Dark wood.
Rained like crazy overnight last night and this morning early. Some thunder and lightning. A soggy, muddy, foggy landscape awaited us here at the 44th parallel. Worked at my desk until the weather radar showed a break in the clouds in afternoon, when Jack and I took a quick trip up to Beech Hill.
Birch.
Foggy up there. Also surprisingly birdy. However, I missed the two best photos—this is, of course, a common theme—including a blue jay posed on a bare, dark, damp limb and a red-eyed vireo eyeing me askance from only about ten feet away. The jay was one of a family of birds poking around for tree nuts down toward the road, and the vireo was flitting about with a band of chickadees in the first little copse of trees coming up the trail. Some red leaves had appeared in this dark, damp copse of trees.
Toward the summit, there were sparrows—song sparrows and Savannah sparrows. Heard several towhees call and a solitary barred owl in the fog.
We got back to the pickup about the time some drizzle began to fall, and tonight—a lot more rain.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 3 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Red-eyed vireo**
2. Black-capped chickadee**
3. Tufted titmouse**
4. Gray catbird (v)
5. Blue jay**
6. White-breasted nuthatch (v)
7. Eastern towhee (v)
8. American goldfinch
9. Song sparrow
10. Common yellowthroat
11. Savannah sparrow
12. Mourning dove**
13. American crow* (v)
14. Barred owl (v)
Elsewhere
15. Herring gull
16. Northern cardinal (v)
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, barred owl, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, common yellowthroat, eastern towhee, gray catbird, herring gull, mourning dove, northern cardinal, red-eyed vireo, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch
