A damp, overcast morning, with fog on the hill. Most birds on my list today were heard, not seen. The first—just as we began ascending, dog and I—turned out to be a group of turkeys, a pair of adults and many poults, leading us up the trail. Later, we encountered bunch of juvie towhees in the brushy fields, one of which posed for a quick photo.
Those bird empaths among us get a slight feel of urgency at this time of year, when the youngsters need to grow up in a hurry. (And they do.)
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:11 a.m. EST (8:11 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. American Crow* (v) 2. Wild Turkey* 3. Gray Catbird** (v) 4. American Goldfinch** (v) 5. Song Sparrow 6. Northern Cardinal** (v) 7. Common Yellowthroat 8. Eastern Towhee 9. Cedar Waxwing 10. Yellow Warbler (v) 11. Eastern Phoebe 12. Eastern Wood-pewee (v) 13. Black-and-white Warbler (v) 14. Brown Creeper (v) 15. Red-eyed Vireo (v) 16. Pileated Woodpecker (v)
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.
They grow up so fast! This year’s new bird crop, I mean. They’ve got to, of course—fall migration is right around the corner (a month or less away for most migratory species). And the young ’uns are starting to come out and introduce themselves to the wider world.
Today’s most cooperative juvie? A young catbird that posed long enough for a fairly decent portrait.
(Also, a Meadow Vole scrambled across the trail in front of dog and me.)
Beech Hill List Starting at 7:09 a.m. EST (8:09 DST), I hiked all trails.
1. Blue Jay (v) 2. Black-capped Chickadee 3. American Goldfinch** 4. Eastern Phoebe (v) 5. Red-eyed Vireo (v) 6. Cedar Waxwing (v) 7. White-breasted Nuthatch** 8. Eastern Wood-pewee 9. Eastern Bluebird (v) 10. Tufted Titmouse (v) 11. Black-and-white Warbler 12. Red-bellied Woodpecker (v) 13. American Crow* 14. Eastern Towhee 15. Gray Catbird 16. Song Sparrow 17. Yellow Warbler 18. Common Yellowthroat** (v)
