Beech Nut.
It got cold enough overnight to put a halt to yesterday’s extreme liquidity. Sunlight washed the morning landscape. The first thing I heard on opening the outside door was the call of a mourning dove—first coo of the year. And the spring song of a titmouse. And the voices of chickadees. Crows flew about the place, and a house sparrow chirped across the road.
Patterns.
Spent a long day at my desk. Light from the descending sun, streaming through the window, stirred my out of it finally. Grabbed Jack and—as a pair of cardinals engaged in a singing duel out behind the neighbor’s place—set off to take care of a few errands in town. (Two gull species, pigeons, starlings.) We arrived at Beech Hill late in the day.
Found a couple vehicles in the parking lot and some heavy earth-work machinery just leaving the open hillside. (I’d been warned there’d be some moving of piles of boulders there today.) Passed two people heading up, met another fellow coming down. The trail—while treacherously icy in places—provided much firmer footing than yesterday’s mush.
Not a lot of wind up there. Icicles clung to the eaves of Beech Nut, whose surrounding yard sat bare of snow. Heard the caws of a crow from down the wooded slope.
Returning, I paused to admire some intricate patterns in the ice on the footpath. The look of ice goes through changes too slow for us to follow but too swift for us to get to know. The sun was setting brightly as we passed the photogenic birch. Met a woman ascending as we came down. We agreed it was a beautiful day.
Ice-bound trail.
Tonight I watched a thin moon crescent set behind the oaks up the hill and thought about the return of the woodcocks, only a week or two away. Stars spread overhead as sharp as shattered glass.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:45 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. American crow
Elsewhere
2. Mourning dove
3. Tufted titmouse
4. Black-capped chickadee
5. House sparrow
6. Herring gull
7. Rock pigeon
8. Ring-billed gull
9. European starling
10. Northern cardinal
11. House finch
Tags: American crow, European starling, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, mourning dove, northern cardinal, ring-billed gull, rock pigeon, tufted titmouse
