For the last five blog posts I have bounced back and forth between VT and NH. Here are some photos I have taken east of the Connecticut River in the last two weeks.
I seemed to find Chestnut-sided Warblers everywhere. But my most exciting find was a beautiful Magnolia Warbler in Bradford as seen above and below. This was the third Magnolia I have photographed this spring. Here are three more photos of the Bradford bird.
I did not kayak to do loon photography but sometimes they just swim up to me, as happened twice in Sunapee. There are spots on the lake that get a lot of boat traffic, and the loons are pretty much blasé about almost everything, including boats and humans, unlike some lakes where they dive if you come within 200 yards of them.
Also in Sunapee, a Common Merganser flew over. I just had a short lens at the time, so I did what I could.
A Canada Goose family woke up from its Sunapee “motel” on shore and climbed into the water at a harbor.
But one chick was left behind, and he or she screamed loudly for help.
It was safely reunited with the parent as they swam out from shore.
Also in Sunapee, I photographed a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
A Pine Warbler was the only warbler I photographed in Sunapee these two weeks.
I found a Red-eyed Vireo in Sunapee. It gave me a very quick look.
Along Trask Brook Road just west of Rt. 103 in Sunapee, I managed to get photos of European Starlings flying very close together.
I photographed beautiful Chestnut-sided Warblers in Sutton, Bradford, and Newport. I took these six photos near Kezar Lake in Sutton.
Here is one from Bradford.
In Newport, a Chestnut-sided Warbler landed very close to me. I shot without taking time to frame carefully because I wanted to get something before it flew. I like the image that resulted even though it only shows part of the bird. This photo is completely uncropped.
Here are photos of a Chestnut-sided Warbler singing, launching, and preening.
One landed with its left foot on top of a sharp stick. It quickly readjusted to a more comfortable stance. Here is a sequence of four photos.
Also in Newport, I was able to photograph a Red-eyed Vireo, American Redstarts (which seem to be somewhat rare this spring), Cedar Waxwings, Common Grackles, and a mother with young Common Mergansers in the Sugar River. Here are the mergansers in terrible light, photographed from a bridge above the river.
I saw a pair of Red-eyed Vireos chasing each other through the trees and managed a photo of one of them.
I have seen very few American Redstarts this spring. But I did find some in Newport near the Sugar River. Here are a half dozen photos.
Nearby, some Cedar Waxwings gave me a brief opportunity for some photos.
At a different location in Newport, but still near the Sugar River, I found some Common Grackles. This black species can be beautiful in the right light.
I photographed one sitting on a stick with food in its mouth. It was perhaps waiting for me to move farther away so it could fly to the nest without revealing its location. Here are two highly cropped photos of what looks like a small crayfish, which makes sense because the river was nearby.
Below is a series of six photos of the grackle sitting on the stick.
Back in Sunapee along Trask Brook Road, a Gray Catbird hid in the low brush.
A bit higher up, but nearby, were a group of Cedar Waxwings.
Six years previously in the same spot, I witnessed Cedar Waxwings engaging in prenuptial feeding. If fact during that same trip I found and photographed many other species: Bobolink, Yellow Warbler, Veery, Killdeer, and Ovenbird. If you are interested, you can see those photos and the prenuptial feeding by CLICKING HERE.
I briefly visited Pillsbury State Park, a little-known gem in Washington. There I photographed a Chipping Sparrow.
And a female Purple Finch.
I saw a Mourning Dove with a feather sticking up.
And a Red-winged Blackbird high in a pine.
There was a Rose-breasted Grosbeak around for a short while.
I hiked to the Narrows and photographed an Eastern Kingbird flying around a small island in Butterfield Pond.
I drove through the charming village of East Washington and stopped at a favorite location near Bradford Bog. It was there I found the Magnolia Warbler and Chestnut-sided Warbler shown previously. At this spot I also photographed a female Yellow-rumped Warbler …
… and a Veery.
I also photographed a Veery at Knights Meadow Marsh in Webster. There is a great view of Mount Kearsarge across the marsh.
While there I found a number of species: a Red-eyed Vireo peeking out from behind a leaf,
an Eastern Kingbird,
a Common Yellowthroat,
and a Gray Catbird that got it tail hung up on a branch clearly revealing its crimson undertail coverts.
The species I saw most at Knights Meadow Marsh was a Yellow Warbler.
In South Sutton, I photographed the Chestnut-side Warblers seen previously in this post. There I also found a Baltimore Oriole,
a Hairy Woodpecker this his mouth stuffed with food,
and several beautiful Yellow Warblers.
It has been a nice spring with migrating and resident birds. They are now quieting down and tending to young.