30 March 2023

Posts Tagged ‘osprey’

Sweet Fall

Thursday, October 20th, 2022
Brown Creeper, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 20 October 2022.
Brown Creeper.

Autumn is my favorite season. Always has been. I also love the three other seasons—just not quite as much as fall. Especially here in Northern New England, on the 44th parallel, when the photoperiod changes noticeably throughout the year, and the weather is rich and varied.

This morning’s hike with dog was a chilly, breezy, sunny one. Few birds at first, but as the sun rose and the landscape warmed and the yellow-rumps bounced around in the brush and tree leaves, more species made an appearance. Vultures, a fish hawk, three kinds of sparrow, two thrushes, two corvids—and my little friend, the Brown Creeper.

Not sure why, but I really love Brown Creepers. And this one posed for me in a golden woodland. Thanks, little buddy.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:07 a.m., I hiked all trails.

1. Yellow-rumped Warbler
2. Eastern Bluebird (v)
3. American Robin*
4. American Crow**
5. Hairy Woodpecker (v)
6. American Goldfinch (v)
7. Black-capped Chickadee (v)
8. White-throated Sparrow
9. Northern Flicker (v)
10. Red-breasted Nuthatch
11. Dark-eyed Junco (v)
12. Song Sparrow
13. Savannah Sparrow
14. Blue Jay (v)
15. Turkey Vulture
16. Osprey
17. Purple Finch
18. Brown Creeper

Elsewhere

19. Downy Woodpecker (v)

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

†First-of-year

Big Birds

Sunday, October 16th, 2022
Hermit Thrush, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 16 October 2022.
Hermit Thrush.

I call ’em “big birds”—hawks and vultures and gulls and ravens and other large species that I see in the sky overhead. This morning’s fun hike with an old pal, for me and Jack, was a long but fun one. And it included several big birds.

Peregrine Falcon, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagles (three!), Red-shouldered Hawk, Osprey… The day began a bit foggy, cleared up, got warm and clear, and glowed with fall color. During tomorrow’s cloudiness, I’ll remember.

(Here’s a photo of a small bird: a lovely Hermit Thrush.)

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:03 a.m., I hiked all trails.

1. American Crow**
2. Yellow-rumped Warbler
3. Black-capped Chickadee
4. Blue Jay (v)
5. Northern Flicker
6. White-throated Sparrow
7. Ruby-crowned Kinglet (v)
8. American Robin (v)
9. Eastern Towhee (v)
10. Eastern Bluebird
11. Hermit Thrush
12. Red-breasted Nuthatch (v)
13. American Goldfinch (v)
14. Purple Finch (v)
15. Peregrine Falcon
16. Sharp-shinned Hawk
17. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
18. Hairy Woodpecker
19. Tufted Titmouse (v)
20. Osprey
21. Bald Eagle
22. Red-shouldered Hawk
23. Common Raven
24. Turkey Vulture

Elsewhere

25. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

†First-of-year

A Birdy Morning

Friday, October 7th, 2022
Hermit Thrush, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 07 October 2022.
Hermit Thrush.

Overcast and chilly when dog and I headed up to the preserve. Ordinarily I’d take us to the main trail, where the open air would brighten things photographically—but I spied a scrap or two of blue, so decided on the wooded trailhead. It was the right decision. Not only did the sun emerge, but the morning got warm and humid in a hurry.

And a bunch of birds showed up.

Corvids, nuthatches, thrushes, finches, warblers, woodpeckers, sparrows. Many, many yellow-rumps (about 90, I figured) and a good-sized flock of robins. Surprised a woodcock (no photo, dangit). But the highlight was likely a solitary Blackpoll Warbler—first of year on the hill for me.

No photo of the blackpoll, but here’s a Hermit Thrush.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:25 a.m., I hiked all trails.

1. American Crow
2. Yellow-rumped Warbler
3. American Goldfinch (v)
4. Blue Jay (v)
5. Brown Creeper
6. Black-capped Chickadee
7. Eastern Bluebird (v)
8. Blackpoll Warbler
9. Purple Finch
10. Tufted Titmouse (v)
11. Northern Flicker (v)
12. American Robin
13. Eastern Towhee (v)
14. Hermit Thrush
15. American Woodcock
16. White-throated Sparrow
17. Gray Catbird
18. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
19. Red-breasted Nuthatch (v)
20. Savannah Sparrow
21. Osprey
22. Song Sparrow (v)
23. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
24. Downy Woodpecker (v)
25. Ruby-crowned Kinglet (v)

Elsewhere

26. Carolina Wren (v)
27. Herring Gull
28. Rock Pigeon

Mammals

Eastern Chipmunk
Eastern Gray Squirrel

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

†First-of-year

 
Bird Report is a (sometimes intermittent) record of the birds I encounter while hiking, see while driving, or spy outside my window. —Brian Willson



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