Dog and I hiked in the rain this morning. Not a hard rain, but a steady one for much of it. Hardly any birds to start, but I began to hear some in the woodlands—and after the rain let up a bit, got a glimpse of a few species.
The highlight: a juvenile Prairie Warbler that popped up for a photo at the very end of our hike. First prairie I’ve seen this year (although I heard ’em singing in spring).
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:28 a.m. EST (8:28 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Cedar Waxwing 2. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 3. Black-capped Chickadee (v) 4. American Redstart 5. Red-eyed Vireo (v) 6. Broad-winged Hawk (v) 7. Gray Catbird 8. Eastern Towhee (v) 9. American Goldfinch (v) 10. Song Sparrow 11. American Crow* (v) 12. Prairie Warbler
Warm to start under mostly cloudy skies—about room temperature out. Light winds, drier than in recent days. Thunderstorms forecast for this evening, though, so coming days will be wetter.
Invasive Brown-tailed Moths litter the trails these days—I suppose they live short lives in the moth stage, just long enough to lay eggs. The caterpillars really got me this year.
Birds were active, despite (perhaps because of?) the overcast. Most notable were a raven, a gull, and a juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird. (I’d rather have a brown-headed critter than a brown-tailed one any ol’ day.)
Might get wet tomorrow, dog and I. We shall see!
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:06 a.m. EST (8:06 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (drumming) 2. Red-eyed Vireo** (v) 3. Ovenbird** 4. Tufted Titmouse (v) 5. Eastern Phoebe 6. Black-throated Green Warbler (v) 7. American Goldfinch 8. Brown Creeper (v) 9. Veery (v) 10. Hairy Woodpecker (v) 11. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 12. Black-capped Chickadee** 13. Blue Jay (v) 14. Hermit Thrush (v) 15. Scarlet Tanager (v) 16. White-breasted Nuthatch (v) 17. Black-and-white Warbler (v) 18. Gray Catbird** 19. Common Yellowthroat 20. American Robin* 21. Song Sparrow 22. American Crow* (v) 23. Yellow Warbler 24. Eastern Towhee (v) 25. Eastern Bluebird 26. Cedar Waxwing 27. Field Sparrow (v) 28. Purple Finch (v) 29. Mourning Dove (v) 30. Chestnut-sided Warbler 31. Downy Woodpecker (v) 32. Savannah Sparrow (v)
Elsewhere
33. Mallard 34. Herring Gull
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
The prognosticators were right: fog this morning. Not real warm, but warm enough to feel the impressive humidity of the air. And the birds—many more birds than just a couple months ago—didn’t seem to mind.
Many more birds because of reproduction, of course. And still the mission of keeping all those fledglings safe and healthy is in the misty air.
I often wonder just how many more birds are fluttering around at this time of year than there were at, say, the beginning of May. Twice as many? Three times as many? More?
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:49 a.m. EST (8:49 DST), I hiked all trails.
