Summer 2025 — First Half - Jim Block Photography

It has been an excellent summer so far. I’ve been surprised and pleased with some of the birds I have seen and been able to photograph. The best was a Yellow Warbler that had just bathed in the Lane River or perhaps was just saturated by morning dew as it worked the brush.

I had fun photographing amateur fireworks both with and without a tripod. I photographed some children fishing and flowers and scenes around the Upper Valley. The smoke from the wildfires in Canada caused some hazy days and that allowed me to get some dramatic photos of the sun with sunspots. But first, the birds.

Birds

During the first half of summer, I visited some of my favorite birding sites in the Upper Valley. I will present the birds I photographed by location rather than species.

Kilowatt Park South

I only visited Kilowatt Park in Wilder, Vermont once, but it was a great visit. I walked 10 yards from my car, started taking photos, and I didn’t move for over 15 minutes. The birds were right in front of me.

Yellow Warblers were particularly close.

There were several beautiful Brown Thrashers.

Kezar Lake area

I photographed catbirds just south of the boat launch at Kezar Lake in Sutton, NH, but I got most of my photos of birds about a mile farther south near the bridge over the Lane River. That is where I saw a beautiful, wet Yellow Warbler. I got a few quick photos and then it was gone. I could not relocate it. It must have hidden somewhere so it could dry off undisturbed.

This is a fairly productive spot in Sutton with a great view of Mounts Kearsarge and Black.

A female Black-and-white Warbler stayed nearby for many photos.

It grabbed a meal or at least a snack.

Here are some of the other birds I photographed near the bridge in July.

Notice how the eye of a Red-eyed Vireo looks dark with backlight.

But it shows its color better when the sun is on it.

Near the boat launch I photographed these Gray Catbirds.

Trask Road

Trask Road in Sunapee can be a fantastic spot. I have never seen any other photographer there. I’ve seen one birder once. There is no traffic because the bridge over Trask Brook is closed but walkable. It is just off Route 103 across from the best ice cream place around, Sanctuary Farm. This spot has a nice mix of habitats — large fields, a small stream, wet areas, low brush, and woods.

The powerlines along Trask Road, seem to be gathering spots for flocks of birds that are perhaps considering migrating. I’ve only seen Barn Swallows in this area once, on July 24 there were about 20 of them on the wires along the road.

Two weeks later as I drove down the road, about a dozen American Kestrels took flight. A few came back, and after I parked I walked down the road and photographed a male kestrel on top of a telephone pole.

I went looking for other birds, found a nice Chestnut-sided Warbler. Then as I was leaving I managed to creep slowly up to one on a powerline, using my car as a blind, and get some nice fairly close photos. You can see the male kestrel has something in its claw in this photo.

This is a good spot for American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat, Chestnut-sided, Yellow, and Black-and-white Warblers.

This Chestnut-sided Warbler caught a Small-eyed Sphinx moth caterpillar.

In July, I saw my first ever Indigo Bunting there.

In late July I managed a quick photo of a Belted Kingfisher before it flew chattering away.

Also in July, a Red-tailed Hawk was visible in a distant tree.

Gray Catbirds can certainly be seen and heard along Trask Road.

And there are often Cedar Waxwings around.

Canada Geese sometimes congregate in large numbers in the fields. Here is a group flying in through the early morning fog.

Here is a view in early morning across one of the fields with Joe-Pye weed in the foreground.

In late July and early August I found many sparrows. Here are Song Sparrows.

And pretty Swamp Sparrows.

In past years along the road and it’s extension into Newport, I’ve photographed Northern Waterthrush and Northern Parula. Ovenbirds are often heard but very rarely seen. I photographed a Pine Warbler there this spring. Before the fields are unfortunately mowed, Bobolinks can be seen and heard.

Around Sunapee

I photographed some interesting birds at a few spots near Lake Sunapee. Here is a Pine Warbler in early July.

And a Cedar Waxwing.

I found a Chipping Sparrow gathering nest material. It is amazing how many birds can fill their beaks.

Philbrick-Cricenti Bog

The Philbrick-Cricenti Bog in New London can be great or very quiet. In the past I have photographed Blackburnian, Magnolia, Nashville, and Canada Warblers there. But this summer it has been disappointing. Here are two photos from August.

