Yesterday morning I did the “5 and dime loop” from my home — up Route 10 to Lyme and Orford and back Route 5 to Norwich. Generally the spots I checked out were quiet. Viewed only from my car, Kendall Station was pretty empty except for some mallards far out. The Connecticut River was fairly low. Campbell Flats was void of ducks — I only saw a phoebe, a few crows, and some blue jays from my car. But I did not linger — this trip was mostly to look for ducks.
Along the East Thetford Road, I found an American Kestrel on a wire. This is a spot they are frequently seen in spring. Using my car as a blind I was able to get quite close to this normally skittish species. From the front its beak looked normal, but from the side it appeared to have a strange piece of something on it.
In Lyme, my arrival caused some Ring-necked Ducks to fly. The male ran on the water for a very long time before it got airborne, like a loon.
Also in Lyme I found a group of Wood Ducks nestled at the edge of a stream that had a light coating of ice in parts. How many can you see in this photo? They can’t all be seen here, but there were 6 males and 2 females in this group. Two of the males are not visible in this photo.
Reeds Marsh had some open water and a Hooded Merganser near the end of the ramp. But there was a truck parked there, so I decided to just move on.
Looping back, in Norwich I got a Wood Duck standing in mud and then flying a short distance across a small pool of water, again using my car as a blind.
Oh, and on the way through Lyme at 7:40, I photographed a red fox at a great distance walking across a backlit field.
Here are a few other photos from my short excursion.
Back home well before lunch, a Phoebe was waiting to greet me.