On the rivers and streams of New Hampshire and Vermont, ice and ducks coexisted as winter slowly lost its grip on the Upper Valley. I saw the very rare Eurasian Wigeon and also quite common but very beautiful wood ducks, mallards, common goldeneyes, and both merganser species. Overhead in both states, eagles flew while performing a nest shift every few hours — alternately shouldering the boring job of incubation using their bellies rather than shoulders.
Waterfowl
Eurasian Wigeon
Certainly the rarest bird in the Upper Valley in the last month was the Eurasian Wigeon that made its home along the far shore across the Connecticut River from River Road in Plainfield, NH. Unfortunately it was too distant for good photos, but I got a few to prove its presence.
An American Wigeon joined it. Here are images that compare the two wigeon species.
The Eurasian Wigeon also drifted in the company of Wood Ducks.
Common Merganser
The dramatic black-and-white male Common Merganser is often seen with the plainer female in early spring, but rarely when it is time to raise the young.
This female on the ice along the Ompompanoosuc River in Norwich, VT certainly was having a bad hair day.
On March 21 the ice kept the channel of the Ompompanoosuc River fairly narrow, so the mergansers were not too distant.
This male seemed to be dipping his toe in the water hoping it was warmer than the ice.
Then a female took off to the north.
Four days later the Common Merganser were still on the ice.
I photographed a male taking off from the Ottaquechee River in Quechee, VT. They are heavy birds so they run on the surface of the water like loon as they struggle to get airborne.
Male hooded merganser look quite different than common merganser. Here is a comparison with a single hooded female also in the mix.
Hooded Merganser
A charming spring arrival is the expressive Hooded Merganser. Here are a pair in the Pompy in Norwich.
Most of the Hooded Merganser I photographed were along the Ottaquechee River while I waited for hours for the eagle pair that VINS named Dewey and Windsor to do something.
Male Hooded Merganser dramatically pump their heads trying to entice females to choose them as mates.
Females engage in similar but less dramatic head pumping to indicate receptiveness.
Mallard
I photographed a pair in the Connecticut River from Plainfield …
… and from East Wilder on the ice.
Wood Duck
I’m hoping for closer looks at Wood Ducks in the coming weeks, but so far they have been distant across the broad Connecticut River. Wilson’s Landing is often a good spot for them, but as of today it is not ice free.
Canada Geese
My Canada Geese photos come from the Ottaquechee River in Vermont. The far shore still had considerable ice on March 19.
Bald Eagle
I photographed Bald Eagles in both states, VT and NH. They are pretty boring when incubating so I tried to get them in flight whenever possible.
They stand out clearly against a blank sky.
But often it is nice to have a hint of trees in the photos.
I spent many hours in Quechee hoping the incubating eagles would stand up and do something exciting. Hours of boredom punctuated by a minute or two of high drama and furious photography.
VINS named this pair Dewey (male on the left) and Windsor (female on the right). Windsor had just arrived to relieve Dewey who was incubating the lone egg.
And then Dewey flew.
This sequence shows an eagle landing on the top of a dead tree. It landed on a slightly different branch than it looks like it was heading for in the first two photos.
Then it moved to a lower branch.
Sixteen minutes later it was back.
Here is a sequence of a Bald Eagle flying.
It landed, rested briefly, then departed.
An eagle landed, called for its mate, then departed after three miutes.
These sure are majestic birds.
Birds in Flight
Just a few beyond the species already shown.
I found a Red-tailed Hawk soaring high over fields in Thetford, VT.
In Etna, Mourning Doves provided subjects one snowy day last week.
As did a Tufted Titmouse.
Water & Ice
Mascoma River
While walking with Jann, she noticed an ice dam below a bridge over the Mascoma River in Enfield. I set my camera for the slowest shutter speed possible without a neutral density filter and braced it on the bridge railing.
Ten days later I used a built-in (electronic) neutral density filter in my camera to get this one-second exposure in bright light.
Bicknell Brook
My favorite local spot for moving water photography year round is Bicknell Brook in Enfield. I spent a bit less than an hour there March 11. Here is a slide show of the photos I captured.
Black Bear Glen
I hiked the newly-conserved Black Bear Glen below Moose Mountain with the Hanover Conservancy. The hike was led by the new Executive Director, Barry Matthews.
We hiked the Appalachian Trail to get to the site seeing water and ice along the way.
We left the AT at the junction with the Harris Trail and hiked through Black Bear Glen.
Along the General’s Trail we had some dramatic views down to streams that sculpted the land over eons.
Signs of Spring
Clay Brook in Lyme was open though nearby Post Pond was still covered with something white on March 11. There were mammal tracks in the snow.
I enjoy capturing both simple and complex images like this lone dark tree and dramatic shadows on a house.
Not much for sunrise these weeks, but one interesting cloud pattern captured with my iPhone.
Although Wilder WMA in Lyme was mostly snow free …
Wilson’s Landing in Hanover and Grant Brook in Lyme were still filled with leftover white stuff on March 21.
Little snow in North Haverhill on March 24 with Black and Sugarloaf Mountains in the background of this old farmhouse.
Hiking with Jann along the Rail Trail in Enfield, we found a classic sign of spring, a cute chipmunk. It seemed more curious than scared of us.
Finally, another classic sign of spring in Hanover Center.
Now if only the last of the snow piles would disappear from our driveway and the NW side of our house and some of my favorite water locations in Hanover, Lyme, and Norwich would be free of frozen stuff.