Hairy woodpecker (female).
Oh, yeah—Columbus Day. You could tell by all the folks wandering around Beech Hill when Jack and I arrived late in the day. Still a nice little collection of birds moving through, though, despite the human (and dog) activity. Jays cried, yellow-rumps chipped, chickadees chattered, and I even heard the rough little notes of at least one ruby-crowned kinglet. And that was before we’d gone very far.
Yellow-rumped warbler.
More ‘rumps along the edge of the trail as we ascended. I was kind of hoping for a glimpse of a harrier, but it didn’t happen. I did hear a flicker, a towhee, several vociferous crows. At the summit, more ‘rumps in the spruce grove. The note of a song sparrow. Also the note of a hairy woodpecker down the wooded trail a ways. Decided to head down, check it out. It was a female, hammering and calling, hammering and calling. As I was grabbing a few photos of the bird, I heard the call of another woodpecker—a pileated, somewhere off in the trees.
Returning, I heard the voices of robins down the southeastern slope. (Also some people down there where they’re not supposed to be.) And the sweet notes of some little migrant flying over. Alas, I’m not yet well-versed in flight notes.
Yellow-rumps still hopping around in the trees around the parking lot. Man, there are a lot of yellow-rumped warblers out there these days.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:30 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Blue jay** (v)
2. Yellow-rumped warbler
3. Black-capped chickadee**
4. Ruby-crowned kinglet (v)
5. American crow* (v)
6. Northern flicker (v)
7. Eastern towhee (v)
8. Song sparrow* (v)
9. Hairy woodpecker
10. Pileated woodpecker (v)
11. American robin* (v)
Elsewhere
12. Herring gull
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American robin, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, eastern towhee, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, northern flicker, pileated woodpecker, ruby-crowned kinglet, song sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler
