Dog and I got to the trailhead a bit later than yesterday, but still we were the first in the parking lot. Not as warm as yesterday, not quite as cloudless, not quite so many mosquitos—but every bit as lovely, interesting, miraculous.
Snowshoe Hare.
Encountered thirty-three bird species and a Snowshoe Hare (with tick-infested ears, poor critter). Among the birds were a pair of Red-winged Blackbirds in overflight (not ID’d until after I viewed my photos later). Also a papa bluebird and mama Pileated Woodpecker, respectively with fledglings.
And for the first time in a long while, a Red-eyed Vireo posed for me.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 7:51 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Red-eyed Vireo** 2. Ovenbird 3. Northern Cardinal** (v) 4. Black-throated Green Warbler (v) 5. Hermit Thrush (v) 6. American Crow* 7. Veery 8. Hairy Woodpecker 9. American Redstart** (v) 10. Chestnut-sided Warbler 11. Gray Catbird 12. Common Yellowthroat 13. American Goldfinch (v) 14. Black-and-white Warbler 15. Black-capped Chickadee** 16. Eastern Towhee 17. Yellow Warbler 18. Pileated Woodpecker 19. Song Sparrow 20. Cedar Waxwing 21. Purple Finch (v) 22. Field Sparrow (v) 23. Red-winged Blackbird 24. Prairie Warbler 25. American Robin 26. White-breasted Nuthatch 27. Turkey Vulture 28. Tufted Titmouse (v) 29. Eastern Phoebe 30. Eastern Bluebird 31. Savannah Sparrow 32. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 33. Brown Creeper (v)
Elsewhere
34. Herring Gull 35. European Starling 36. House Sparrow
Mammals
Eastern Chipmunk Snowshoe Hare
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
Jack and I came upon a hare this morning. It didn’t dash away—rather stayed by the trailside nibbling on purple clover while I took about three minutes of video. Then it loped toward us a ways before slipping off into the thicket. That was a surprise.
American Redstart.
As was the pair of Mallards that flew swifly past us on our trip back down.
The morning was cool and overcast and just a teensy bit rainy, but by afternoon things had warmed, the sky had cleared, and I couldn’t resist taking dog up the hill again, but this time wearing sandals. (Me, not Jack.)
And then I mowed my lawn.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 8 a.m.—and again at 2 p.m.—I hiked the open trail.
A gray, chilly, breezy morning. I didn’t expect to manage a long bird list—but when I heard the hoots of a Barred Owl while ascending Beech Hill, I figured Nature had other thoughts. She did.
Loper.
Quite a few species, turned out, flitting animatedly in the branches and undergrowth. A couple of red squirrels. And, surprisingly, A Snowshoe Hare.
I’d been focusing on a chickadee when I felt Jack’s leash grow taught. I suspected he’d caught a strong whiff of something and was hoping to get a closer sniff. But his insistent tug soon got my attention, and up the trail behind us, I saw the hare loping down our way. Quite the surprise.
The hare stopped at the edge of the trail about thirty feet away. Jack, motionless at the end of his tether, didn’t make a sound. I frantically worked to get a decent photo. Got a couple half-way decent ones.
It took fifteen seconds or so for the hare to bound away into the bushes. It’s seasonal coat stood out against the brown landscape.
Tomorrow, though, it’ll be safely camouflaged again.
Beech Hill List Beginning at 9 a.m., I hiked the open trail.
