In Search of Bicknell’s Thrush and more

 Kathie and Chris 6-30-14

Monday, June 30, 2014: After the fun of Plum Island birding, and the days spent in Connecticut for the Adams Family Road Race, we were finally back in Maine and off on another birding adventure. This one would take us to the western border of Maine and beyond. We got up very early on Monday morning and drove to Dixfield where we met my dear friend, Beth Standard. As soon as she was in the car we were on our way to Mount Washington in Search of the Bicknell’s Thrush. Bicknell's is not a pretty bird or a fancy bird. It is an elusive bird with a very restricted range and, barring a sweaty mosquito ridden hike up a mountain, the only way we were going to see one was to drive the Mt. Washington Auto Road.

While I had hiked Mount Washington as a teen, I had never driven the auto road. We arrived around 7:30 a.m. and started up. Chris had done the research and we knew we had to be at least 3000’ up to find this elusive bird. The road was narrow and windy with few places to pull off or even pass another car. I was doing the driving and we had all the windows open in spite of the early morning chill so we could hear the birds. We started hearing and seeing them right away but with cars behind us and no pull offs, we had to keep going. Finally we found a spot with a place to pull off.

Chris and Micheal looking for birds.

We found a Black-throated green warbler in one location and an American Redstart in another. Every time we found a bird, another car would come by and either we would have to move, or they would scare away the birds! Chris soon got very frustrated. We all needed and wanted this bird, and this would be his only chance! I so wanted to find it for him!

The morning blues of the white mountains.

Finally, at the 3.5 mile marker we heard it! I even saw it on a branch! We tried to pull off to see the bird. I found a spot to park and we all got out. We heard the Bicknell’s down on the slope. It was so near and yes, it did pop out where Micheal and I saw it, but Chris, in his frustration, had gone farther up the road and missed seeing the bird, though we all heard it! Time to move on.

While we were being frustrated, Beth was all calm and peaceful, enjoying the beauty of the day. the road got more and more narrow, and eventually turned to gravel. There were steep drop-off on both sides. I held the wheel steady and continued the drive up. Finally we arrived at the Alpine Garden, another spot where Beth had seen the thrush, and we parked and got out. By now we were above the tree line and the vast openness of the Presidential Range spread before us.

But all we found in the Alpine Garden were juncos, so we moved on.

When we reached the summit Beth took a picture of Chris and I by the summit marker. We could have visited the Mt. Washington Museum, but we were there to see birds, not history, so after a restroom break, we headed back down the mountain. When we passed by the 3.5 mile marker we heard the birds once again, but by now the traffic had really picked up, so we kept going. Farther down the road there was another parking lot by an old trail leading into the woods. We were all ready to get out of the car, and so we pulled off and hiked a short distance down the trail, hoping for some serenity. But it was not to be. Others were on this trail as well. Still, we heard a warbler singing from the top of a tree…

…and Chris got his lifer Blackpoll Warbler!

Then, he noticed another bird in a spruce. He snapped a shot as the bird launched itself into the air. When we all looked at the photo we could not believe it! He got his Bicknell’s Thrush!

By now we were all hot, hungry and tired, so we hiked back to the car and drove down off the mountain and over to Pinkham Notch. There we ate our lunch at a picnic table under a tree with a pair of Eastern Phoebe’s keeping watch over their nest on a nearby building! when lunch was over we headed across the street to hike the Lost pond Trail.

As we started down the trail I looked back to see Tuckerman’s Ravine like a great green bowl trying to scoop up the sky! We crossed a little log bridge with  beaver’s dam alongside.

 Beaver Dam

 Beaver Pond

The Lost Pond Trail is also part of the Appalachian Trail, so I can now say I have hiked a section of the Appalachian trail! After the heat and humidity of the open, and the crowds on Mount Washington, this trail was sweet relief! It was shady and cool with few encounters with other hikers. Everyone felt their sprits lift. And, we started seeing more birds!

The creek alongside the trail flowed along tranquilly.

 

Beth and I both had our wading sandals on and took a walk in the amber water.

 

Happy faces on the Lost Pond Trail

 

We finally got to the lost pond. I did not see any birds close by and the water was so reflective that I did not attempt a photo, but Chris took this one of me as I sat on a nearby rock watching dragon flies! Yes, I was very happy! It had been a very long time since I had gone hiking in the woods. I had birds and I had friends, what more can one ask for?

We all admired this tree and rock growing together along the trail.

After hiking back to our car, we drove back into Maine and turned down a road Beth knew that ran through the national forest on the border of Maine and New Hampshire. Here on this road there were few cars and lots of birds. We pulled off wherever we felt like it. When we pulled into a parking lot to watch some birds a truck suddenly pulled up to tell us of a moose in a pond just a short distance up the road. I must say we quickly forgot the birds and jumped back in the car, then drove slowly on the dirt road so as not to disturb the moose. It was quite exciting because this would be Chris and Micheal’s first moose. As we emerged from the trees and into the open expanse of the water there he was, a young bull moose, just as the man said.

With no other cars in sight, we just parked in the middle of the dirt road and watched! First we photographed from inside the car, then we got out and took photos at our leisure! How different this was from our experience on the Mt. Washington Auto Road!

I don’t know how long we stayed there watching that moose, but soon we were distracted by birds once again when we heard  least flycatcher calling form the nearby woods. Then we were focused again, but though we looked and looked, we just could not get our eyes on that bird and we KNEW it was right there in front of us! We counted 20 species in that short 3.5 mile drive, our highest count of the day so far. But it was late and we had a very long drive back, so we dropped Beth off and headed east. I had one more stop I intended to make before we headed home.

I use to live in Livermore Falls, Maine and I knew there was a great birding spot located near Wilton, Maine called The Foothills land Conservancy. Beth and I submitted the first bird counts there in July of 2008 when I fist met her. Since then someone else has submitted historical data for that location, but we submitted the first checklist and I nominated it for an eBird Hotspot way back then. It is a great place to bird with some sot after species. I saw my first ever Black-billed Cuckoo there with Beth. I was hoping to find one now for Chris Rohrer.

the sun was sinking low and the humidity was high as we parked the car and got out. It had been a very long day and we almost quit our count as the mosquitoes swarmed around us, but we keep on and hiked the trail all around the perimeter of the property. It paid off as we got our highest count in the shortest amount of time for that day with 29 species in an hour and a half! and, just toward the end as shadows lengthen a black-billed cuckoo flew out from the trees and across the open meadow into the next hedgerow! but, this is how I know Chris was really tired; he did not get a shot of it! While he saw the bird, he did not get on it with his camera, and Chris is always so fast to focus! So, he saw the bird but no pic! As we headed back to the car we stopped one more time to spot an Indigo bunting signing from a branch in the deep purple shadows of dusk!

Indigo Bunting, Foothills Land Conservancy, Franklin County, Maine

Links:

• Foothills Land Conservancy-an eBird Hotspot
• A Birder’s Bird-Chris’ Post
• Las Aventuras 
• Our Big New England Birding Adventure

Kathie on the trail at the Foothills Land Conservancy 6-30-2014

Lake Horace, New Hampshire

 Boats at the dock 8-1-2012

Earlier this month my good friend, Mary Robin, invited me up to her vacation cabin at Lake Horace, NH. I visited her here last year on her vacation as well. Mary has been my friend since I moved here two years ago and it will be hard to say good-bye. She has promised to visit me in Arizona, where I hope to share my warm and wonderful desert home with her. I did not see a lot of birds up here this year, but I did see one important one. I also was able to go kayaking on the lake, which was a pleasure and only made me wish I had a kayak of my own! Good-bye Mary. Thank you for your generosity and friendship.

Dirt Road

New England Blue and Green!

Bird nest on the cabin

Roadside Wild Flowers

Common Loon

Good-bye Lake Horace!

Kathie’s April Birds 2012

 Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker Lake Hayward, CT 4-29-12

It’s been a busy and birdy month around here with many new species arriving. I was gone for the last four day of the month with a visit to Connecticut, Maine and New Hampshire! This helped fill out my monthly bird lists and more birds are arriving daily. I have already added one new species to my yard list for May with a Blue-headed vireo that showed up yesterday!

 Lake Hayward 4-29-12

With my visit down to Connecticut I was finally able to get back to Lake Hayward to count a few birds. Most of the ducks seem to be gone but I did see swallows swooping over the lake and I found a Yellow-rumped warbler in the woods near my brother's cabin. Lake Hayward is in Middlesex County which is separate from New London County where my mother lives. With a stop off in Killingly, which is in Windham County, on the way down I counted birds in three of Connecticut's eight counties this month.

Eastern Phoebe 4-7-12 Stirling Street Bog, Andover, MA

I started seeing and hearing phoebes at the beginning of the month.

Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker at Bog 4-7-12

 

Red-bellied woodpecker at Sacred Heart Park, Andover, MA 4-7-12

I’ve been counting birds at the bog and the park on a regular basis. I saw a Palm Warbler here at the park on April 16th, but I haven’t seen ANY warblers since then.

Savannah Sparrow at Great Meadows NWR, Concord, MA 4-14-12

Taking a stroll through Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge was so much fun, especially since I saw and photographed a Virginia Rail! This made species number 424 on my Life List!

