American goldfinch (male).
“I could get hit by a bus crossing the street this afternoon.”
How many times have we heard a comment like that? Usually it means, hey, appreciate what you’ve got, because this, too, shall pass.
Chestnut-sided warbler (juvenile).
Well, I sure appreciated this positively balmy morning. Cool, sunny, calm. And as Jack and I emerged at Beech Hill first thing, the second bird I heard was an ovenbird. It sang an odd, abbreviated call, but it was an ovenbird. First on my list for a number of days.
And then the species started piling up in a hurry.
For a while, it was the usual birds. But then in a thick stretch of the upper wooded trail, a flush—and a grouse rose and flew from the undergrowth. And another flapped along unseen in the greenery. And on the other side of the trail, the mew of a mama partridge. (A young family, no doubt.) Now that was exciting for Jack and me.
Then, sneaking up on an alder flycatcher calling from the first open fields, we heard the panting sound of Greta, Chuck’s German shepherd dog, not far behind us and so picked up our tempo around the corner. (Greta loves all humans but is not crazy about other dogs.) Just then, a brown thrasher flitted up into the crown of some foliage immediately ahead of us in all its coppertone glory. First thrasher since at least mid-spring.
Common yellowthroat.
And then, coming up to the summit, where phoebes were still going nuts all over the place, I noticed Jack looking upward and cast my eyes that way: a herring gull was flying low overhead.
How could there ever be a better birding dog?
The Beech Hill Road parking lot was birdy as heck—as it’s been lately—beginning with a rowdy family of blue jays. Also a downy woodpecker (second of the day, the first being at the summit). I hadn’t seen downies in a while. And the voices of cardinal and titmouse and black-and-white warbler.
Clouds.
Coming back up the open slope, I happened to be watching a crow fly by when I noticed a tiny blur zipping overhead: a ruby-throated hummer. That got me thinking—much unlike last year, when multiple hummingbird families nested all along the wooded trails, the only members of this impressive species I’ve seen this year have been flybys but one, and that one was sipping on purple clover near the gate.
The dependable eastern wood-pewee was singing again on the way back through the trees. Also the hermit thrush. And then, surprisingly, a cuckoo called. It was very near. I didn’t see it, though.
As we got back to the pickup I got to thinking that this morning was a wonderful example of living life in the moment: wonderful, surprising birds. Hell, I crashed my bike into a car last week (I had the right-of-way). And who knows? I might get hit by a bus tomorrow morning.
Tonight a line of thunderstorms blew through. Riveting. Thrilling. I love the whole idea of a night-line of thunderstorms.
Alder flycatcher.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 7 a.m., I walked all trails.
1. Red-eyed vireo (voice)
2. Ovenbird
3. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
4. Chestnut-sided warbler
5. American goldfinch
6. Common yellowthroat
7. American crow
8. Eastern towhee
9. Gray catbird
10. Cedar waxwing
11. American robin (voice)
12. Alder flycatcher
13. Veery (voice)
14. Ruffed grouse
15. Song sparrow
16. Brown thrasher
17. Eastern phoebe
18. Northern flicker
19. Downy woodpecker
20. Herring gull
21. Savannah sparrow
22. Mourning dove
23. Hermit thrush (voice)
24. Yellow warbler (voice)
25. White-throated sparrow (voice)
26. Field sparrow (voice)
27. Blue jay
28. Chipping sparrow (voice)
29. Black-and-white warbler (voice)
30. Northern cardinal (voice)
31. Tufted titmouse (voice)
32. Ruby-throated hummingbird
33. White-breasted nuthatch (voice)
34. Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
35. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
36. Black-billed cuckoo (voice)
Elsewhere
37. House sparrow
38. Cooper’s hawk
Mists.
Tags: alder flycatcher, American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-and-white warbler, black-billed cuckoo, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, brown thrasher, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, chipping sparrow, common yellowthroat, cooper's hawk, downy woodpecker, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, field sparrow, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, house sparrow, mourning dove, northern cardinal, northern flicker, ovenbird, red-eyed vireo, ruby-throated hummingbird, ruffed grouse, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, veery, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, yellow warbler
