American robin (juvenile).
Today was a lovely, coolish summer day, but because of desk work I didn’t get out in it at all—that is, of course, until Jack and I took a hike.
Scarlet tanager (female or young male).
The woods seemed particularly quiet today. What wind there was came from the south and west again, and the wooded trail winds up the northeast side of the hill. Fairly soon, we ran into a little collection of goldfinches, chickadees, and waxwings—waxwings, in fact, were flying around in loose groups all over the place—but nothing else until we’d reached about the half-way point, when I heard the mew of a catbird. Got a look at the bird, too, and heard the peeps of an alder flycatcher. And, in the distance below, the alarm note of a vireo.
At the first field edge, I got glimpses of a couple of bush-lurking yellowthroats, but not much at the summit. Just the wind in the long bronze grass and the twine delineating the blueberry-raking stripes, and a collection of crows down the southern slope and the voices of a song sparrow and a towhee.
Returning through the trees, at a curve in the trail that’s proved fruitful before, I heard the soft notes of robins. We stopped. There they were, a family of them (or two), zipping about in high branches. We paused so I could attempt a back-lit photo—and that’s when the fun began. First I heard the faint beeps of a nuthatch, then I spotted the bird up near the robins. Then I saw another bird leap up onto the limb of a more distant tree: a flicker. And then I saw another bird, a different species. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I grabbed a couple of (bad) photos. Only later could I ID it as a scarlet tanager, a female or young male.
Northern flicker.
Finally, at its familiar calling spot, an eastern wood-pewee.
Tonight is cool and lovely.
Note: I didn’t mention it yesterday, but I stayed up until the wee hours of Monday to follow the landing of Curiosity on Mars. Such an amazing technological accomplishment for our brainy species. And, man, was that fun TV.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:45 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. American goldfinch (v)
2. Black-capped chickadee*
3. Cedar waxwing
4. Gray catbird
5. Red-eyed vireo (v)
6. Alder flycatcher
7. Common yellowthroat
8. Song sparrow (v)
9. American crow*
10. Eastern towhee (v)
11. Herring gull*
12. American robin
13. White-breasted nuthatch
14. Northern flicker
15. Scarlet tanager
16. Eastern wood-pewee (v)
Elsewhere
17. Northern cardinal
18. Mourning dove
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-capped chickadee, Cedar waxwing, common yellowthroat, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, gray catbird, herring gull, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, red-eyed vireo, scarlet tanager, song sparrow, white-breasted nuthatch
