Observation start time: 09:45:00 Observation end time: 12:15:00 Total observation time: 2.5 hours
Official Counter: John Weeks
Observers: John Weeks
Visitors: Cathy and Ed from Southwick; Ed gave me a fascinating account of the sun circle he designed for the Land Trust of North Alabama). My thanks to Sue Mack and Catherine Nicholson, who shared with me their crackers and cheese.
Weather: Stratus clouds, spreading to form a thick blanket and reaching 100% cloud-cover by the end of the watch. Wind SW 6 mph, becoming light and variable. Temperature 60-61 F.
Raptor Observations: Another feeble flight, two migrants. Not counted as migrants: Turkey Vulture, 4 Red-shouldered Hawks cavorting right in front of the Hill, adult Red-tail.
Non-raptor Observations: The bird of the day -- nay, the bird of the season! -- was a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, a first on Blueberry Hill, as well as my first in New England. Here is the description I submitted to eBird: The bird flew to a perch at the top of a leafless tree roughly 100 ft from where I was standing (12:43 PM EDT). It gave two Robin-like clucks, then two piercing whistles in quick succession. I assumed at first that it was indeed an American Robin, but something seemed âoffâ: the bird was very slim and long-tailed, presenting a gestalt more like that of a Northern Mockingbird. I turned my telescope onto it and saw immediately that it was a Townsendâs Solitaire. Overall gray with slightly darker gray wings; dark eye with a prominent white eye-ring; round head with short bill; faint white lines edging some of the wing feathers (when I referred to Sibley later, I saw that the bird closely resembled his portrait of a âdrab-wingedâ adult); white outer tail feathers. The whistles matched the recorded call note in Sibleyâs field guide. The birdâs behavior was also characteristically phlegmatic; on a second perch lower down, it sat unmoving for five minutes, even as I walked slowly towards it. It ducked into the woods on the west side of the hilltop, then reappeared briefly (scope view again) near the top of a white pine before plunging back into the woods on the east side. I have seen Solitaires before in California, during two trips to Lassen Volcanic National Park, which forms part of its year-round range. Also observed: Pileated Woodpecker, American Crows (4), Common Raven, Black-capped Chickadees (2), American Goldfinches (4), Tennessee Warbler, Blackpoll, Yellow-rumped Warbler (5().
Predictions: Rain. No watch planned. ======================================================================== Report submitted by John Weeks (<aerie.john...>)
