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.
Another chilly, gusty morning—but this time with a bright blue sky above my dog and me. Also birds. Many more birds (and species) than the past two mornings.
Most notable was the flush of a couple (or three?) American Woodcock on our way up the wooded trail just below the summit. I suspect a traveling family. And another family—phoebe fledglings—not far below that same area on our return trip.
Couldn’t get a photo of a calling Pileated Woodpecker near the end of our early hike—but I did get a pretty nice pic of a Song Sparrow.
Tomorrow, summer!
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:22 a.m., I hiked most trails.
After hearing the song of a vagrant Summer Tanager yesterday, I wondered if I might hear the bird again this lovely June morning. And, sure enough, in the woodlands just below where I heard it yesterday, there it was again.
So I decided that dog and I would slip off trail to see, for the first time, the only fully red songbird in North America—and perhaps even snag a photo. [Note: I saw my very first Summer Tanager, a comely yellow female, a few weeks ago not far from this same spot.] Tell you what, it takes a lot to convince me to leave the trail into the realm of ticks and poison ivy.
We snuck toward the song and got quite near, but the bird seemed to be singing high in the canopy, with smaller leafy trees blocking my view. We moved slowly around for perhaps ten minutes, and it kept singing—until, suddenly, I heard my first real life alarm notes from this species. Decided to call off the search in hopes we hadn’t chased this fancy vagrant away.
Guess maybe we’ll find out tomorrow.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 8:10 a.m., I hiked most trails.
1. Red-eyed vireo** (v) 2. Ovenbird 3. Song Sparrow** 4. Common Yellowthroat (v) 5. Eastern Phoebe* 6. Black-throated Green Warbler (v) 7. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 8. Hermit Thrush (v) 9. Veery 10. Chestnut-sided Warbler 11. Brown Creeper (v) 12. American Crow* 13. Black-capped Chickadee (v) 14. Black-and-white Warbler (v) 15. Eastern Towhee 16. American Goldfinch** 17. Tufted Titmouse 18. Summer Tanager (v) 19. American Robin* 20. Alder Flycatcher 21. Gray Catbird 22. Chipping Sparrow (v) 23. Purple Finch 24. Prairie Warbler (v) 25. Field Sparrow 26. Tree Swallow 27. Turkey Vulture 28. Osprey 29. House Wren 30. Broad-winged Hawk 31. Cedar Waxwing 32. American Redstart (v) 33. Northern Parula (v)
Elsewhere
34. Herring Gull 35. House Sparrow 36. Rock Pigeon
Mammals
Gray Squirrel Meadow Vole
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
