American lady.
This early morning I heard the soft beeping of a pair of white-breasted nuthatches from the trees out back. A little later, I heard the loud call of a hairy woodpecker from across the road. A sunny, blue sky day. Chilly. A moderate northwest wind.
Did a little type design this morning, then decided it was a fine day for a bike ride. Headed south to town (wind-aided), then turned and bucked the wind north to through Camden. Jays called, gulls sailed, a cardinal flew across my path on upper Bayview Street. My ears seemed more receptive than usual today, for some reason. I was aware of the whoosh of traffic, the rush of the wind in the trees, the faint cycling sound of my chains, the whisper of my tires on the pavement. I paused in Rockport Village for a gulp of water and heard the call of a pileated woodpecker from somewhere behind me. Looked back and up, and there in the utility lines above me perched a pair of mourning doves. And in the blue far beyond the doves, a soaring osprey.
Cedar waxwing.
As I watched the osprey, a large black bird flapped overhead—the pileated woodpecker. It veered to my right and lit near the trunk of a big maple along Union Street. I walked my bike over, pulled out my iPhone, and stood ready to snap a (distant) photo, but it flew across the road into some trees in the far yard of a house. Right there in Rockport Village.
Rode home, changed, and took Jack to Beech Hill. The afternoon sun warmed the open trail where, oddly, I heard no trace of birds. I heard crickets, a man hollering (in play, it sounded like) from across the road, the barking of a dog. As the trail opened to our left, I stopped to scan for waxwings—and spotted one sitting in the highest tip of a tree. One bird. Then I heard the chip of a white-throat and the wheep! of a towhee. We continued up, and I became aware (not for the first time) of the different sounds of crickets: the trilling ones, the chirping ones, the ones that chirp a little differently. The cricket sounds were subtle but clearly present. The ambient sound of the hill. Their trailside trills grew louder at our approach, then occasionally would stop altogether as we got close. At the sound of the crackling of gravel under my shoes, I’d shift over and walking along strips of grass.
Heard voices at the summit—a few young people there, along with an older couple. Heard the sound of the wind in the spruce grove.
Then Jack and I hiked over and dipped down into the blackberry area. Quiet there but for the voice of some kind of frog. Only ate about a half-dozen berries today before emerging along the edge of the eastern fields. Heard the small peeps of a chickadee, maybe two, and the chip of a yellowthroat. We stood for quite a while scanning the full tangles of brush but didn’t see either bird. Listened for a time to the varied buzzing of bees and flies about the asters—the buzzing moved, shifted, faded in and out. Voices wafted down from the summit trail. A crow cawed in the distance.
Red admiral.
Returning, I heard the quay! of a hermit thrush and the chattering of goldfinches in flight. Actually saw the goldfinches—two of them—as they flew up into the spruces. We walked slowly through the little grove, and I turned to see if I might get a photo of them up there. Heard ’em but couldn’t see ’em. That is, until they flew away.
Saw dragonflies and butterflies. While hiking down, I closed my eyes for a moment and heard crickets everywhere.
Things cooled off quickly after sundown. I watched a college football game—a couple of them, actually. Outside just now the air has gone calm. You can hear quiet sounds like small things falling from the trees, or perhaps small critters tiptoeing around in the understory. The moon looks pretty full up there. I listened, but I couldn’t hear the moon.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:45 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. Cedar waxwing
2. White-throated sparrow (voice)
3. Eastern towhee (voice)
4. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
5. Common yellowthroat (voice)
6. American crow (voice)
7. Song sparrow (voice)
8. Hermit thrush (voice)
9. American goldfinch
Elsewhere
10. White-breasted nuthatch
11. Hairy woodpecker
12. Blue jay
13. Herring gull
14. Rock pigeon
15. Northern cardinal
16. Pileated woodpecker
17. Mourning dove
18. Osprey
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, Cedar waxwing, common yellowthroat, eastern towhee, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, herring gull, mourning dove, northern cardinal, osprey, pileated woodpecker, rock pigeon, song sparrow, white-breasted nuthatch, white-throated sparrow
