Beech Hill List Beginning at 10:45 am, I hiked the open trail.
Yellowthroat in fog.
Rained from early until mid-morning, pouring for some of it. But then Jack and I took our daily hike up a muddy foggy hill, and we encountered a plethora of bird families there.
Yep, the birds were definitely out. A bunch of ’em, too—way more than I’d expected. All their vocal interactions, for some reason, got me thinking (not for the first time) about clear communication. Modern humans don’t seem to have a whole lot of this, but birds sure do.
A sunny, warm, kind of glorious morning. Spring at last. A breeze rose in the fully-fledged trees, and the resulting hush obscured some birdsong—but I heard enough (and saw enough) to have a happy hike with dog.
Portrait of chestnut-sided Warbler.
Happiest occurrence: A Black-billed Cuckoo zipped up to a branch directly in front of us along the wooded trail and posed for photos. I rarely get to photograph these shy birds.
Back home, a curiosity: the call of a kingfisher where I’d never heard one before. Weird.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 8 a.m., I hiked the open trail.
First t-shirt day of the year, mosquitos be damned! A nice, warm, sunny morning with temperatures in the 70s (F). Birds were quiet (nesting) but active (food). Got a few photos. Woo-hoo!
Beech Hill List Beginning at 8:15 a.m., I hiked all trails.
Fun morning, Mostly sun, lots of safety gear And plenty of birds int the fringes. You have to work for an ID at this time of year, in this ecosystem, but I’ll just look forwar to trying.
1. Northern Cardinal** (v) 2. Red-eyed Vireo** (v) 3. Black-throated Green Warbler (v) 4. Common Yellowthroat** 5. American Goldfinch (V) 6. Tufted Titmouse (v) 7. American Redstart (v) 8. Hermit Thrush (v) 9. Black-and-white warbler 10. Chestnut-sided Warbler (v) 11. Pileated Woodpecker (v) 12. Veery** 13. Gray Catbird (v) 14. Eastern Towhee88 (v) 15. Eastern Wood-pewee 16. Alder Flycatcher 17. Nashville Warbler (v) 18. Song Sparrow** 19. Eastern Phoebe* 20. Tree Swallow 21. Field Sparrow (v) 22. Great Crested Flycatcher** 23. American Crow* 24. Common Raven (v) 25. Savannah Sparrow 26. Ovenbird** 27. Scarlet Tanager (v) 28. Least Flycatcher (v)
Elsewhere
29. House Finch (v) 30. Chipping Sparrow 31. Herring Gull
v = Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere
