April 25, 2021

Nearing the end of data collection for the town’s roadside ash survey. Heard then saw my first belted kingfisher of the year while walking on a different stretch of Brook road than the segment just over the water from us, in a narrow little hollow before the road became a dead end just beyond a tiny bridge that the residents posted with SMILE YOU’RE ON CAMERA and other threatening signs. I was glad to turn around and head back. Heard some pine warblers, at at home first thing in the morning we can hear phoebes and a Louisiana waterthrush singing. I was puzzled about the waterthrush - I think I’ve convinced myself in recent years that it was an occasional non-typical song of the black-throated green warbler, since it always came from the direction of the hemlocks beside the brook where I know the btg warbler likes to hold court. But a friend on Instagram ID’d it accurately, and it’s good to know the waterthrush is down there. Our trail cam hasn’t picked up a lot since I moved it down to the woods road, except for a flying squirrel one night, which was a treat to see.