Blue jay.
Last night, as forecast, we had some thunderstorms. In fact, one particularly fierce thunderstorm blew by a few miles to the north of me, coming from inland and heading out to sea. Trees down, power out, a couple fires, an in jury or two. A friend had her car bashed in by a falling tree, and I heard of at least one dog scared enough to run away.
Today dawned overcast and warmish and damp. Our dog friend took his leave early, and by midday I was hearing reports of more inbound thundershowers. Checked the weather radar, which showed a line of storms approaching fast, so I took Jack up to Beech Hill for a quick, early hike.
Hazy and gusty up there, with low clouds and a foreboding feel. We hurried on up. Counted several vocal birds and saw a few. At the summit, a waxwing was perched in the tip of one of the spruce, leaping out to suck down gnats from a swarm. I spoke briefly with a couple of women having a picnic lunch at Beech Nut—they had not heard of the approaching storm.
On the way home, we dropped by the grocery store. Was raining as I emerged, but it never did storm.
Still the weather radar shows swaths of yellow and red headed down east along the coastline.
1. Blue jay**
2. American crow*
3. American goldfinch (v)
4. Common yellowthroat
5. Eastern towhee (v)
6. Yellow-rumped warbler (v)
7. Gray catbird
8. Cedar waxwing
9. Song sparrow
10. Black-capped chickadee** (v)
Elsewhere
11. Herring gull
12. Mourning dove
13. Double-crested cormorant
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, common yellowthroat, double-crested cormorant, eastern towhee, gray catbird, herring gull, mourning dove, song sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler
