Cedar waxwing.
A sweet cool morning. I awoke kind of early and heard the brief call of an ovenbird out back. (First one of those in a while.) Soon after, I heard the voice of a nuthatch. (Ditto.) Also chickadees, and the local cardinal sang.
Common yellowthroat.
Then I hit my desk. And right away I found myself launched into what became a day-long whirlwind of activity. (A server emergency will do that.) Somehow, I also got my pickup to the shop for service. (Only 7,000 miles on it.) During my brief jaunts around town, I spotted a little kettle of vultures, saw a couple blackbirds on a wire, heard an osprey, and noticed mallards by the pond.
Finally managed to wrap things up to the point of a hike up Beech Hill with dog.
No vireos first thing. Odd. But a group of waxwings flew over. And then we heard a voice up ahead. Shortly, we met a woman descending the trail and talking on a phone—one of those phones you wear on your ear, looked like. Behind her was a leashless dog. I mentioned the leash rule on the Beech Hill trails, and she held up a small device with a button on it. “E-leash,” she says. “That works for me,” says I, thinking how modern was her electronic gear. But I couldn’t help also thinking how jarring it was to hear someone talking so loudly on a quiet wooded trail.
It wasn’t the first time, of course. On many occasions Jack and I have heard the approach of other hikers hundreds of yards before we saw them. In one memorable instance, while hiking the upper wooded trail, I could actually make out a strident conversation on the lower one.
Moon over Beech Hill.
There’s no rule, of course, against talking on the Beech Hill trails like there is, say, in a library—or in church. Well, to me, the Maine woods is the closest thing to church I know. The trail is my aisle, the tree trunks great sacred columns, the light through their leaves stained glass. It’s easy to stand in wonder at the circle of life and death, the miracle of light and creation, the music of the universe. At least to me. It’s hard for me to imagine sometimes that not everyone feels the way I do. But they don’t. Oh, well. Their loss.
Few birds showed up, but most of those that did actually made themselves visible for a change. Also, for a change, no vireos. I suspect that’s because they nest later than most resident species, and they’ve entered their quieter fledgling period. But I’m mostly just guessing.
Tonight is a cool, starry one. And I’m thankful to be up late enough to enjoy it.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 5:45 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. Cedar waxwing
2. American goldfinch
3. Eastern towhee (voice)
4. American crow
5. Chestnut-sided warbler
6. Black-capped chickadee
7. Common yellowthroat
8. Gray catbird
9. Eastern wood-pewee (voice)
10. Hermit thrush (voice)
Elsewhere
11. Ovenbird
12. Northern cardinal
13. White-breasted nuthatch
14. Herring gull
15. Mourning dove
16. Turkey vulture
17. Osprey
18. Red-winged blackbird
19. Mallard
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, black-capped chickadee, Cedar waxwing, chestnut-sided warbler, common yellowthroat, eastern towhee, eastern wood-pewee, gray catbird, hermit thrush, herring gull, mallard, mourning dove, northern cardinal, osprey, ovenbird, red-winged blackbird, white-breasted nuthatch
