Eastern bluebird (juvenile).
The first cloudless day in I don’t know how long. Coolish, too. Lovely.
Song sparrow (juvenile).
Work, work, work, then play. First I rode my bike around (ahh), then I grabbed Jack and hiked all over Beech Hill. We started on the wooded side, passed a bunch of woodpeckers—a pair of downies chasing, a pair of hairies chasing—the thrushes, warblers, a cuckoo, waxwings, sparrows with youngsters. At the summit, we met a fellow hiker and her dog and chatted a while. Saw a phoebe, a pair of house finches, and (astonishingly) a solitary, light-colored rock pigeon that flew low above the blueberry fields then turned and sailed directly over Beech Nut.
Coming down the open trail, we passed about a half dozen bluebirds, most of them kiddos. A singing chipping sparrow down by Beech Hill Road.
Coming back up and over, I heard (then saw) my first crow. And the last species on today’s list: another woodpecker, a pileated, hollering from down in the trees.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:15 p.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Red-eyed vireo**
2. Ovenbird
3. Black-throated green warbler (v)
4. Chestnut-sided warbler**
5. Hermit thrush (v)
6. Gray catbird**
7. American goldfinch**
8. Downy woodpecker
9. Eastern wood-pewee (v)
10. Hairy woodpecker
11. Northern flicker (v)
12. Eastern towhee
13. American robin**
14. Common yellowthroat**
15. Veery**
16. Alder flycatcher
17. Cedar waxwing**
18. Black-billed cuckoo (v)
19. Black-capped chickadee (v)
20. Yellow warbler** (v)
21. Field sparrow (v)
22. Savannah sparrow
23. House finch**
24. Rock pigeon
25. Eastern phoebe**
26. Song sparrow**
27. Eastern bluebird
28. Chipping sparrow** (v)
29. American crow*
30. Pileated woodpecker (v)
Elsewhere
31. Herring gull
32. Mourning dove
33. Tufted titmouse (v)
34. Northern cardinal (v)
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Blaze.
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-billed cuckoo, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common yellowthraot, downy woodpecker, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, field sparrow, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, ovenbird, pileated woodpecker, red-eyed vireo, rock pigeon, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, veery, yellow warbler