Sugar River Rail Trail

There are two spots I like along the Sugar River Rail Trail. The best is near the parking areas at Oak and Greenwood in Newport, NH. I arrived there August 7, walked two yards from my car, and saw a bird I had heard often but never seen in the last few months — a Carolina Wren. It was at eye level and quite close.

Without moving my feet, I also got a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker…

… and a Red-eyed Vireo down quite low.

Moving only a few yards, I was entertained by a Black-and-white Warbler.

A Gray Catbird was in a distant tree.

And a Veery sat still for me for many minutes so I could move and photograph from different angles.

A visit in late July produced a Northern Cardinal …

… an American Redstart …

… and many photos of Chestnut-sided Warblers.

This one caught some tasty treat. At least I hope the warbler felt it was tasty.

That same day along the same rail trail but farther west, where it crosses under Routes 11 and 103, I photographed a Gray Catbird and Common Yellowthroats.

At that same spot on that very productive August 7, I found a bird that is hard to identify if you are looking in the sparrow section of your bird book.

It is a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. It was feeding on some berries, perhaps from a Dogwood species.

I also found Common Yellowthroats near the same spot by a small bridge over a tiny stream.

Keeping the yellow theme alive, there was a very yellow American Goldfinch.

If you are only interested in birds, you can close the tab now.

Sky

It was a particularly clear night, weeks before the wildfires in Canada sent smoke our way, so I decided to try for a Milky Way photo over Mount Sunapee. I normally do this as a multi-shot panorama, but this one is a single photo taken with a very wide-angle lens.

A few weeks later it got very hazy as smoke from the Canadian wildfires drifted over the Upper Valley. Near sunset I noticed the sun was bright red. I figured this was a good time to try to get a photo of sunspots. I shot this photo handheld at 1400 mm equivalent. That is not dust on my sensor but clearly visible sunspots.

Sunspots are a result of intense magnetic fields breaking through the Sun’s interior. They are the source of significant solar events like flares and coronal mass ejections.

Three days later I photographed the hazy red sun at dawn. The sunspots are not as visible here, but they can be seen in the first photo.

Two mornings later we had a full moon. This photo was taken at 4:44 a.m.

Over the years I’ve collected photos of many very interesting phenomena that can be observed in the sky without the need for a telescope. If you would like to view these, you can CLICK HERE.

There was a faint rainbow over Lake Sunapee late one evening.

And a colorful sky over Mount Sunapee one morning.

Fireworks

I played around photographing amateur fireworks both with and without a tripod. In some of the photos taken with the tripod, I rotated the camera during exposure to get multiple bursts that originated from the same spot as in the three photos below.

Here are more taken using a tripod.

I had fun handholding and moving the camera. Most of the photos got tossed, but here are a some I saved. I cheated on a few of these that only show boat lights.

Flowers and Insects

Years ago I took many flower photos for a series of gardening books. But lately, in the digital era, many fewer. But I still enjoy photographing them when I chance apron a nice group or individual flower as Jann and I hike various roads in the Upper Valley.

In Hanover, we found these Purple Coneflowers.

During a walk in New London we met a man who took us into his back yard to show us his unusual Crocosmia.

Also in New London, this bumble bee and bright orange Butterfly Milkweed.

On a walk in downtown Claremont Jann pointed to some roses and I obliged, focusing on one small rose as she suggested.

On walks in Sunapee, I took these photos.

On Trask Road after finishing with birds I took this photo of an ox-eye daisy. What is that bee on it?

As Mary Hollard would say, it only has two wings so it is a fly not a bee. It is a Eurasian Drone Fly.

I was walking by an old metal lawn chair and something stung my ankle. I certainly did not know there was a Common Aerial Yellowjacket nest under the chair. My leg swelled up and was quite sore for almost a week.

Fishing

Sunapee tricks kids into helping control the rock bass population in Lake Sunapee by staging an annual “Rock Bass Derby”.

Scenes and other stuff

Years ago I published a photo-essay titled “Kearsarge from Afar” in a magazine. It showed views of Mount Kearsarge from many locations. I follow that with an expanded page on this web site with the same name, Kearsarge from Afar.

During July I got a different view of Kearsarge from Newbury near Lake Todd.