Ovenbird.

Overcast early, with wet earth and dew. Dog and I dragged ourselves out and up Beech Hill anyway.

Actually, it’s never a drag. It’s a gas. And in fact, the overcast soon burned away and the sun came out.

Maple leaf.

Bird notes today: a pair of mallards have a nest somewhere right along Rockville Street, and often wander into the road; hummingbirds still around, but I only heard ’em today; Black-and-white Warblers are establishing territories, as are Ovenbirds; redstarts are calling like crazy; heard two Wood Thrushes; hearing Red-bellied Woodpeckers also.

Mammal notes: encountered a snowshoe hare on the upper wooded trail today, got a nice distant look at it through the tangles; encountered a doe on the main trail—right on the edge of the trail—before she bounded down and into a copse of trees. (I searched for a fawn but found none.)

The leaves sure get big in a hurry in mid-May.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:15 a.m., I hiked all trails.

1. Mallard
2. Ovenbird
3. American Robin*
4. Common Yellowthroat
5. Black-throated Green Warbler** (v)
6. Red-eyed Vireo
7. Eastern Towhee
8. Black-and-white Warbler
9. Veery (v)
10. Northern Parula (v)
11. Herring Gull*
12. Northern Cardinal**
13. Chestnut-sided Warbler
14. Mourning Dove*
15. American Redstart
16. Yellow Warbler**
17. Hairy Woodpecker (v)
18. American Crow*
19. Blue Jay
20. Brown-headed Cowbird (v)
21. Gray Catbird**
22. Ruby-throated Hummingbird (v)
23. Northern Flicker (v)
24. Song Sparrow
25. Wood Thrush (v)
26. Purple Finch (v)
27. Eastern Phoebe
28. White-throated Sparrow (v)
29. Alder Flycatcher (v)
30. Savannah Sparrow
31. Hermit Thrush
32. White-breasted Nuthatch
33. Nashville Warbler
34. American Goldfinch
35. Rose-breasted Grosbeak (v)
36. Red-bellied Woodpecker (v)
37. Turkey Vulture

Elsewhere
38. Laughing Gull (v)
39. Rock Pigeon
40. European Starling

v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsehwere