Another nippy morning—low-60s (F) to start—that warmed into a lovely late-summer day. On the hill, birds were stirring, including one species I hadn’t encountered since spring: Scarlet Tanager. I heard a high, loud, abrupt call that I didn’t recognize coming from up in the wooded canopy. Turned out to be a female tanager. (Learned another bird call today!)
It was a cool one, this morning. I hesitate to say I smelled a whiff of fall, considering autumn’s still a month away, but the weather conditions weren’t the only signs of the changing seasons. A number of migratory birds seemed to be revving up for a journey.
A pair of sharpies, for instance, circling in the cloudless sky, the smaller male occasionally charging at the larger female. Vultures also circled overhead. And in the woods tiny warblers chased and flitted nervously.
“Time doth flit,” wrote Dorothy Parker. It won’t be long, I suppose.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:06 a.m. EST (8:06 DST), I hiked all trails.
The sun emerged this morning first thing, but the air remained nighttime-cool. I almost smelled a nip of fall in the air—but not quite. And it warmed up a lot as the day lengthened.
The excitement of the day—other than the random appearance of a kestrel—turned out to be a little batch of silent warblers. Their silence has persisted for a good while now, but sighting them has been a challenge, what with the tendency of most to stick to the leafy canopy. But I managed four on my list this morning (and photographed three).
Weather-wise, tomorrow’s supposed to be a similar kind of day. Hmmm…
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:13 a.m. EST (8:13 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Northern Flicker (v) 2. American Goldfinch 3. Red-eyed Vireo (v) 4. Eastern Wood-pewee** (v) 5. White-breasted Nuthatch** (v) 6. Black-capped Chickadee 7. American Crow* 8. Black-throated Green Warbler 9. Black-and-white Warbler (v) 10. Ovenbird 11. Tufted Titmouse (v) 12. Brown Creeper (v) 13. Gray Catbird 14. Eastern Towhee (v) 15. Common Yellowthroat 16. Cedar Waxwing 17. Song Sparrow 18. American Kestrel
Elsewhere
19. Mourning Dove 20. Wild Turkey 21. Rock Pigeon
Mammals
White-tailed Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
