Savannah Sparrow, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 05 November 2014.
Today started off cloudy and drizzly but kind of warm. In fact, the whole of last night was kind of warm—warm enough to have caused a load of snowmelt. And all that snowmelt has revealed a crazy layer of fallen green leaves. Green and yellow carpets on the parking lot and in the side yard and other places where limbs fell in our recent early snowstorm.
Northern Flicker.
On the way to work, great curtains of steam rose from the fields of snow, obscuring the wood fringe. Juncos and sparrows flitted along the roadsides.
At midday, the sun began to emerge, and by the time Jack and I took our Beech Hill break, the sun was fairly bright. I never checked a thermometer, but it must’ve been at least 50 degrees (F), and I really didn’t need that hooded sweatshirt, and the trail was full of slush and rivulets and puddles. Another contrast from yesterday: hardly any birds.
Nothing at all around the parking lot. Finally I spotted a single silent flicker. At the summit, I heard a distant chickadee. On the way down, I encountered a pair of yellow-rumps. And there, hopping along the trail-edge, was a Savannah Sparrow. We stopped, and I aimed the camera, and the bird hopped over to a puddle and began to take a bath.
If you pay close enough attention, you’ll notice cool stuff like that. Attention is a giving thing.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 1:30 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Northern Flicker
2. Black-capped Chickadee* (v)
3. Yellow-rumped Warbler
4. Savannah Sparrow
5. American Goldfinch (v)
Elsewhere
6. American Crow
7. House Sparrow (v)
8. Herring Gull
9. Pied-billed Grebe
10. Rock Pigeon
11. Canada Goose
12. Dark-eyed Junco
v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, black-capped chickadee, Canada goose, dark-eyed junco, herring gull, house sparrow, northern flicker, pied-billed grebe, rock pigeon, savannah sparrow, yellow-rumped warbler
