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
Was supposed to rain today, which might be why I ended up sleeping later than I have in a long time. However, beyond a tiny bit of drizzle early, it didn’t rain at all. So dog and I had our usual hike—if a bit later than usual.
Warmish (60s (F)), a bit breezy, and with a good number of species—including a second-of-year booming partridge (a.k.a., Ruffed Grouse).
Thundershowers were possible, even—but nope. And tomorrow’s supposed to be sunny and mild. Works for me.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 8:04 a.m., I hiked most trails.
1. Red-eyed Vireo* (v) 2. Ovenbird* (v) 3. Eastern Phoebe* 4. Black-throated Green Warbler** (v) 5. Common Yellowthroat (v) 6. Song Sparrow 7. Veery (v) 8. Gray Catbird** 9. American Redstart** (v) 10. Eastern Wood-pewee 11. Chestnut-sided Warbler 12. Black-capped Chickadee 13. Ruffed Grouse (drumming) 14. Ruby-throated Hummingbird (wing sound) 15. American Goldfinch** (v) 16. American Crow* (v) 17. Field Sparrow (v) 18. Alder Flycatcher 19. Yellow Warbler 20. American Robin 21. Field Sparrow 22. Savannah Sparrow 23. Blue Jay (v) 24. Northern Flicker (v) 25. Tufted Titmouse 26. Turkey Vulture 27. Rose-breasted Grosbeak (v) 28. Broad-winged Hawk 29. Blue-headed Vireo (v) 30. Hermit Thrush (v) 31. Northern Cardinal (v)
Elsewhere
32. Mallard 33. Mourning Dove
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
