Late June White Mtn Trip

In late June Karin and I took a trip to New Hampshire's White Mountains, day one 6/26 was a nice hike up to Mt. Osceola and East Osceola, from Tripoli Road near Waterville Valley. I kept track of birds heard (and a few seen) on the hike:

Species Count

Turkey Vulture 1

Broad-winged Hawk 1

Hairy Woodpecker 1

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 2

Red-eyed Vireo 3

Black-capped Chickadee 2

Red-breasted Nuthatch 1

Winter Wren 4

Golden-crowned Kinglet 1

Bicknell's Thrush 3 (1 at 3800', another near the summit of Osceola and one more between Osceola and the east peak.)

Swainson's Thrush 6 seemed low

Ovenbird 2

Nashville Warbler 5

Magnolia Warbler 3

Blackpoll Warbler 12

Black-throated Blue Warbler 2

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 13

Black-throated Green Warbler 6

White-throated Sparrow 6

Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 6

A few pictures from the hike:

An eastern from Osceola with Mt. Chocorua far left (and distant) , Passaconaway "just" visible behind North Tripyramid Mtn. (with the slide), Middle and South Tripyramid and Whiteface Mtn.

The North West view from with the Kinsmans, the canon balls and Canon Mtn., Flume, Liberty, Lincoln and Lafayette. 

View to the North East with the northern Presidentials, Washington, Carrigan and the Wildcats and Caters to the right. The Kancamagas High can be seen "snaking" through the middle.

This Dark-eyed Junco had a territory with a view, which its all fun and games until the NH state "view-tax" bill shows up!

The following day I did a 5 mile loop hike to East and Little East Ponds, also from Tripoli Road, this time with more of an emphasis on birding. Swainson's Thrush was the most numerously detected species, with 21. The ratio of Red-eyed (17) to Blue-headed Vireos (6) seemed backwards to what I might have expected, but there was plenty of habitat for both species. East Pond has an interesting history, for more see this write-up by Steve Smith. 
Photos and bird list below:

A handsome Black-throated Green Warbler playing hide and seek near East Pond

A fuzzy pic of a Swaison's Thrush

A Hermit Thrush

A male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

A female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, noisy youngsters could be heard calling from within the nest hole to the right.

Swallowtail near East Pond

This cool looking beetle was near an older clear cut

I had a nice conversation with this young man, from Andover, Ma., he hauled in a few Brook Trout during our chat, beautiful fish in a beautiful location.. 

I was a bit surprised to find these two drake mallards on Little East Pond,
the right bird in eclipse plumage. 

A list from the East Pond loop:

Mallard 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 3
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1
Least Flycatcher 1
Blue-headed Vireo 6
Red-eyed Vireo 17
Black-capped Chickadee 3
Red-breasted Nuthatch 5
Brown Creeper 2
Winter Wren 7
Golden-crowned Kinglet   5
Swainson's Thrush 21
Hermit Thrush 4
American Robin 1
Cedar Waxwing 2
Ovenbird 12
Nashville Warbler 2
American Redstart 5
Magnolia Warbler 7
Blackburnian Warbler 4
Chestnut-sided Warbler  9
Blackpoll Warbler 6
Black-throated Blue Warbler 16
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  9
Black-throated Green Warbler 19
White-throated Sparrow 3
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 6