I paid a long-delayed first visit to Crossroad Farm in Thetford on Sunday. I planned to wander the fields and the neighboring Taylor Floodplain Preserve alone, in search of birds I might be able to photograph. Instead, Tim Taylor dropped what he was doing and offered to show me around. We spent over two enjoyable hours together. Crossroad Farm is a very impressive vegetable farm that also grows strawberries, melons, and flowers.
The birds were hunkered down and scarce, most likely because of the cold and wind. We saw about a dozen species, and I managed to get usable photos of half of them. Across a pond we spotted a Black-and-White Warbler and a Yellow-rumped Warbler, but they were too far away for decent photos.
The first bird of the morning was a nice one. A Lincoln’s Sparrow.
I was able to get a photo of a Blue Jay from much closer than I normally can. These birds are usually very leery of people.
A Hairy Woodpecker was working a tree in the yard.
Not far from the Lincoln’s Sparrow was a White-throated Sparrow.
Out in the fields, a pair of Brown Thrashers were flying around. I got a few distant photos before they flew off.
We found some Northern Cinnabar Polypore mushrooms on a fallen tree. They had faded quite a bit from their earlier bright orange color.
We walked through the Taylor Preserve along the East Branch of the Ompompanoosuc River. Tim checked on his strawberry plants and showed me the new highly energy-efficient home he is having built. On the way back I admired the rows of lettuce.
Tim also showed me many rows of tomato plants in several greenhouses and his working greenhouse where he grafts them. As I was about to depart, Tim pulled me back to show me a small pond whose surface was actually the water table. Above the pond, an Eastern Phoebe posed nicely for me.
It was a nice way to spend a cold morning in spring.