Savannah sparrow.
Today was a rainy day. It rained a lot today. It rained pretty much all day. Not a strong, heavy, gullywasher-type rain—more like a gentle, steady, sometimes wind-blowy kind of rain. Yeah, the wind blew and gusted. And it was kind of cold out there.
Board.
Nonetheless, Jack and I got out in it, drove up to the town office so I could vote, then ended up at Beech Hill for a wet, soggy hike. And it was wet and soggy. Drippy. I wore my yellow raincoat, with binocs and camera tucked under one coat flap. Oddly enough, I had two really great bird photo opportunities—a cedar waxwing perched low in a bunch of thick foliage, no more than about ten feet from me, and an alder flycatcher perched on a low snag about fifteen feet away—but I missed both of them. Conveniently, a waterlogged Savannah sparrow was nice enough to creep along the grass up near Beech Nut to within about eight or ten feet of us, nibbling on dandelion seeds.
It didn’t get really dark until about 9 p.m. this evening. This kind of makes me sad, knowing that the solstice is so near. I guess I think too far ahead, to when the light will begin to dwindle. I should be enjoying this time of ample sun.
Well, and also rain.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:45 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Eastern phoebe
2. American redstart**
3. Gray catbird
4. Cedar waxwing
5. Eastern towhee
6. Chestnut-sided warbler (v)
7. Song sparrow**
8. American robin (v)
9. Common yellowthroat
10. Savannah sparrow
11. Alder flycatcher
12. Northern cardinal (v)
Elsewhere
13. American crow
14. Herring gull
15. Mourning dove
v = Voice only
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American redstart, American robin, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, gray catbird, herring gull, mourning dove, northern cardinal, savannah sparrow, song sparrow