Virginia Rail, Great Meadows NWR 4-14-12

 

Northern Cardinal at Sacred Heart Park 4-17-12

 

 Canada Goose in flight at the bog 4-23-12

I’ve seen Canada Geese just about everywhere, but this is one of my favorite photos I have taken of this species.

 Killdeer at Killingly Commons Mall, CT 4-26-12

I often stop here at Killingly Commons on my travels up and down the highway to take a restroom break and count birds. There is a retention pond and a wetland at the back of the parking lot where I have seen many different species.

Retention Pond at Killingly Commons 4-26-12

 

Song Sparrow at the Geremonty Marsh, Salem, NH 4-30-12

After returning from Maine the day before I headed up to New Hampshire to do errands on Monday. Of course, while I was there I did stop at the Geremonty Marsh first to count birds. Beside the numerous song sparrows I saw a pair of Tree Swallows coursing over the marsh. They were a new species for this location and I was so happy to add them to my eBird list! However, Swallows in flight are very hard to photograph and I never did get a decent shot, though I tried!

 Springtime at the Geremonty Marsh 4-30-2012

Though many of the trees are in flower or bud at the marsh I was surprised at how dull and gray the old marsh grasses and cattails look. The green has not begun to creep up here yet!

Geremonty Marsh and the Kelley Library in Salem, NH 4-30-2012

In my bird listing obsession I also counted birds at Petsmart, Target, and the Rockingham Mall before I finally left to go home.

 Turkey Vulture 4-30-12 Andover, MA

It was so funny to come home on Monday and find this turkey vulture roosting on the chimney across the street! He and his four companions formed a Committee of Vultures in the nearby trees!

My April eBird Stats

	Life	Year	Month
Total Species	424	97	58
Total checklists	4270	514	89
States Birded
Massachusetts	169	88	54
Connecticut	136	50	30
Maine	110	36	15
New Hampshire	63	30	27

All in all I counted birds in 4 states and 12 counties in the Month of April.

May Flowers/Bluets in Norridgewock, ME 4-29-12

With May Flowers in bloom now I wonder how many species I will see this month!

Spring Marsh Sky SWF

Puffy Cloud Sky at the Geremonty Marsh in Salem, NH 4-10-12

 

 Cooper’s Hawk flying over marsh.

Pear tree blossoms along the sidewalk.

Skywatch Friday 

After watching birds at the Petsmart parking lot on Tuesday I stopped off at the Geremonty Marsh in Salem, New Hampshire to count birds there. I saw fewer birds here than I did in the parking lot but I did see one new species for this location: A Cooper’s Hawk! I watched as it went into a stoop and dived for a dove on the ground but it missed and flew off casually as if nothing had happened! Right now all the flowering trees are in bloom and it is all so pretty and promising. However, we are in desperate need of rain as several wildfires have started all up and down the east coast. I notice that the water levels are dropping here at the marsh as well as at the Stirling Bog and in the Shawsheen River back in Andover, MA where I live. I hope you have a pleasant and bird filled weekend!

Birds Are Everywhere WBW

Eastern Blue Jay 4-10-12

Yesterday I had errands to do in Salem, New Hampshire, so of course I brought my camera and binoculars. You might think I saw this blue jay out in the woods or even at the Geremonty Marsh where I often go to do some birding but no,

He was sitting right in a tree at the edge of the parking lot where I went to buy cat food!

I drove over to the edge of the parking lot and parked my car. I rolled down my window and waited. A gray squirrel watched me from one of the trees.

Last time I was here I discovered someone spreads birdseed on this rock.

I used my car as a blind and sat there with the window down, bins and camera at the ready. Soon the squirrel relaxed enough to come down from its tree and feed. With the squirrel relaxed the birds soon started coming in to feed also.

A red-winged blackbird.

I could hear and see a male Cardinal through the trees.

A white-throated sparrow popped up on a branch.

A song sparrow stayed low and came in cautiously.

A shy dark-eyed junco appeared.

Finally the cardinal came near.

So next time you stop off to buy a new pair of sneakers…

…you might want to check and see who is hiding in the trees!

Because Birds Are Everywhere!

World Bird Wednesday!

Here is a complete list of all the birds I saw at this parking lot in Salem, New Hampshire on April 10, 2012 at 2:00 PM:

1. Red-tailed Hawk
2. Blue Jay
3. American Crow
4. Black-capped Chickadee
5. Tufted Titmouse
6. White-breasted Nuthatch
7. American Robin
8. European Starling
9. White-throated Sparrow
10. Song Sparrow
11. Dark-eyed Junco
12. Northern Cardinal
13. Red-winged Blackbird
14. Common Grackle
15. House Sparrow