On a crisp September morning a half dozen birders congregated at Lewis Farm for a chance to stretch their legs and to see some birds, too.  We headed down the hill, binoculars and cameras in hand drawn in by the ever cheerful call of the carolina wren.  We stopped at the clearing to peruse  the map before moving on towards the Billy Goat Gruff Bridge. After checking out the last of the cardinal flowers peeking out behind the bridge, we scanned the trees for activity.  The discussion circled around to cedar waxwings and several appeared in the tree tops shortly after, as if on cue.  We watched them catch insects midflight and admired their elegance.  Not to be outdone, a solo rose breasted grosbeak was spotted by a “hawk eye” in the group.  We zoomed in on him and admired his seed cracking beak and saw just a hint of telltale color on his breast, far from his red ascot that we know and love so much in the Spring.

We continued on the trail, checking out both a downy and a red bellied woodpecker.  The red bellied spent much of the remainder of the walk calling and making his presence known and we were glad of it.

The group encountered a catbird, a few robins and a house finch by Muddy Brook. We heard geese on the move and chickadees calling from the conifers.  One of the birders mentioned the sight of goldfinch in the low shrubs.   We noticed several blue jays flying from tree to tree and vocalizing.  Then we looked to the heavens and saw more blue jays on the wing perhaps heading south.  This prompted discussion of what makes some of the same species of bird head south and some stay put. I guess the same conversation could be had about people, too.

As we concluded our trip, we hoofed it through a big pine grove and kept our eyes on the treetops as more blue jays were especially animated, and we were wondering if they were harassing a raptor in the grove.  But whatever it may have been it was well shrouded by the pine needles, and we headed home pleased to have seen so much yet still driven by unsolved mysteries in the field.