Fledgling savannah sparrow.
Because it was raining early (and I felt like sleeping in), Jack and I didn’t take our daily Beech Hill hike until late afternoon. About mid-afternoon is when the clouds dispersed, which was convenient—unless you count the sudden and extreme rise in temperature and humidity.
Fledgling savannah sparrow.
During the rainy morning, I heard and saw a house finch at the very tip of a conifer on the property of the motel across the road. I also watched house sparrows (whose nest is at the motel) hunt for bugs out my office window. And at one point when I stepped out onto the back deck with my camera, I caught sight of an adult American redstart not a dozen feet away, in the maple overhanging the deck—but I couldn’t focus in time.
We hit the hill at 5:30. Right away I noticed that an afternoon list differs markedly from a morning one: warblers were much quieter, grosbeaks were active, no flycatchers to speak of at all. And although I heard a Nashville warbler (rare lately), I heard no redstarts (highly unusual).
Adult savannah sparrow.
Plenty of nesting activity, though, including a revelation on the open trail: at least one savannah sparrow’s nest has released its fledglings. The adults have been protective for the past few days—chipping and scolding and leading you away from the nest—but today, after being accosted by an adult (as usual), I saw a single tiny sparrow on the open trail in front of us. It was small, had hardly any trail, acted like it didn’t quite know what to do. Right away I knew it was a new bird.
Its parents flitted and chatted around us as I snapped off a couple photos. The little bird let us come pretty close, all the while simply eyeing us suspiciously, then suddenly it took slow, fluttery flight a few dozen feet off into the grass.
Down at the Beech Hill Road parking lot, I heard a cuckoo, white-throat, titmouse. hairy woodpecker. No chipping sparrow today. No alder flycatcher or pewee. No jay. And I heard no crow until the very end of our hike—No. 28 on the daily list.
Wooded trail in afternoon.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5:30 p.m., I walked all trails.
1. Mourning dove
2. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
3. Common yellowthroat
4. American robin
5. Rose-breasted grosbeak (voice)
6. Veery (voice)
7. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
8. Chestnut-sided warbler (voice)
9. Gray catbird
10. Ovenbird (voice)
11. Eastern towhee
12. Cedar waxwing
13. American goldfinch
14. Black-and-white warbler (voice)
15. Tree swallow
16. Savannah sparrow
17. White-throated sparrow (voice)
18. Nashville warbler (voice)
19. Song sparrow
20. Field sparrow (voice)
21. Northern cardinal (voice)
22. Tufted titmouse (voice)
23. Hairy woodpecker (voice)
24. Black-billed cuckoo (voice)
25. Yellow warbler (voice)
26. Eastern phoebe (voice)
27. Hermit thrush (voice)
28. American crow (voice)
Elsewhere
29. House finch
30. House sparrow
31. American redstart
32. Herring gull
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-billed cuckoo, black-capped chickadee, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, field sparrow, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, mourning dove, Nashville warbler, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, rose-breasted grosbeak, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-throated sparrow, yellow warbler
