This is a collection of photos of birds taken between May 12 and 22, 2020. They are from Enfield (Mascoma Lakeside Park and Harris Brook), Lebanon (Ice House Road area and the Mascoma River Greenway), Hanover (King Bird Sanctuary, Mink Brook Nature Preserve, and our yard in Etna) in New Hampshire, and Kilowatt Park in Wilder and the Pompy area in Norwich, Vermont.
It was “just” an American Crow, but it had a wonderful blue eye, as seen above. I believe the blue eye indicates that this bird has recently fledged and is very young. It sat still for many minutes in dense brush as I slowly approached. It was still there when I left. Here is another photo of my closest-ever encounter with a crow.
A very reliable place for American Redstarts in the Upper Valley is along the rail trail in both directions from the base of Ice House Road. More that once this spring I have watched for over 10 minutes while a pair of males chased each other around along the trail and through the brush. Here is a selection of photos of these beautiful warblers.
There is often a Baltimore Oriole nest at Ice House Road, but I haven’t seen one yet this year. I did get a photo of a female in Enfield.
A Black-and-White Warbler was working along the Connecticut River at KW North. It sure makes it hard to get a decent photo when it doesn’t hold still.
At KW South I managed to get closer to a Blue Jay than I normally can.
Brown Thrashers were present at both KW South and Mascoma Lakeside Park.
Along the Mascoma River Greenway, a Canada Goose was guarding her young who were barely off the trail. She gave me an evil eye, so I took her photo but left the young alone.
I took a quick trip to Kendall Station Road in Norwich to photograph a rare Common Gallinule. While there I got a quick photo of part of a goose family.
From Lakeside Park I photographed a pair of Canada Geese landing on Lake Mascoma. This is a composite of 5 photos.
Here is a collection of Chestnut-sided Warbler photos from KW Park and Ice House Road. I also saw some at King Bird Sanctuary but did not get decent photos of them from there.
I found Chipping Sparrows in three different locations in New Hampshire.
The Common Grackle is a very colorful bird, especially when the sun hits it just right. These are all from Ice House Road.
I photographed Common Yellowthroats in three NH towns.
There were a pair of egrets in the Ompompanoosuc River in Norwich. They were very far away. These photos are severely cropped. The one with wings spread is a Snowy Egret. The other two photos show a Great Egret.
The rail trail at Ice House Road is Gray Catbird heaven. But I also found them at KW South.
Below is a House Wren at Ice House Road. In an upcoming Blog I will show photos of a pair of them building a nest in a hole in a dead tree at Mascoma Lakeside Park.
An Indigo Bunting was at the King Bird Sanctuary. When I got home, there were a pair in my yard. A future Blog will show more photos of these dramatically colorful birds, but here is a photo from each spot.
We don’t get Northern Cardinals at our home in Etna. Perhaps they cannot fly that high. So I have few photos of them. But this year I seem to be finding a bunch. Here is pair from Hanover and Wilder.
Along the rail trail I got a sequence of a Cardinal grabbing a heavy twig, presumably for a nest.
I only photographed two birds that I believe are non-resident migrants. It was a poor year for unusual birds passing through. Most Palm Warblers nest farther north. I photographed this one at KW North.
The other non-resident migrant I saw and was able to photograph, just barely, was a Wilson’s Warbler. It quickly moved around deep in the brush along the rail trail at Ice House Road and was twice only visible for a few seconds.
At the Harris Brook Scenic Area in Enfield, I discovered a Red-eyed Vireo.
Then there was a bird that looked like a large sparrow. It was a female Red-winged Blackbird.
Here is an easy ID quiz. What species is this bird? If you look carefully you might see the tell-tale clue.
Here are more photos of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks — all from our Etna yard.
Also in our yard was a Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Hummingbirds are fairly easy to photograph when they come to feeders, harder when they perch up in the trees.
This is just a common Song Sparrow, but a nice one, at the King Bird Sanctuary.
I found Veeries at the Mink Brook Nature Preserve and at Ice House Road. Note how well camouflaged this bird is, especially in the more natural environment of the tree and leaves at Mink Brook.
I put two photos of Warbling Vireos along the rail trail at Ice House Road in my Brown Birds Blog. Here is another from this spot where one can often find several.
I found a nice White-crowned Sparrow along the Mascoma River Greenway.
Yellow Warblers are prominent at Ice House Road, but I also found them at KW South.
Earlier in the month Yellow-rumped Warblers seemed to be everywhere. One day there were nearly one hundred near the Mascoma River along the rail trail west of Ice House Road. Here is a selection of photos from Lebanon, Hanover, Norwich, and Wilder.
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