Black-throated green warbler.

For whatever this reason, this day—a gorgeous, sunny, warm, Monday—brought with it about a dozen phone calls. I’m not a telephone kind of guy anyway, and all the ringing (including a couple of “please hold”s) kept me hopping. Still, the house finch called, and the yellow warbler sang across the road, and the young crows begged for grub. I managed to yank myself away in mid-afternoon for a glorious bicycle ride.

Heard chipping sparrows and song sparrows, saw robins and herring gulls. A light southerly breeze resisted my southbound route but carried me swiftly northward. Mourning doves sat on utility lines or sailed in twos and threes over Route 1.

Eastern phoebe.

After another flurry of phone calls, I called it a day, grabbed my dog, and we drove off for a hike in the woods.

A couple vehicles were parked at the wooded trailhead when we arrived at Beech Hill. The expected bird species were singing—red-eyed vireo, chestnut-sided warbler, veery—and the thick, green vegetation emitted diffuse clouds of flies and mosquitoes. After a few hundred yards, though, I knew it’d be slim pickin’s today. I didn’t actually see a bird until we’d reached the upper fields, when I spotted a yellow warbler flying over and then caught sight of a singing catbird flitting about in the lower branches of a small tree.

At the summit, I saw one of the pair of resident phoebes. Coming back down the wooded trail, I saw a chickadee. Then I heard the chip of a warbler in the lower canopy not far off the trail. We stopped, and I waited a moment amid mosquitoes for the bird to appear, which it did—a black-throated green. Didn’t get any great photos in the dim green light, but I did see that it had a fat caterpillar in its beak.

Mostly warblers sang today—six in all, out of sixteen species total—whereas several birds I knew were lurking about up there kept especially well hidden. It being nestling time, and all.

Wild raspberries.

Back home I missed the chips of the nesting phoebe. This convinced me to check the nest—which was empty of young birds. They must’ve fledged this morning and moved on away. Although it shouldn’t have, the realization gave me a faint melancholy feeling.

Tonight is a starry one. A minute ago I heard a couple green frogs calling from a wet spot up the hill. Also wood frogs. And in the oak trees: fireflies.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5:45 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.

1. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
2. Chestnut-sided warbler (voice)
3. Veery (voice)
4. Ovenbird (voice)
5. American goldfinch (voice)
6. Common yellowthroat (voice)
7. Song sparrow (voice)
8. Yellow warbler
9. Gray catbird
10. Cedar waxwing (voice)
11. Eastern towhee (voice)
12. Eastern phoebe
13. Northern parula (voice)
14. Black-capped chickadee
15. Black-throated green warbler
16. Hairy woodpecker (voice)

Elsewhere

17. House finch
18. American crow
19. Herring gull
20. Mourning dove
21. American robin
22. Chipping sparrow
23. European starling
24. Northern cardinal
25. Pileated woodpecker
26. American redstart