This morning’s Beech Hill hike was a lot like yesterday’s, only earlier. And with more (and different) birds. And a little less wind. And the fact that Jack pooped at the very farthest point of our travels instead of at the very beginning.

But despite the gentler breeze, the morning seemed more active, more animated somehow.

In part it was the waxwings. Dozens of them, flying all over the hill. The wooded section, the blueberry fields—they were zipping all over the place like pinballs. I’m sure these were whole families—adults and their 2010 broods, flying and chasing and getting used to the flock. (For waxwings are a flocking bird.) At ever point of our hike this morning I heard that faint, so-high-pitched squee!

And in part it was the lovely male chestnut-sided warbler I happened on at the top of the upper wooded trail. It had a green caterpillar. It was whipping the caterpillar around, slamming it against the branch it sat on. Beating its brains in.

And in part it was alder flycatcher I didn’t quite get a photo of—the one with the big gob of bugs in its beak, that dove into the foliage at our passage yet no doubt eventually found its way to its hatchlings.

And in part it was aerial dogfight I witnessed between a ruby-throated hummingbird and what appeared to be a waxwing. They were a hundred yards away, I bet, and the tiny bird was flying straight and fast at the much larger one, and the larger one was flying away as fast as it could fly. The tiny hummer soon veered away and down into the thicket of green.

And in part it was the little wild turkey family ambling up the wooded slope as we returned—a couple adults and a couple youngsters about one-quarter grown.

A lovely summer day. A day of cicadas. An animated day.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:45 a.m., I walked all trails.

1. American crow
2. Red-eyed vireo
3. Mourning dove
4. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
5. Eastern towhee
6. Common yellowthroat
7. Cedar waxwing
8. Gray catbird
9. Tufted titmouse (voice)
10. American goldfinch
11. Northern flicker
12. American robin (voice)
13. Chestnut-sided warbler
14. Blue jay (voice)
15. Song sparrow
16. Ruby-throated hummingbird
17. Savannah sparrow
18. Hermit thrush (voice)
19. Yellow warbler (voice)
20. Hairy woodpecker (voice)
21. Barn swallow
22.Downy woodpecker (voice)
23. Eastern phoebe
24. Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
25. White-breasted nuthatch
26. Black-throated green warbler (voice)
27. Wild turkey

Elsewhere

28. Herring gull
29. House sparrow
30. Rock pigeon

Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, barn swallow, black-capped chickadee, black-throated green warbler, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, downy woodpecker, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, gray catbird, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, herring gull, house sparrow, mourning dove, northern flicker, red-eyed vireo, rock pigeon, ruby-throated hummingbird, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, wild turkey, yellow warbler

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at 8:01 pm and is filed under Lists, Observations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.