Red-tailed hawk (juvenile).
Aside from crows and herring gulls, the most visible big birds around here at this time of year seem to be hawks. In particularly, red-tails. At least in my experience.
Old snowfall.
A sunny morning today. Felt a little warmer—in fact, a minor thaw seemed likely. Crows flapped around the place here at Clam Cove. Chickadees flitted about in the hardwoods out back. And when I took Jack out, I heard the chip of a cardinal coming from some trees across the road.
I had a big programming job. Took me nearly three hours. Dog napped away the morning and early afternoon—so our Beech Hill hike got us both moving. I decided to ditch the snowshoes and hazard a hike with regular boots. Before long, I rather regretted it: it was sort of hard going. (The sight of other snowshoe tracks didn’t help.) But it turned out three other groups of humans were hiking the hill without special footwear—including a friendly mother-and-son whom we met and chatted with at the summit—so I shouldn’t complain. And Jack’s bare paws worked fine.
Only one bird on the hill today: a crow, whose voice I heard while standing near Beech Nut. Only a slight west wind. Temperatures slightly above freezing, I’d guess. A pleasant hike, with an interesting sky full of light-limned clouds and crazy vapor trails.
Beech Nut.
Returning home, I spotted a big bird flying up onto a roadside utility line as we came down the hill overlooking the cove. A buteo. I turned around in the parking lot and headed back up to snap some photos. The bird posed cooperatively just across Route 1 from the Dad’s Seafood truck. A young red-tail. After a while it took wing and headed up Powerhouse Hill, stirring up a few resident crows.
Doing errands later in town, I saw only herring gulls. But then the sun set, and the southwest sky caught fire—a lovely wide orange glow. This time of year has some of the best sunsets here on the 44th parallel.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 2:30 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. American crow
Elsewhere
2. Black-capped chickadee
3. Northern cardinal
4. Herring gull
5. Red-tailed hawk
Winter landscape.
Tags: American crow, black-capped chickadee, herring gull, northern cardinal, red-tailed hawk
