It was a warm one. Starting up the trail early, dog and I “enjoyed” a sort of humid room temperature. Once we got out of the shade, the air got summertime-warm in a hurry. Still, what a nice hike.
Mainly because of the variety of bird life. A vireo posed. So did a Broad-winged Hawk and a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Most interestingly, a young Cape May Warbler perched high in a summit spruce and might as well have begged to have his picture took—one of very few of the species I’ve seen up there.
In afternoon, I rode around on my bicycle in 80-something-degree (F) temperatures. Seems we get us a variety of weather around here, too.
Beech Hill List Starting at 6:45 a.m. EST (7:45 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Red-eyed Vireo 2. White-breasted Nuthatch (v) 3. Blue Jay 4. Gray Catbird 5. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 6. Hairy Woodpecker 7. Broad-winged Hawk 8. American Crow* (v) 9. Black-capped Chickadee** 10. Eastern Towhee (v) 11. Song Sparrow 12. Common Yellowthroat (v) 13. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 14. Cape May Warbler† 15. American Goldfinch 16. Downy Woodpecker (v) 17. Cedar Waxwing 18. Northern Flicker (v)
Cool and bright again this morning—but not quite so cool. In fact, the day warmed up pretty good by the time dog and I reached the summit. A noteworthy day, though, with a few nice sightings. Most noteworthy, perhaps was a whitetail doe and fawn that appeared in a little clearing far below us.
Bird-wise, also at the summit, I spotted my first yellow-rump since spring. and I spotted my first Nashville Warbler in months, down in the woodlands.
Sitting here this evening, I find myself wondering what tomorrow’s hike will bring.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:04 a.m. EST (8:04 DST), I hiked all trails.
It was a cool one, this morning. I hesitate to say I smelled a whiff of fall, considering autumn’s still a month away, but the weather conditions weren’t the only signs of the changing seasons. A number of migratory birds seemed to be revving up for a journey.
A pair of sharpies, for instance, circling in the cloudless sky, the smaller male occasionally charging at the larger female. Vultures also circled overhead. And in the woods tiny warblers chased and flitted nervously.
“Time doth flit,” wrote Dorothy Parker. It won’t be long, I suppose.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:06 a.m. EST (8:06 DST), I hiked all trails.
