Chestnut-sided Warbler.
Friday the Thirteenth is no big deal. All it did was make sure I had a prime number of birds on my Beech Hill list today. (Yeah, I pay attention to that shit.) Plus, how nice that it wasn’t raining like crazy when Jack and I embarked early on our first annual spring bird survey of Beech Hill Preserve,
American Redstart.
One hundred fifty-eight individual birds representing thirty-seven species—that’s what I ended up with. It was gray, dim, chilly (about 55 degrees (F)), and the wind was blowing steadily from the north-northeast. Not great conditions for photos, but I did manage one of the gazillions of (OK, twenty-four) Chestnut-sided Warblers we encountered up there. (By far the most abundantly noticeable species.) Also readily apparent were: Red-eyed Vireos (fifteen), Ovenbirds (nine), Common Yellowthroats (eight), American Redstarts (eight), and Eastern Towhees (twelve).
Notably absent were: Northern Cardinal, Pileated Woodpecker, and Common Raven, each fairly regularly seen and/or heard by me up there. Also Hairy Woodpecker. Trouble is, by this time a lot of the species have gone pretty quiet, what with hatchlings and the serious nest-tending they require.
I also got to thinking how I haven’t yet found a Black-billed Cuckoo at the hill. The several tent caterpillar colonies I’ve seen up there seem to be doing fine without ’em.
Later in the day it began to drizzle some, and tonight it rained like friggin’ crazy. I still hear it coming down out there, in fact.
Full Friday the Thirteenth moon.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7:30 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. Chestnut-sided Warbler**
2. Black-throated Green Warbler (v)
3. Red-eyed Vireo**
4. Ovenbird (v)
5. Eastern Towhee
6. American Redstart**
7. Veery (v)
8. American Robin**
9. Common Yellowthroat**
10. American Goldfinch
11. American Crow*
12. Mourning Dove*
13. Hermit Thrush (v)
14. Northern Flicker
15. Yellow Warbler** (v)
16. Blue Jay (v)
17. Black-and-white Warbler (v)
18. Field Sparrow (v)
19. Song Sparrow**
20. Alder Flycatcher (v)
21. Gray Catbird**
22. Eastern Bluebird (v)
23. Herring Gull* (v)
24. Savannah Sparrow (v)
25. Black-capped Chickadee
26. House Finch (v)
27. Cedar Waxwing
28. Chipping Sparrow
29. Downy Woodpecker (v)
30. Eastern Phoebe
31. Brown-headed Cowbird (v)
32. Tufted Titmouse (v)
33. Buteo sp. (likely a Broad-winged Hawk)
34. Brown Thrasher
35. Black-throated Blue Warbler (v)
36. Eastern Wood-pewee (v)
37. Nashville Warbler (v)
Elsewhere
38. House Sparrow (v)
39. Osprey (v)
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, broad-winged hawk, brown thrasher, brown-headed cowbird, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, downy woodpecker, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, field sparrow, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, northern flicker, osprey, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, veery, yellow warbler
