24 March 2023

Posts Tagged ‘ruby-crowned kinglet’

Thick Spring Fog

Thursday, March 23rd, 2023
Pileated Woodpecker (female), Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 23 March 2023.
Pileated Woodpecker (female) on a foggy morn.

Was supposed to rain lightly today, but dog and I awoke to a foggy morning. And it remained foggy—a thick fog, a calm atmosphere—throughout our two-hour hike up the hill.

Didn’t expect much in the way of photos—and wasn’t sure of bird numbers, either—but was pleasantly surprised in both cases. Had thirteen species, and a few half-way-decent photos, a first-of-year kinglet, and a decent pic of a female Pileated Woodpecker.

Pretty sure we’re supposed to get a little sun tomorrow. Maybe we’ll even get another first-of-year bird.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:58 a.m. (7:58 stupid DST), I hiked all trails.

1. American Robin
2. American Crow*
3. Black-capped Chickadee**
4. Red-bellied Woodpecker (v)
5. Blue Jay (v)
6. Herring Gull* (v)
7. Eastern Bluebird
8. Pileated Woodpecker
9. Ruby-crowned Kinglet†
10. Tufted Titmouse (v)
11. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
12. Red-breasted Nuthatch (v)
13. Red-winged Blackbird (v)

Elsewhere

14. European Starling (v)
15. Mallard
16. Rock Pigeon

Mammals

American Red Squirrel

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

†First-of-year

Promise

Thursday, October 27th, 2022
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 27 October 2022.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

The sun shone this morning. Fog and rain and clouds had dispersed—well, most of ’em—and the brightness of our star rendered the landscape bright and colorful and squint-worthy. Birds were about, too—but, oddly, fewer sparrows. (Perhaps the recent socked-in days brought them down to browse for food.)

Two hawks, two corvids, two finches, two thrushes, two woodpeckers. A kinglet, a creeper, still quite a few yellow-rumps.

Most notable, perhaps, were the bluebirds fluttering around the spruce grove at the summit. Those, and the kinglets. And the promise of more birds to come.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:05 a.m., I hiked all trails.

1. American Crow
2. Yellow-rumped Warbler
3. Blue Jay
4. Hairy Woodpecker
5. American Robin
6. Hermit Thrush
7. Black-capped Chickadee
8. American Goldfinch
9. Eastern Bluebird
10. Northern Flicker
11. White-throated Sparrow
12. Purple Finch
13. Song Sparrow
14. Herring Gull
15. Sharp-shinned Hawk
16. Cooper’s Hawk
17. Brown Creeper
18. Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Elsewhere

19. Northern Cardinal

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

†First-of-year

Fog & Sparrows

Wednesday, October 26th, 2022
Swamp Sparrow, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 26 October 2022.
Swamp Sparrow.

Thicker fog this morning than yesterday. Rained overnight but let up at dawn, as forecast, just in time for a nice damp hike for dog and me. Didn’t expect a lot of bird action—certainly no decent photos in such dim light—but was surprised to find both.

Mostly photos of sparrows: Savannah, song, white-crowned, white-throated, swamp—and a passel of juncos. Sparrows lining the trail in the grass and in small trees, leading us up and down the hill.

I shall fondly remember this fine, wet day.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:24 a.m., I hiked all trails.

1. American Crow*
2. White-throated Sparrow
3. American Robin
4. Yellow-rumped Warbler
5. Song Sparrow
6. Northern Flicker
7. Dark-eyed Junco
8. Black-capped Chickadee** (v)
9. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
10. Brown Creeper (v)
11. Hairy Woodpecker (v)
12. Savannah Sparrow
13. Swamp Sparrow
14. White-crowned Sparrow
15. Wild Turkey*

Elsewhere

16. Herring Gull

(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

†First-of-year

 
Bird Report is a (sometimes intermittent) record of the birds I encounter while hiking, see while driving, or spy outside my window. —Brian Willson



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