Trout lily.
A passel of new birds must’ve arrived overnight, I figure. Oddly, I didn’t get anything new at Beech Hill during this afternoon’s hike with dog—they came during a long bike ride.
American robin.
The cloudless sky and agreeable temperatures convinced me to head out early after lubing up my chain. A little wind to make things interesting. Coming up Route 1 toward Camden, I heard many singing titmice. I heard chickadees and song sparrows. I passed robins and crows. And I heard a cowbird—first of the year. Not long after, I heard another cowbird. Then I heard a chipping sparrow, another first-of-year species. Cycled through downtown Camden and out Bay View Street, where I heard another chippy.
Descending a hill and rounding a curve, I caught a glimpse of something swiftly moving into the road and hit what I presume was a gray squirrel. First bike collision with an animal for me. It hit my right pedal then rolled about twenty feet along the road-edge, whatever it was. I didn’t got back to check, but no more than a hundred feet up the road I saw a road-killed gray squirrel lying in the middle of the blacktop. I hope I only stunned my guy. A little while later, I heard the song of a white-throated sparrow—yet another FOY bird.
Eighty or a hundred Canada geese were grazing at Lily Pond. I stopped to take a few photos then, resuming my ride, my chain came off. Got a little fresh chain oil on my fingers.
Canada geese.
Quite a few birds at Beech Hill, for sure, but nothing new or unusual. The highlight was probably the little flock of turkeys that Jack and I spooked near the end of our hike—their escape route pretty much followed the trail, so we ended up following them for a few hundred yards. Watched one hen in particular scrambling back and forth in front of us for several minutes, poor thing.
Late in the day I added two new birds to today’s list when the flew high over my place: cormorant and black-backed gull. Robins were calling all over the place from every direction. They called on into twilight, as robins will do.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:15 p.m., I hiked the open trails.
1. Eastern phoebe
2. Herring gull (voice)
3. Black-capped chickadee (voice)
4. American robin
5. American goldfinch (voice)
6. Brown creeper (voice)
7. Wild turkey
8. Northern flicker (voice)
9. Mallard
Elsewhere
10. Tufted titmouse
11. Northern cardinal
12. American crow
13. House finch
14. Song sparrow
15. House sparrow
16. Brown-headed cowbird
17. Chipping sparrow
18. White-throated sparrow
19. Canada goose
20. Double-crested cormorant
21. Great black-backed gull
Evidence of pileated woodpeckers.
Tags: American crow, American goldfinch, American robin, black-capped chickadee, brown creeper, brown-headed cowbird, Canada goose, chipping sparrow, double-crested cormorant, eastern phoebe, great black-backed gull, herring gull, house finch, house sparrow, mallard, northern cardinal, northern flicker, song sparrow, tufted titmouse, white-throated sparrow, wild turkey
