Savannah sparrow.
This was a crazy day, weather-wise—flurries, sun, rain, sun, clouds, sun. Fickle is the mood of spring. And skittish are the birds.
Eastern bluebird.
Or brazen. Jays were hollering early, and spring-singing species included cardinal, titmouse, chickadee, and house finch. Robins continue to move through, and I hear one bird’s sweet, matter-of-fact song in evening.
But on Beech Hill, they tend to sneak nervously around as Jack and I pass. Woodland species like nuthatch and brown creeper, field-edge species like bluebird and sparrow. At the summit this afternoon, I heard (then saw) the first singing phoebe up there this spring, and for the third straight day ran across the song sparrow at the corner. But most noteworthy was a little quiet bird that zipped off the porch of Beech Nut as we approached, ending up on a low bough of a little spruce tree. I thought it another song sparrow at first, but on closer inspection it turned out to be a savannah. Though this engaging species nests all over the hill each year, I do believe this is the earliest I’ve seen one. A scout. A reconnoiterer.
Returning through the woods we had to stop at one point when we flushed fifteen or twenty robins from the low branches of a trailside hardwood grove. They fluttered not very far away, emitting thin squeals of alarm. While standing there, I heard a tapping—then another. A pair of hairy woodpeckers poking about in the bark of birches. And because we were still and quiet, a flicker arrived to see what all the commotion was about (whereas it wouldn’t have come anywhere near us had we been on the move). It felt nice to stand there in the presence of about twenty birds of three species.
Birch bark.
Tonight, the clouds have drifted away. Jupiter set, then Venus. The moon is nearing Mars. Soon Orion will have passed off into brighter dusk and we won’t see him again until fall.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:15 p.m., I hiked the wooded trails.
1. American crow (voice)
2. American goldfinch (voice)
3. Black-capped chickadee
4. Hairy woodpecker
5. Herring gull
6. Eastern phoebe
7. Savannah sparrow*
8. Eastern bluebird
9. Song sparrow
10. American robin
11. Northern flicker
12. Brown creeper (voice)
13. White-breasted nuthatch
Elsewhere
14. Blue jay
15. Tufted titmouse
16. Northern cardinal
17. House finch
18. Rock pigeon
19. Mallard
*First-of-year bird.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, brown creeper, eastern phoebe, hairy woodpecker, herring gull, house finch, mallard, northern cardinal, northern flicker, rock pigeon, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch
