Savannah sparrow.
Sun early = early hike. The wooded trailhead was still and cool and green when Jack and I arrived. We’re getting near the longest day—about the time we’ll dependably list the red-eyed vireo as the first or second bird each day. (Ovenbirds will stop calling after a while, I figure when their fledglings fly.) Vireos calling all over the hill. And chestnut-sided warblers. And towhees, yellowthroats, black and whites. Thrushes. All residents of Beech Hill.
Yellow warbler.
And quite a few of them already have new offspring.
Towhees, for one. They’re pretty far along, in fact—I saw a fledgling a week or so ago. But nestlings are getting kind of common. The phoebes at Beech Nut have been bringing flies and crickets to their nest up in the eaves for at least a couple weeks, I bet. They’re chicks are close to flying. And Savannah sparrows—after a period of relative quietude—have begun to scold if you get to close to where their nests must be. Today I caught one with its mouth full of a moth so large it could barely see.
Yellowthroats might have chicks by now—or they’ll be hatching soon. Turkeys and grouse will soon be on the move, trailing youngsters. Yellow warblers, redstarts, song and chipping sparrows…
The red-eyed vireos will lag a bit, I imagine. As will the eastern wood-pewees. But both species are pretty busy singing.
After photographing a yellow warbler quietly for two or three minutes at the edge of a field, I noticed that Jack had his ears up and was gazing down the trail. I followed his gaze and saw a deer slowly walking into the brushy trailside tangles. Then another deer. Neither had seen us, but I couldn’t focus my camera in time.
Saw a couple of bluebirds today for a change, fluttering and singing on the sunny barrens. In the woods, I spotted a red bird down where the tanagers have been hanging out, and had taken three or four photos of it before realizing I was taking pictures of a northern cardinal. I rather like seeing cardinals way out in the wild like that, far from dooryard feeders.
Deer in the shadows.
What a lovely night tonight—calm, mild, fragrant. The most pleasant of the year so far.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:30 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Ovenbird (v)
2. Red-eyed vireo**
3. Chestnut-sided warbler**
4. American robin*
5. Hermit thrush
6. Rose-breasted grosbeak (v)
7. Black-and-white warbler (v)
8. Veery
9. Gray catbird**
10. Yellow warbler
11. Alder flycatcher
12. Black-capped chickadee (v)
13. Eastern towhee
14. Common yellowthroat**
15. Mourning dove*
16. American crow*
17. American goldfinch (v)
18. Song sparrow**
19. Eastern phoebe**
20. Purple finch (v)
21. Savannah sparrow
22. Brown-headed cowbird (v)
23. Tufted titmouse** (v)
24. Field sparrow (v)
25. Eastern bluebird
26. American redstart** (v)
27. Cedar waxwing
28. Chipping sparrow**
29. Eastern wood-pewee**
30. Black-throated green warbler (v)
31. Northern cardinal**
Elsewhere
32. Great crested flycatcher (v)
33. Pileated woodpecker (v)
34. House finch (v)
35. Herring gull
36. American black duck
37. Wild turkey
38. Broad-winged hawk
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: alder flycatcher, American black duck, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, broad-winged hawk, brown-headed cowbird, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, field sparrow, gray catbird, great crested flycatcher, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, mourning dove, northern cardinal, ovenbird, pileated woodpecker, purple finch, red-eyed vireo, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, veery, wild turkey, yellow warbler
