A similar start to yesterday’s hike—rather late up the main trail, overcast, damp, nippy, calm—but with a little sun brightening things up after a while. The sun also warmed things up. And birds were active.
Notable were a pair of larks, a loon in overflight, the croaks of a raven—and a rare glimpse of a Pileated Woodpecker.
Pileateds themselves aren’t rare in the woods, but they’re good at making themselves scarce. Often you’ll hear their loud, distinctive call, and sometimes you can track one by its especially loud hammering. But I do love to get a peek at these lovely birds. Today’s female posed for a photo.
Beech Hill List Starting at 8:04 a.m. EST (9:04 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Song Sparrow (v) 2. Blue Jay 3. Yellow-rumped Warbler** 4. American Crow* 5. American Goldfinch 6. Common Yellowthroat (v) 7. Hairy Woodpecker 8. Northern Flicker 9. Common Loon 10. Horned Lark 11. Tufted Titmouse (v) 12. Eastern Towhee (v) 13. Black-capped Chickadee 14. Hermit Thrush 15. Brown Creeper (v) 16. Red-bellied Woodpecker (v) 17. White-breasted Nuthatch 18. Common Raven (v) 19. Pileated Woodpecker
Elsewhere
20. Herring Gull 21. Northern Cardinal
Mammals
Eastern Gray Squirrel
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
Rained overnight, and the morning trails were watery when Captain Jack and I hit the hill. Chilly enough for a sweatshirt, but calm, with air that had the fragrance of fall.
Plenty of birds—I suppose thanks to a change in wind direction—including a minor fallout of yellow-rumps, a very vocal kinglet, and some vocal woodpecker species. Most notable would be an Ovenbird that was hanging out with a Hermit Thrush. (They do look a little alike, I guess.)
To top things off, in afternoon, another dog (Oscar) and I walked the Rockland Breakwater—which will explain a few species listed below.
Beech Hill List Starting at 8:01 a.m. EST (9:01 DST), I hiked all trails.
A mostly sunny morning for Captain Jack and me, but also a chilly one (temps in low–50s (F) to start). Still, a much birdier hike than in recent days.
Yellow-rumps still, late-to-migrate catbirds and towhees and thrushes and vireo. A kinglet. The usual chickadees and jays and crows. And three woodpecker species.
Most woodpeckers hereabouts don’t migrate, which makes their presence comforting in a way. Flickers will move around some in the colder months, but for several years now a few have wintered over.
I truly do appreciate our resident woodpeckers.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:40 a.m. EST (8:40 DST), I hiked all trails.
