On this most overcast day with fresh winds I felt an urge to climb me a hill, Beare Hill that is, the only monolithic hill round these parts, despite all the smaller hills, present just about everywhere in the neighbourhood and are known as hills of debt. The hill walk was quiet. Few birds to see, or to hear, with the wind whistling through the gap between my ears. No other people were present either, or dogs, or bikes, or scooters.
Half way up the hill I finally heard faint "chips" and couldn't tell whether they were due to a cardinal, or bunting. Still fainter calls turned out to be a couple of Field sparrows. Other distant calls were coming from Orchard orioles (juvenile females). There were 3 - 4 of them. The orioles were focused on the small locust trees in the field, beyond mere saplings, definitely over the age of consent. Unfortunately, the orioles were not close to the path and waving them over proved futile. At first, I didn't even know what these birds were. The beaks seemed too short for orioles but then again the female has a smaller bill than the male bird. Juvenile males display some black around the base of the bill, none of that apparent here.
On my way back home I noticed a cormorant perched on a fallen trunk in the adjacent pond.
\
Female Orchard oriole
F-f-f-f-field sparrow
Exiled cormorant
