Beech Nut.
It wasn’t all that hot when Jack and I pulled into the parking lot this early morning. And the deer flies weren’t quite as bad as usual. And right away, I heard—very near—the voice of a black-throated green warbler coming from the trees just overhead. Differences. Pleasant surprises.
Cedar waxwing.
Cicadas were singing, though—their languorous, summery song. And berries are ripening: raspberries on their stickerbushes coming up the wooded trail, and blueberries all over the place at the summit. (Blackberries, too, are everywhere along the trails, but they lag a bit behind.) And mushrooms. All kinds of mushrooms. Their numbers and variety seem much broader this season.
But for the second straight day, no ovenbirds.
And I thought for a little while that I’d be listing only four sparrows: plenty of savannahs still, and song sparrows, and the voices of field and chipping. But I didn’t hear a white-throated until well into our return trip.
But, like the lush abundance of greenery on the hill, the numbers of birds themselves are at a yearly high. The number of savannahs must be two or three times what they began with, considering all the young birds fluttering around the open trail. Song sparrows, too, show many active young. And flickers. And waxwings. And phoebes up at Beech Nut.
American robin, Beech Hill, Rockport, Maine, 19 July 2010.
Towhees are acting secretive and protective. I know they have hatchlings about. And catbirds, like yellowthroats, are sounding swift alarms.
At the bird-rich Beech Hill parking area, the far point in our hike, just a few paces from the lot itself, we flushed a woodcock. That was unexpected. And nearing the end of our hike, we came upon a large flock of turkeys. Again: didn’t see that coming.
But perhaps the oddest thing: at a busy stretch near Beech Hill Road, I spotted a small bird hopping about in the trail bark. We stopped only about fifteen feet away. The bird didn’t fly. I got a couple photos. It was a female black-throated green, hunting spiders or something.
Later in the day, back at the office, I happened to look up just as a sharp-shinned hawk sailed lazily by above busy Route 1. Just another small but pleasant surprise.
Savannah sparrow.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:45 a.m., I walked all trails.
1. Black-throated green warbler
2. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
3. Chestnut-sided warbler (voice)
4. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
5. Common yellowthroat
6. American crow
7. Gray catbird
8. Eastern towhee
9. Veery (voice)
10. American robin
11. American goldfinch (voice)
12. Cedar waxwing
13. Alder flycatcher
14. Eastern phoebe
15. Song sparrow
16. Herring gull
17. Hairy woodpecker (voice)
18. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
19. Mourning dove
20. Savannah sparrow
21. Field sparrow (voice)
22. Hermit thrush (voice)
23. Yellow warbler (voice)
24. Chipping sparrow (voice)
25. Tufted titmouse (voice)
26. Northern flicker (voice)
27. American woodcock
28. White-throated sparrow (voice)
29. Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
30. Wild turkey
Elsewhere
31. Northern cardinal
32. Herring gull
33. Sharp-shinned hawk
34. House sparrow
35. House finch
Black-throated green warbler.
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, American woodcock, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, field sparrow, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, red-eyed vireo, savannah sparrow, sharp-shinned hawk, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, wild turkey, yellow warbler
