Eastern phoebe.
Spent the day in a cloud. Literally. The coast was socked in, and all the world was wet. Didn’t bother with an early hike. Worked all day instead. But then, at the end of it, Jack and I ventured out into a watery landscape.
Beech Nut.
Not much going on, bird-wise. The warblers were conspicuously silent. Only ovenbird were calling at anywhere near their normal volume and frequency. Veeries were singing. (Thrushes like fog.) We did surprise a pair of hummingbirds around a clump of blooming highbush blueberries—they chattered at us but stayed impressively hidden. I caught sight of a single white-throated sparrow and a pair of overflying doves. A couple juncos were calling. About two or three chestnut-sided warblers. Not a single redstart. Only one black-and-white warbler.
At the vague summit, we spooked one of the resident phoebes, as I figured we might. It was one of the only birds I got a good look at. Surprisingly, we met another hiker: a young man and a friendly dog named Ayla. He appeared just as we’d stopped so I could listen to a pair of ravens playing a sort of aerial game of Marco Polo. One bird would croak, the other would croak back. Eventually they began to use their clear falsetto voices. I could’ve listened to them all day.
But instead, we turned back and headed down into the drippy lower woodlands. The loud rush of the droplets falling from the trees sounded to me like polite applause. I listened for the pewee but didn’t hear it. In its place, I heard the loud, persistent note of a brown creeper. We stopped. The creeper called. I couldn’t spot the bird. It broke suddenly into song.
American crows.
Back at the parking lot, I caught the distant song of a black-throated green warbler. But in my head I still heard ravens.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:30 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. American robin* (v)
2. Red-eyed vireo* (v)
3. American goldfinch (v)
4. American crow (v)
5. Veery
6. Eastern towhee (v)
7. Black-capped chickadee*
8. Chestnut-sided warbler
9. Common yellowthroat*
10. Ovenbird*
11. Mourning dove*
12. White-throated sparrow
13. Ruby-throated hummingbird (v)
14. Gray catbird (v)
15. Song sparrow (v)
16. Eastern phoebe
17. Common raven
18. Black-and-white warbler (v)
19. Brown creeper (v)
20. Black-throated green warbler (v)
Elsewhere
21. House finch
22. American redstart (v)
23. Herring gull
24. European starling
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, brown creeper, chestnut-sided warbler, common raven, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, European starling, gray catbird, herring gull, house finch, mourning dove, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, ruby-throated hummingbird, song sparrow, veery, white-throated sparrow
