Two geese.

First thing this morning when I checked, the temperature was still in the 50s (F) out there. Gray, a little breeze, jays and crows and titmice. The forecast called for rain later, so I decided to tackle some desk work first. The phoebe was still out there today.

Jack’s World, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 01 April 2016.

Got in the zone and worked clear up until mid-afternoon, when I finally tore myself away. Only a couple people at Beech Hill when Jack and I go there—but a whole heck of a lot of frogs. I heard them singing, mostly Wood Frogs but a few Spring Peepers, from the pond across the road, rivaling the voices of the brightly singing cardinal. That’s all I heard above the rush of the warm wind.

The hill stood in a cloud. A cloud that blew swiftly across the slopes. I’ve enjoyed several foggy, windy days up there—there’s nothing much like ’em. Very foggy. Very windy.

Alone at the summit, I convinced Jack to pose as Christina in Andrew Wyeth’s Christina’s World. Today was his eighth birthday.

After our return home, the sky seemed to darken more. I heard—then watched—a small vee of geese fly over. I caught sight of a tiny kinglet in the branches of the tree out my window. I heard thunder. The storm was brief, though, with no harm done.

Strata.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 3 p.m., I hiked the open trail.

1. Northern Cardinal**
2. Black-capped Chickadee**
3. Song Sparrow*
4. Northern Flicker (v)
5. Tufted Titmouse** (v)

Elsewhere

6. Blue Jay
7. American Crow
8. Eastern Phoebe (v)
9. American Robin
10. Downy Woodpecker (v)
11. House Finch (v)
12. Herring Gull
13. Rock Pigeon
14. Common Raven
15. White-breasted Nuthatch
16. Turkey Vulture
17. Golden-crowned Kinglet
18. Canada Goose

v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere