.
I truly do appreciate our resident woodpeckers.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:40 a.m. EST (8:40 DST), I hiked all trails.
A gray overcast greeted dog and me as we started up the main trail this morning, with chilly, windy, misty air. After a while the sky turned partly sunny—still, the wooded trails were streams from the big rains, and I slipped in the mud at one point. (No damage done.)
In such adverse conditions (possibly also an inconvenient wind direction), few birds species made themselves known. But we always seem to find delights. Like the scattering of Hermit Thrushes we startled in the woods.
They’re the commonest thrush on the hill these days, but they only sing that ephemeral song in spring‚ and they’ll be moving south pretty soon anyway.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:32 a.m. EST (8:32 DST), I hiked all trails.
Our ceiling on this morning’s hike was a gray overcast, and the air was damp and breezy. The forecast rain would not arrive until later in the day, though, so we’d keep comparatively dry, dog and I. And there was no shortage of bird species—including three corvids.
Of the three—crow, jay, and raven—the most notable was the solitary raven flying above us, accompanied by a single crow. (The crows were many and vocal, apparently gearing up for their annual October convention on the hill.)
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:19 a.m. EST (8:19 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. American Crow* 2. White-breasted Nuthatch** (v) 3. Black-capped Chickadee 4. American Robin (v) 5. White-throated Sparrow (v) 6. American Goldfinch 7. Yellow-rumped Warbler 8. Northern Flicker (v) 9. Blue Jay (v) 10. Song Sparrow 11. Red-bellied Woodpecker (v) 12. Brown Creeper (v) 13. Common Raven 14. Gray Catbird (v) 15. Red-eyed Vireo
Elsewhere
16. Mallard 17. Herring Gull
Mammals
Eastern Chipmunk (v)
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
