Lovely cool hike this morning. Managed to tally eighteen species—including a juvie Red-tailed Hawk being mobbed by robins, finches, and at least one oriole.
Then, this afternoon, dog and I had a meet-up with visiting friends at Sugar House Park, a nice green area in town with a creek and pond. Fun conversation amid a whole bunch of wild birds: geese, ducks, hummingbirds—and a plethora of Barn Swallows tending nests in the corners of the pavilion roof.
Could hardly get enough of the swallows.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
While I’m out looking for wild birds to photograph, sometimes a mammal pops into view. And of course I cannot resist.
This warm morning, it was a Mountain Cottontail. (My usually alert dog didn’t seem to notice—but he’s never been a chaser, so I’m not sure.) It began to hop away, but then everybody stopped, and I watched it mosey over and begin to munch on a sprig dry grass.
Otherwise, a lovely little hike. Plenty of birds flitting in the greenery (many with secret fledglings), and not a few on perches, singing.
Ah, summertime.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
The middays will be hot going forward, but the mornings are pretty cool in the mountain shade. Nice long hike with dog this day, stalked a couple heard birds but struck out.
Also got a photo of a Warbling Vireo, though. And a Bullock’s Oriole made an appearance out of the blu.
Grandeur Peak Area List Beginning at 8:15 a.m., I hiked a few hundred feet up a mountain.
Bird Report is an intermittent record of what's outside my window in Rockport, Maine, USA (44°08'N latitude, 69°06'W longitude), and vicinity. —Brian Willson
