Downy woodpecker.
Soon after the arcing horizon revealed the warming sun, the local birds began pitching woo. A titmouse’s clear, repeated notes. The fee-bee of a chickadee. A dove, mourning. A cardinal claiming territory from the top of the largest oak. But the most interesting courtship, to me, was the downy woodpeckers’. I heard a couple of the little guys chattering up in the red oaks, and sure enough a pair was flitting about the upper branches. One would flutter a few feet away from the other; the other would extend its wings as if opening a cape, hold this for a second, then flutter over to where first had gone. After a few minutes I realized there were four or five downys up there chasing and flirting.
The bay, from Beech Hill.
Before long, the day warmed to near 60 (F). At midday I took the dog to the open Beech Hill trail—which I hadn’t walked in months—and we hiked quickly up and down. The hill had a titmouse calling also, along with some chickadees. Not much else in the way of bird life, but some great sunny views of the bay.
En route back to the office, I spotted a pair of what at first I thought were vultures soaring low in the blue. I figured I might as well get a good look in case they were black vultures—new to Maine—but right away recognized the birds as mature bald eagles. Always a thrilling sight, but especially so when I imagined these were likely the pair with the nest around Chickawaukie Lake. As I write, eagle eggs lie in nests throughout the state of Maine.
Took another bike ride late in the day—by God, in a short-sleeved jersey. A bit of a south wind made the trip strenuous in one direction, though northbound I sped along. More chickadees, herring and ring-billed gulls, and in Rockport Village a good number of common grackles, squeaking like a chorus of screen doors.
To another grackle, all that squeaking must sound like a Mozart serenade.
Today’s List
Tufted titmouse
Northern cardinal
Mourning dove
Downy woodpecker
Black-capped chickadee
Purple finch
American crow
Bald eagle
Herring gull
Ring-billed gull
Common loon
Common grackle
Beech Nut, south side.
Tags: American crow, bald eagle, black-capped chickadee, common grackle, common loon, downy woodpecker, herring gull, mourning dove, northern cardinal, purple finch, ring-billed gull, tufted titmouse
