Another warm and humid morn, but not quite as warm or humid as yesterday. More like a nice, deep summer day on the coast of Maine—although, of course, it’s not yet quite deep summer. Still, dog and I enjoyed our familiar hike, and I listed a good number of bird species.
Nothing quite as “exotic” as yesterday’s woodcock, but a singing Yellow Warbler rather summed up the feel of this lovely day.
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:06 a.m. EST (8:06 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (drumming) 2. Red-eyed Vireo** (v) 3. Ovenbird** 4. Tufted Titmouse (v) 5. Eastern Phoebe 6. Black-throated Green Warbler (v) 7. American Goldfinch 8. Brown Creeper (v) 9. Veery (v) 10. Hairy Woodpecker (v) 11. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 12. Black-capped Chickadee** 13. Blue Jay (v) 14. Hermit Thrush (v) 15. Scarlet Tanager (v) 16. White-breasted Nuthatch (v) 17. Black-and-white Warbler (v) 18. Gray Catbird** 19. Common Yellowthroat 20. American Robin* 21. Song Sparrow 22. American Crow* (v) 23. Yellow Warbler 24. Eastern Towhee (v) 25. Eastern Bluebird 26. Cedar Waxwing 27. Field Sparrow (v) 28. Purple Finch (v) 29. Mourning Dove (v) 30. Chestnut-sided Warbler 31. Downy Woodpecker (v) 32. Savannah Sparrow (v)
Elsewhere
33. Mallard 34. Herring Gull
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
A balmy morning on a day of warm sunshine, high humidity, and a top temperature in the low 80s (F). Brought extra water for Captain Jack, who panted a lot nevertheless.
Quite a few birds—but certainly fewer than had it not been so summery. Fewer individuals of fewer species. But along came one nice surprise: An American Woodcock that appeared on the trail in front of us actually stopped to pose for a photo.
I think that’s one of at most four or five woodcock pics I’ve ever taken—possibly even the best. Thanks, Mr. Timberdoodle!
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:17 a.m. EST (8:17 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Eastern Phoebe** 2. Northern Cardinal** (v) 3. American Goldfinch 4. Chestnut-sided Warbler** 5. Veery (v) 6. Red-eyed Vireo 7. Ovenbird 8. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (drumming) 9. American Crow* (v) 10. Black-capped Chickadee 11. Song Sparrow 12. Common Yellowthroat 13. Field Sparrow (v) 14. Yellow Warbler 15. American Robin* 16. Gray Catbird 17. Eastern Towhee 18. Cedar Waxwing 19. Northern Flicker (v) 20. Blue Jay** (v) 21. Hermit Thrush (v) 22. Eastern Wood-pewee 23. Brown Creeper (v) 24. White-breasted Nuthatch (v) 25. Black-throated Green Warbler (v) 26. Hairy Woodpecker 27. Black-and-white Warbler (v) 28. Chipping Sparrow (v) 29. American Woodcock
Elsewhere
30. Mallard 31. Herring Gull 32. Rock Pigeon
(v) Voice only *Also elsewhere **Voice only elsewhere †First-of-year
Black-throated Green Warbler (singing with its mouth full).
This morning dawned sunny and pleasantly cool, mid- to upper-50s (F). The forecasters suggested it’d get warmer, which gave me the idea of hiking over the hill and down the trail to the Erickson Fields Preserve. So that’s what dog and I did.
Was a long hike—both time-wise and miles-wise—but well worth it. The Erickson Fields trail traverses quite a different habitat from Beech Hill’s hardwoods and barrens (old-growth spruce/pine and grasslands), which support a notably different array of wild birds. Had multiple Black-throated Blue Warblers, saw a bunch of Ruby-crowned Kinglets, even heard the very high-pitched song of a Blackburnian Warbler. And at the far end was a grassy field with Barn Swallows zipping around.
I’m astonished that I waited so long to take that lovely hike. We’ll be doing it again real soon, dog and I.
Beech Hill/Erickson Fields List Starting at 6:09 a.m. EST (7:09 DST), I hiked all trails at both preserves.