It was a great week visiting three wonderful spots on the Vermont side of the Upper Valley from May 5 through May 10. Two are private land— Campbell Flat in Norwich and Crossroads Farm in Thetford. The public is permitted and encouraged to walk the grounds at both locations. The third is the US Army Corps of Engineers, Union Village Dam area in Thetford — a beautiful spot for hiking, cross-country skiing, mountain biking, fishing, swimming, and birding. I’ve done them all, except fishing.
No Bald Eagles or Brown Creepers at their nests like in the previous post, but this post has some Solitary Sandpipers and Brown Thrashers. There were two Solitary Sandpipers at Campbell Flat in the flooded field. One came fairly close very briefly but tried to stay hidden from view.
They would takeoff and fly together on seemingly random trajectories above the flooded field only to land fairly close to where they launched.
Here are a half dozen more photos of the Solitary Sandpipers .
As at my previous visit, Palm Warblers were present. Here are four photos taken from fairly closeup.
Yellow-rumped Warblers were plentiful.
I managed to capture a Red-winged Blackbird as it flew.
Mascoma Audubon held its first “Feathered Friday” at the Union Village Dam area. It was led by Blake Allison.
I started a little early and was able to photograph a House Wren near its box.
Here it is singing while perched on its box.
I was able to get a distant photo of a Belted Kingfisher.
Canada Geese flew over.
And near the end of the walk, so did a pair of Great Blue Herons.
There were Ruby-crowned Kinglets near the Mystery Trail. Here are five photos.
Yellow Warblers were present in the same area.
As we walked back to our cars, we found a very colorful Common Yellowthroat.
I could not resist photographing a purple trillium.
At Crossroad Farm I found a beautiful Brown Thrasher.
And a slightly similar-looking, very secretive and much smaller warbler, the Ovenbird.
There was an Eastern Bluebird on some farm equipment.
And a chatty Gray Catbird.
An Eastern Bluebird with an insect sat high in a tree.
We backed away from its box to give it a chance to deliver the food to its young.
Here are three views of Crossroad Farm and one of the neighboring Taylor Floodplain Preserve. I love the patterns and precision of the plowed fields.
