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.
Cooler and damper after yesterday’s rain, sunny with a bit of a breeze. I truly had no expectations, just figured I’d hear and/or see a few birds, maybe learn a thing or two.
And I did—both. Notably, I heard/saw a Least Flycatcher, and spied a Red Crossbill (fem./imm.—first I’ve seen on the hill) high on a spruce at the summit and, in the woods toward the end of our hike, I heard two species of tanager.
First was a Scarlet Tanager, which I hunted for up in the leafy canopy but could not get a look at. Finally I spotted the bird apparently being chased by another tanager. And then I heard the voice of the other tanager—a Summer Tanager. Couldn’t get a good bead on that one, either, although I did watch it fly away
I’ll be keeping my eye peeled for tanagers going forward.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:22 a.m., I hiked most trails.
1. Song Sparrow** 2. Ovenbird 3. Red-eyed Vireo** 4. Black-throated Green Warbler (v) 5. Veery 6. Gray Catbird 7. Chestnut-sided Warbler 8. Eastern Towhee 9. Common Yellowthroat 10. American Crow* 11. American Goldfinch** 12. Black-and-white Warbler 13. Black-capped Chickadee** 14. Field Sparrow 15. Alder Flycatcher (v) 16. Yellow Warbler 19. Cedar Waxwing 20. Red Crossbill† 21. Purple Finch 22. American Robin* 23. Red-breasted Nuthatch (v) 24. Prairie Warbler 25. Least Flycatcher 26. Tufted Titmouse (v) 27. Herring Gull* 28. Broad-winged Hawk 29. Hermit Thrush (v) 30. Pileated Woodpecker (v) 31. Eastern Wood-pewee 32. Scarlet Tanager (v) 33. Summer Tanager (v)
Elsewhere
34. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
Mammals
Eastern Chipmunk
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
A warm morning, with mosquitos about. Cloudless, little wend. Felt a lot like summer.
Speaking of—I heard another singing Summer Tanager down in the bottomlands. Marched off trail for a while but never did get even a peak at the bird. Will try again tomorrow.
A lovely hike, with sweat galore,
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:20 a.m., I hiked most trails.
1. Ovenbird 2. Northern Cardinal** (v) 3. Red-eyed Vireo** 4. American Crow* 5. American Goldfinch (v) 6. Black-throated Green Warbler (v) 7. Chestnut-sided Warbler 8. American Redstart** (v) 9. Summer Tanager (v) 10. Veery 11. Hairy Woodpecker 12. Gray Catbird 13. Black-capped Chickadee** 14. Black-and-white Warbler 15. Eastern Towhee 16. Common Yellowthroat 17. Song Sparrow 18. Yellow Warbler 19. Field Sparrow (v) 20. Purple Finch (v) 21. Cedar Waxwing 22. Eastern Phoebe 23. Savannah Sparrow (v) 24. Mourning Dove 25. American Robin 26. Alder Flycatcher (v) 27. Hermit Thrush (v) 28. House Wren 29. Northern Flicker 30. Tree Swallow 31. Red-breasted Nuthatch 32. Ruby-throated Hummingbird 33.Broad-winged Hawk 34. Tufted Titmouse (v) 35. Common Raven (v) 36 Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 37. Wood Thrush (v)
Elsewhere
38. House Finch 39. Rock Pigeon
Mammals
White-tailed Deer
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
