After publishing Birds of early May 2022 in Vermont and Birds of early May 2022 in New Hampshire, I went Back to Vermont for Birds, and now I’m back in New Hampshire for more birds. This time a bit east of the Connecticut River.
Except for a planned trip to Springfield, NH for a Great Blue Heron nest and to Sutton for Bobolinks, all photos were incidental to doing other things, mostly walking with Jann. All of the photos were taken in the last week.
It was early for GBH chicks. I photographed a parent landing on the nest above. It did not stay long. Perhaps it spotted me, mostly hidden in the woods.
I thought I saw a small head in the nest but was not sure until I cropped and magnified my photos as seen below.
I was present at the nest site for about an hour but only got one landing sequence. But while waiting, I managed to photograph a Swamp Sparrow near the marsh with the GBH nest.
I then travelled to Sutton to search in a large field for Bobolinks. Below is a five-photo image taken with my iPhone — I left my camera with a short lens in my car.
It was relatively easy to get the Bobolinks sitting in the field. I did not see any nests; I did not look for them. Actually I moved around little while listening to these “R2-D2 birds” and trying to photograph them in flight.
Photographing the Bobolinks in flight was considerably more challenging. Here are two sequences of a bird launching.
And here are two sequences of Bobolinks in flight.
Since I was in Sutton already, I headed to the eastern side of Kezar Lake. Along the Lane River near the entrance to Wadleigh State Park, I spotted a Chestnut-sided Warbler with food in its mouth. I got several photos before it dove down into the brush where it likely had a hidden nest. The bird was strongly backlit so the contrast on the side facing me was very low.
At one point the warbler turned its head sideways for some reason.
Here it is looking more normal but very intense. I was pretty far away with a long lens, but it likely knew I was present.
Chestnut-sided Warblers are very beautiful birds that grace our area in the spring and summer. If you hear a bird singing, “Pleased, pleased, pleased to meetcha!”, look for one.
I travelled to Sunapee and found a Common Merganser resting on a dock.
In a small area of forest in Sunapee, I found a Red-eyed Vireo and two warbler species that might be nesting in the area. Here is the Red-eyed Vireo.
A Yellow-rumped Warbler was a surprising find.
I’d seen Pine Warblers in the area before, so spotting them was not unexpected. I caught this one shaking its body while keeping its head amazingly still.
Here it is after the shake.
And shortly before the shake.
At somewhat different times in the same spot I took these two photos of Pine Warblers.
Heading back toward Hanover, we spotted a small black bear far ahead along the side of the road. It went down into a dark wet area next to the road. Fortunately I had a camera handy — I almost always do. It appears that the bear had a number of ticks on its ears and one eyelid. But perhaps they were something else.
We stopped in Enfield on the way home to take a short hike. We found a Common Yellowthroat near where we parked.
Jann needed to go to Rumney to pick up a sewing machine that had been repaired. I used the time to photograph a Gray Catbird in sumac.
I walked along the road and heard many bird songs repeated in rapid succession. I even recognized one or two of them. I thought, Mockingbird, and sure enough one was perched on top of a flagpole in front of the Police Station.
Finally, in the yard where we parked, a common thrush species that most know as an American Robin.
