Birding by Ear

This morning's "Birding by Ear" walk for SOFO took place at the Grace Estate in Northwest woods, Easthampton. July 12th is a little late in the season for bird song and these woods seem to have lost some of their signature species. Still we had some good birds, notably Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Here's the complete list:

Wood Duck (on Scoy Pond; 2 other waterfowl unidentifiable)
Osprey (overhead)
Red-tailed Hawk (routed by crows at Scoy Pond)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (heard only)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (male & female up close at Scoy Pond; male feeding on White Azelea)
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-pewee
Eastern Kingbird (at Scoy Pond)
Red-eyed Vireo (most vocal bird of the day)
Blue Jay
American Crow
Barn Swallow (Scoy Pond)
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Carolina Wren
Wood Thrush (one short call)
American Robin
Gray Catbird (also very vocal)
[Ovenbird -- NO]
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Yellow Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
[Scarlet Tanager -- NO]
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
[Baltimore Oriole -- NO]
House Finch
American Goldfinch (a small troupe down at the bay)

As a special bonus, we had a family of raccoons -- mama and three little ones (what do you call raccoon chicks? pups? raccoonlets?). One crossed the path following mama but the other two went scampering up a tree where they were able to people-watch us.

Eric Salzman