Gray catbird (juvenile).
Good sleeping weather these days. Cool overnight, mild and sunny and dry today, with a fair wind blowing. I wrote for a change, which felt good. Then I rode my bike, which felt better. Then Jack and I took a little hike up Beech Hill.
American crow.
Deer flies still, and swarming mosquitoes—but never mind those guys. The hill was lovely, shady, green. Vireos calling, as usual. But by chance, I managed actually to see one today. Watched it for a while hopping about catching bugs or caterpillars or something, all the while emitting its alarm call, quey! Took a couple photos even, though they didn’t turn out great.
Still, a quick bird photo for a change.
Then, farther up the hill, I heard a yellowthroat near the trail, and dog and I stopped so I could check for it. Instead, the bird that flitted into a shaft of light off in the thick greenery was a catbird—a young one, this year’s bird. I managed a couple decent photos, then spotted a second youngster not far ahead. Behind us I heard the cluck! of what a assume was an adult bird. Translation: Watch out! (It would be the only catbird voice I heard all day.)
At the first field edge, I heard the faint peep! of an alder flycatcher, then—again—somehow managed to spot the bird. Perched in a little tree, backlit by the sun, with bugs in its beak. Snapped off a few photos, but they turned out kind of blurry. Still, it was the first alder fly I’d actually seen in weeks.
Returning.
Song and Savannah sparrows at the summit. Also sails and blueberries and rose hips. Also a family of about a half-dozen cawing crows, one of which perched at the tip of a spruce. Grabbed a photo or two, and we lingered a while before heading back down.
Three hermit thrushes were calling to each other down the lower wooded trail. Got very near one but never saw it. Also heard a wood-pewee (similarly invisible). But then came the rattle of a hairy woodpecker, which I did spot hammering at a dead snag. The woodpecker took my list to sixteen species, and I fully expected it to be the last. So as we neared the parking lot again, I turned off my camera and stuck the lens cap on. My thought when I did so? You know, you’ll probably see more birds.
Sure enough, rounding the last curve, I heard a scattering of sudden chip-chips—sharp chips—coming from very close to us. We stopped, and I soon saw the source of the sound: a family of black-throated green warblers. (Their chips are sharper and louder than most other warblers, I noticed.) I took a bunch of photos, but the light was dim, and none came out very good—but still. Then, suddenly, from only a few feet away came the loud note of a downy woodpecker. Looked up, and right there it was.
Black-throated green warbler.
For the time of year and the time of day, I would say I got pretty lucky.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:30 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. Red-eyed vireo
2. Chestnut-sided warbler (v)
3. Black-capped chickadee (v)
4. American crow*
5. Eastern towhee (v)
6. Common yellowthroat
7. Cedar waxwing* (v)
8. American goldfinch* (v)
9. Gray catbird
10. Hermit thrush (v)
11. Alder flycatcher
12. American robin
13. Song sparrow* (v)
14. Savannah sparrow
15. Eastern wood-pewee (v)
16. Hairy woodpecker
17. Black-throated green warbler
18. Downy woodpecker
Elsewhere
19. Ovenbird (v)
20. Herring gull
21. Rock pigeon
22. Chipping sparrow (v)
23. Mourning dove
24. Northern cardinal (v)
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, downy woodpecker, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, herring gull, mourning dove, northern cardinal, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, rock pigeon, savannah sparrow, song sparrow
