August 1st - Beare Hill

[Shortsighted]

Sunny, upper teens, no humidity ... great morning to climb Beare Hill.  I got there just after 7 o’clock in the morning.  Two cars in the parking lot ... dog walkers, for sure.  By the time I hit the tree line ( I love the way that sounds) but below a certain elevation there are not a lot of trees.  When I conjure this hill in the early 1970’s there were no trees, just scrub.  What a difference half a century makes.  Anyway, just after I reached the tree line I heard bunting ... Indigo bunting.  Moments later I spotted a female in direct sunlight.  It took a while before the male showed up.  Then there was a second female on the scene.  He’s in trouble.  I could hear Common yellowthroat but didn’t see one.  A few Yellow warblers about here and there.  Lots of Song sparrows and I fleetingly saw one Field sparrow but just then one of those dog walkers came by, dog started barking ... field sparrow gone.  Later I found two House wren making a fair bit of noise but not nearly as much racket as a dog way up on the top of the hill that was barking, yapping, whining and the sound carried throughout the district.  I couldn’t stand it anymore and so I left.  On the way down there was a flyover of a GB heron.






Female Indigo Bunting














House wren





Yellow warbler



Bill cleaning



Dappled light