This morning’s hike was a c-c-cold one to start: mid-40s (F). her But the sky was mostly blue, and over time, the sun warmed things up, as it does. Not a huge number of bird species—but some really interesting ones. Heard the cry of a red-tail, for instance (and saw two flying in a southerly direction). Saw a pair of larks. Listened to another kinglet’s rollicking song.
Most fun, though, was discovering a Northern Parula amid a little flock of yellow-rumps along the wooded trail. One even stopped moving long enough for a photographic glimpse.
[Note on Bird Report: This might well be my last post for a while—possibly the last post. These daily missives take a while to create, and I’m finding I have a lot I want to do with my time these days. But never fear: I do intend still to hike around a lot with binoculars and camera, so there will be bird photos out there. But mostly likely they’ll be on Instagram: @brrrder.]
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:46 a.m. EST (8:46 DST), I hiked all trails.
Thicker fog, cooler temps, drippier understory—that about describes the meteorological conditions as dog and I headed up the main Beech Hill trail. Honestly, so foggy I didn’t think I’d get close to any decent bird photos. If in fact we I caught sight of any birds.
Right away I caught sight of several species moving around in the dim, drippy trees. And eventually I managed several pretty decent pics.
Supposed to be rainy tomorrow. We shall see.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:58 a.m. EST (8:58 DST), I hiked all trails.
The forecast rain didn’t arrive, and the fog at the beginning of my hike with dog vanished within about twenty minutes, but still I didn’t list too many bird species this morning. However, toward the end of this daily excursion of ours, we encountered another little mini fallout.
Today’s warbler species included redstart, yellow-rump, parula, and chestnut-sided. Chickadees and a vireo were a part of this antic collection of little flitting birds.
I love this time of year.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:14 a.m. EST (8:14 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. American Crow* 2. Blue Jay** (v) 3. Black-capped Chickadee** 4. American Goldfinch 5. Gray Catbird** 6. Common Raven (v) 7. Common Yellowthroat (v) 8. American Robin 9. Savannah Sparrow 10. Eastern Bluebird (v) 11. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 12. Song Sparrow 13. Yellow-rumped Warbler 14. Red-eyed Vireo 15. Eastern Towhee 16. White-breasted Nuthatch** (v) 17. Pileated Woodpecker (v) 18. Northern Flicker (v) 19. Cedar Waxwing (v) 20. Turkey Vulture 21. Chestnut-sided Warbler 22. Northern Parula 23. American Redstart
