Seven waxwings.
Hiking Beech Hill with Jack today, I got to thinking about scarves on women and beards on men. That’s because all I had on was a Coastal Mountains Land Trust cap—on my head and facial area, that is—and a measly mustache. Not much protection against mosquitos and deer flies.
Eastern towhee, Beech Hill, Rockport, Maine, 18 July 2012.
The deer flies, especially, were relentless. (It’s that time of year.) But the only bite I got was from a mosquito, on my arm.
When it comes to pests and natural nuisances, we live in a fairly benign latitude here on the 44th parallel. Sure, we’ve got mosquitoes and deer flies, black flies in the spring. Lyme-carrying ticks, of course. Leeches in our brushy ponds and our share of stinging insects. But we have no poisonous snakes. We have no scorpions. No toothy mammals likely to take bites out of us—unless you count the rabid ones. (Not a few rabies cases this year, foxes and raccoons mostly.) How distinctly I remember, on my few first hikes in Maine after moving here from Texas, the sweet revelation that I could walk quietly in the woods. No need to crash through the undergrowth to scare off rattlers.
But I’ve got to confess: deer flies pose a challenge for both dog and I.
One particular birding challenge came clear early in our hike today when usually silent Jack’s repeated, frantic, jangly attacks on swarming flies scared off the subjects of a few of my photos. In fact, I didn’t really get a decent bird shot today. Even a handsome posing dragonfly took off before I released the shutter, thanks to a spinning, snapping, jangling dog.
Highbush blueberries.
But never mind all that. Let’s count blessings. Warm air, familiar trail, familiar birds calling. Flocks of waxwings and a glimpse of a towhee. I also spotted a yellowthroat flitting away.
Then in evening, I heard some rapid-fire chipping coming from out back. Stepped out onto the deck and caught a good glimpse of an adult black-throated green warbler, not a dozen feet from the deck. It had a green caterpillar in its beak and (judging by all the chips) was feeding fledglings.
Too dim to try for photos, but that’s OK.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5:15 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. American goldfinch* (v)
2. Red-eyed vireo (v)
3. Black-capped chickadee* (v)
4. American robin* (v)
5. Eastern towhee
6. Mourning dove* (v)
7. Chestnut-sided warbler* (v)
8. Cedar waxwing*
9. Common yellowthroat
10. American crow* (v)
11. Gray catbird* (v)
12. Hermit thrush (v)
13. Song sparrow* (v)
14. Alder flycatcher (v)
15. Ovenbird* (v)
16. Black-throated green warbler* (v)
Elsewhere
17. Northern cardinal (v)
18. Herring gull
19. Canada goose
20. Eastern phoebe
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, Canada goose, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, mourning dove, northern cardinal, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, song sparrow
