Shortly after dawn yesterday, I spent about 75 minutes with a flock of around 100 birds in Walpole, NH. I didn’t count, but it was likely that 90% plus of them were Horned Larks. There were a couple of Lapland Longspurs in the group and perhaps 5 or so Snow Buntings. It was not very bright when I arrived, but the early sun soon lit the snow piles behind Walgreen’s. Above is an 8-photo panorama of a line of Horned Larks at 7:25 AM after the sun reached them.
I only got a few photos of the Lapland Longspurs. Here are three I took.
A good friend calls them “winter robins”, but most people know them as Snow Buntings. I got some nice photos of them in his Hartford, VT yard 9 years ago. If you would like to see them, please CLICK HERE.
Yesterday, I got a few photos of the Snow Buntings alone and with Horned Larks. The Snow Buntings seemed to be more timid than the other two species. Here is one with a Horned Lark.
Here are some Snow Buntings with and without Horned Larks. The field beyond the snow piles was frosty.
The stars of the show, at least in numbers, were the Horned Larks. Such a beautiful bird.
This one displayed its “horns” and some serious claws.
Here is a sequence of a Horned Lark where you can see its “horns” prominently in a few of the photos.
Below are some of the many photos I took of the Horned Larks.
As I wandered south along River Road photographing some scenes, I came upon a large group of turkeys. I stopped on the road and took a few quick photos with a small “bridge” camera out my window while the car motor was still running.
A large bird flew across the road — a Bald Eagle. It grabbed something from a manure pile, then turned to fly back parallel to the road. I jumped out of my car, with the motor still running, and grabbed a series of shots.
In this photo you can see some dried vegetation in its claws. Chris Martin the Senior Biologist for Raptors at NH Audubon told me there is a nearby nest site that’s been there for a decade or more. So it seem likely that the eagle was gathering material for its nest.
It was a nice way to spent a winter morning.