After hearing the song of a vagrant Summer Tanager yesterday, I wondered if I might hear the bird again this lovely June morning. And, sure enough, in the woodlands just below where I heard it yesterday, there it was again.
So I decided that dog and I would slip off trail to see, for the first time, the only fully red songbird in North America—and perhaps even snag a photo. [Note: I saw my very first Summer Tanager, a comely yellow female, a few weeks ago not far from this same spot.] Tell you what, it takes a lot to convince me to leave the trail into the realm of ticks and poison ivy.
We snuck toward the song and got quite near, but the bird seemed to be singing high in the canopy, with smaller leafy trees blocking my view. We moved slowly around for perhaps ten minutes, and it kept singing—until, suddenly, I heard my first real life alarm notes from this species. Decided to call off the search in hopes we hadn’t chased this fancy vagrant away.
Guess maybe we’ll find out tomorrow.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:10 a.m., I hiked most trails.
1. Red-eyed vireo** (v)
2. Ovenbird
3. Song Sparrow**
4. Common Yellowthroat (v)
5. Eastern Phoebe*
6. Black-throated Green Warbler (v)
7. Eastern Wood-pewee (v)
8. Hermit Thrush (v)
9. Veery
10. Chestnut-sided Warbler
11. Brown Creeper (v)
12. American Crow*
13. Black-capped Chickadee (v)
14. Black-and-white Warbler (v)
15. Eastern Towhee
16. American Goldfinch**
17. Tufted Titmouse
18. Summer Tanager (v)
19. American Robin*
20. Alder Flycatcher
21. Gray Catbird
22. Chipping Sparrow (v)
23. Purple Finch
24. Prairie Warbler (v)
25. Field Sparrow
26. Tree Swallow
27. Turkey Vulture
28. Osprey
29. House Wren
30. Broad-winged Hawk
31. Cedar Waxwing
32. American Redstart (v)
33. Northern Parula (v)
Elsewhere
34. Herring Gull
35. House Sparrow
36. Rock Pigeon
Mammals
Gray Squirrel
Meadow Vole
(v) Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere
†First-of-year
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American redstart, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, broad-winged hawk, brown creeper, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, field sparrow, gray catbird, gray squirrel, hermit thrush, herring gull, house sparrow, house wren, meadow vole, northern parula, osprey, ovenbird, prairie warbler, purple finch, red-eyed vireo, rock pigeon, song sparrow, summer tanager, tree swallow, tufted titmouse, turkey vulture, veery
