American robin.
Another clear, brisk day. The first day of spring. Well, technically, the vernal equinox would arrive later tonight. But it might as well have been spring this morning, considering all the birds around—crows, titmouse, house finch, song sparrow, and red-winged blackbirds. Two or three blackbirds, calling from across the road. First blackbirds of the year.
Penobscot Bay.
Spent most of this sunny day upstairs at the kitchen table, working. It’s nice and bright up there. But I got a little stiff from sitting, so before the sun dipped too low, Jack and I took off for Beech Hill.
Considering yesterday’s good hike, I decided on the wooded trails again. The remnant crusts of snow had diminished noticeably since yesterday, but the robins had increased—scores of them (dark-colored robins, which I figure for Canadian birds en route north). And more singing fox sparrows, although not quite as many as I saw yesterday. Also crows up there, and chickadees all over the place. A couple hairy woodpeckers calling. We met a friendly couple hiking down and saw a mother and son taking photos at the summit.
Descending through the stream-like lower trail, we watched robins flit away on every side. Heard another hairy woodpecker. Then I happened to spot a small bird poking around the trunks of the oaks. A brown creeper. It was sticking to the very bases of the big trees, investigating the little mossy hollows near the ground. I’d never seen brown creepers behave that way before.
Brown creeper.
While watching the creeper, I heard the faint, gentle calls of a nuthatch above me. Finally I turned to look—a pair of them up there, pecking at the far ends of dead oak branches. I managed to grab a couple photos.
Other birds today included two gull species, a couple wire-perching mourning doves and—just a minute ago, at nearly 9 p.m., beneath Orion and other distinct constellations—an owl swooping across Route 1 and alighting in a maple on the other side of the parking lot. Of course I couldn’t see it well in the darkness, but my gut tells me it must’ve been a barred.
Addendum: out on the deck just now admiring the unobstructed “super moon,” I heard my first American woodcock flight song of the (young) season.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:45 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. American robin
2. Black-capped chickadee
3. Fox sparrow
4. American crow
5. Hairy woodpecker (voice)
6. Brown creeper
7. White-breasted nuthatch
Elsewhere
8. Tufted titmouse
9. House finch
10. Red-winged blackbird
11. Song sparrow
12. Herring gull
13. Ring-billed gull
14. Mourning dove
15. Barred owl
16. American woodcock
White-breasted nuthatch.
Tags: American crow, American robin, American woodcock, barred owl, black-capped chickadee, brown creeper, fox sparrow, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, house finch, mourning dove, red-winged blackbird, ring-billed gull, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch
