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
And summer came, and Nature held a party. There were shenanigans, there were quarrels, there was music, there was magic.
The air was cool and the sky near cloudless when dog and I started up the trail. Little wind, lots of birdsong. Notable was the syncopated drumming of a sapsucker, the subtle notes of a hummingbird (first in a while), and just the number and variety of species. I believe today’s count was the second-highest yet since our return to the Maine coast.
Eastern Coyote.
But the height of excitement came as we were strolling slowly down the open main Beech Hill trail when an Eastern Coyote emerged from the profuse shrubbery and crossed the trail not ten or twelve yards ahead of us. I imagined she was a female, perhaps having stashed her pups in that greenery, but she didn’t move overly fast—more like a slow lope. And then she stopped and cast a glance behind her.
Thank you, goddess of summer.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:27 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Song Sparrow** 2. Ovenbird** 3. Red-eyed Vireo** 4. Downy Woodpecker 5. Black-throated Green Warbler (v) 6. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (drumming) 7. American Goldfinch 8. Veery 9. Gray Catbird 10. Pileated Woodpecker 11. Hairy Woodpecker 12. American Redstart** (v) 13. American Crow* 14. Chestnut-sided Warbler 15. Northern Cardinal** (v) 16. Black-and-white Warbler (v) 17. Ruby-throated Hummingbird (v) 18. Black-capped Chickadee 19. Eastern Towhee 20. Alder Flycatcher 21. Red-breasted Nuthatch 22. Common Yellowthroat 23. Yellow Warbler (v) 24. Field Sparrow 25. American Robin 26. Eastern Bluebird 27. Cedar Waxwing 28. House Wren 29. Eastern Phoebe 30. Chipping Sparrow (v) 31. Hermit Thrush (v) 32. Turkey Vulture 33. Prairie Warbler (v) 34. White-breasted Nuthatch (v) 35. Tufted Titmouse (v) 36. Pine Warbler 37. Eastern Wood-pewee 38. Brown Creeper (v)
Elsewhere
39. Mallard 40. Rock Pigeon
Mammals
Eastern Coyote
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
Rained overnight, overcast this morning, and wet trails greeted dog and me as we headed up, a bit later than usual. Nobody else around at first. Plenty of birds, though, including most all the usual suspects.
Windy at the summit, small birds in the trees and large ones in the air. Among the large ones was an unseen raven, at least three vultures, and a Red-shouldered Hawk carrying what sure looked like a red squirrel. Also ran into some friendly acquaintances, which was nice
Alas, in the woods where the tanager sang the past couple days—nothing. I hope against hope we didn’t scare it off yesterday.
Best poser of the day: a very still Black-and-white Warbler, carrying food back to what is surely a nest full of fledglings.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 8:47 a.m., I hiked most trails.
1. Red-eyed vireo** (v) 2. Ovenbird 3. Song Sparrow** 4. Black-throated Green Warbler (v) 5. Eastern Phoebe** 6. American Crow* 7. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 8. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (v) 9. Hairy Woodpecker (v) 10. American Redstart (v) 11. Chestnut-sided Warbler (v) 12. American Goldfinch** (v) 13. Cedar Waxwing 14. Black-and-white Warbler 15. Alder Flycatcher 16. Common Raven (v) 17. Yellow Warbler (v) 18. Eastern Towhee 19. Gray Catbird 20. Field Sparrow (v) 21. Purple Finch (v) 22. Chipping Sparrow 23. Prairie Warbler (v) 24. Common Yellowthroat (v) 25. Turkey Vulture 26. Red-shouldered Hawk 27. House Wren (v) 28. Tree Swallow 29. Hermit Thrush (v) 30. Veery
Elsewhere
31. Mourning Dove 32. Herring Gull 33. Rock Pigeon
Mammals
Gray Squirrel
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
