Savannah sparrow.
This morning seemed a lot like yesterday morning, only earlier. Also a little warmer. More fog. Humid. And a lot calmer—so without the rush of yesterday’s wind, I had hope of listing a few more birds.
Cedar waxwing and flies.
By God, my list had as many as all of yesterday by the time Jack and I reached the summit. Heard a mourning dove, for instance. Alder flycatcher.
At one point ascending the upper wooded trail, we stopped to watch a gang of chickadees flitting about an open area of young trees. Yellowthroats and towhees and white-throats and a catbird answered the chickadees’ good-natured alarm calls. Roving gangs—i.e., little families—of chickadees were all over the hill this morning.
But the highlight came as we descended through the little winding trail near the busy Beech Hill Road parking lot. Not busy in early morning, but nonetheless well traveled. This morning, one or two families of blue jays were making a racket in the old hardwoods above us. As we came around the shallow curve near where catbirds nested this spring, I heard the loud chip! of a warbler and stopped. I figured the bird for a chestnut-sided—and sure enough, I spotted a young one in a little poplar directly in front of us. But very near it was a black-and-white warbler. (In fact, I got a blurry photo of both birds.) And not three feet away, a yellow warbler. And as we stood there, I heard a titmouse and a downy woodpecker. And a swift motion in a distant tree proved to be a black-billed cuckoo checking us out. In all, I counted eight species in one pretty tight area.
All the way back, I only added an eastern phoebe (another common species I didn’t see yesterday). And not a lot of species in all. But thanks to the kind of hot spot birders thrill to, I count this a successful birding morning.
Savannah sparrow.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 6:30 a.m., I hiked all trails.
1. American goldfinch
2. Red-eyed vireo
3. Black-capped chickadee
4. Cedar waxwing
5. Gray catbird
6. Eastern towhee
7. Common yellowthroat
8. Downy woodpecker
9. White-throated sparrow
10. Hermit thrush
11. Mourning dove
12. Alder flycatcher
13. Eastern wood-pewee
14. Song sparrow
15. Savannah sparrow
16. White-breasted nuthatch
17. Yellow warbler
18. Blue jay
19. Tufted titmouse
20. Chestnut-sided warbler
21. Black-and-white warbler
22. Black-billed cuckoo
23. Eastern phoebe
Elsewhere
24. Herring gull
25. House sparrow
Eastern phoebe.
Tags: alder flycatcher, American goldfinch, black-and-white warbler, black-billed cuckoo, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, downy woodpecker, eastern phoebe, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, house sparrow, mourning dove, red-eyed vireo, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow, yellow warbler
