Song sparrow.
A busy ol’ Saturday—desk work mostly. So I was happy to get toward the end of it, get out of the house, get up into the woods at Beech Hill. Jack was happy, too.
Yellow warbler.
Nothing outlandish going on, just a peaceful warm afternoon with a fair wind, a cooling breeze. Spotted a cardinal flitting across just as we turned in, then ran into Chester again coming up the trail. Towhees were especially active and vocal. Neither heard no saw any redstarts—just catbirds, yellowthroats, veeries, goldfinches in the sky.
About half-way up we met a few fellow hikers. We heard them quite a while before we saw them, in fact, as they were talking animatedly in a regular pitch, their voices echoing through the trees. One of the talking women didn’t even look up when I said, “Hi,” as if we’d been passing on a street in Manhattan, but a couple of men with kids stopped to exchange pleasantries. On up ahead, I got to thinking how I prefer my woods naturally quiet, devoid of human voices. That’s what towns and cities are for. When I do get to talking, I have no trouble talking (as I’m sure my friends will attest), but deep down, I’m kind of a silent guy. The woods are my cathedral, after all. You know what they say about talking in church.
But at the summit, dog and I met a solitary fellow on the porch of Beech Nut who had just seen three turkeys sail down into the eastern field. We had a nice ten- or fifteen-minute conversation as the tall grass around us swayed in the summer breeze.
Afterward, I took a photo of a song sparrow with long strands of grass in its bill. A second nest of the season?
Beetle.
Yellow warbler, waxwings, a couple of alder flycatchers—they’ve been silent for a week or two—and a pair of mourning doves. Mourning doves always seem to come in pairs.
Noticed some folks ascending the open trail just as we headed back down. Their squeals and shouts radiated down the slopes like at a family reunion. But in the lower woods, all I heard was a black-throated green warbler traveling through the canopy, singing both its common calls. And a hermit thrush. And a wood-pewee.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:30 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. Northern cardinal*
2. Red-eyed vireo* (v)
3. Ovenbird (v)
4. American goldfinch*
5. American robin*
6. Chestnut-sided warbler
7. Common yellowthroat*
8. Black-capped chickadee (v)
9. Veery (v)
10. Eastern towhee
11. Cedar waxwing
12. Gray catbird*
13. Hermit thrush (v)
14. Alder flycatcher
15. Yellow warbler*
16. Song sparrow*
17. Mourning dove*
18. Rose-breasted grosbeak (v)
19. Black-throated green warbler (v)
20. Eastern wood-pewee (v)
Elsewhere
21. House finch (v)
22. Chipping sparrow (v)
23. Herring gull
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
Tags: alder flycatcher, American goldfinch, American robin, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, mourning dove, northern cardinal, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, rose-breasted grosbeak, song sparrow, veery, yellow warbler
