Mts. Pemigewassett and Garfield (White Mtn National Forest) 6/3 + 4

Karin and I headed north for some camping and hiking in the Franconia Notch area of New Hampshire's White Mountain National Forest. After setting up camp at Waterest Campground , in Woodstock; we headed out for a modest hike up Mt. Pemigewassett (aka Indian Head). This modest 3.5 mile round trip hike ends on the 2500' summit which affords nice views of Mt. Moosilauke, North Woodstock, the Loon Mtn/Lincoln area (all to the south) and an obstructed view of the Franconia Ridge to the northeast. The cloudy day brightened and we had the summit/ledge area to ourselves for the 45 minutes we stayed atop Indian Head.
The view southwest toward Mt. Moosilauke just left of center.

To the east is Mt. Liberty and Flume (obstructed).

Mt. Lafayette to the northeast.

I93, Rte 3 and North Woodstock to the south

The view west toward the Kinsman Mtns., a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher was calling from the stand of spruces right of center.

The ledge near the summit.

On Saturday we took a more aggressive hike up Mt. Garfield, standing at 4500' and a 10 mile round trip with 3000' of elevation gain. I'd read and been told this peak has spectacular 360 degree views and the day's weather and visibility appeared to be perfect. As far as birding goes this would be a listening only endeavor. The 3000' gain takes place relatively evenly over the 5 mile one-way hike, along the Gardfield Trail, so the grades were not overly difficult, perfect for the first "major" hike of the season. I heard Winter Wrens, Swainson's Thrushes, and lots of Black-throated Green, B-t Blue, Blackburnian Warblers early on.

A stream crossing that posed no issue, however the issue was black flies.

Once above 3000' feet Blackpoll Warblers were dominant, a few Boreal Chickadees called out, a single Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Dark-eyed Juncos and a few Yellow-rumped Warblers were heard.

Open fir stand beyond the 3000' elevation mark.

This looked like a good area for Black-backed Woodpecker but none were heard, though we did not linger at all.

Once near the summit the terrain along the Garfield Ridge Trail became steeper but before we knew it, we'd arrived at the summit! While the photos below speak better than words, they don't quite add up to the whole experience!

A spectacular view to the Franconia Ridge, Mts. Lafayette, Lincoln and Liberty (far left), from a few hundred feet below the summit I heard a single shrill "veer" call of a Bicknell's Thrush (always a prize).

South Twin Mtn (left), Galehead (for ground), the heart of the Pemigewassett Wildness and "the Bonds" to the right.

Owl's Head Mtn below center with Flume and Liberty on the right horizon.

Another shot of Owl's Head and Flume.

There was once a fire tower on the Garfield Summit, perhaps watchmen caught napping on the job had to "walk the plank"?

The tiger stripe pattern along the western flank of North Twin was quite remarkable, it appeared to be a pattern of dead and live trees.

I always get a laugh while reading the AMC White Mountain Guide (28th edition), because time after time it mentions views from various points as being "among the best in the White Mountains". Of course there are many spectacular vistas in "The Whites" , from high remote peaks, lower hill tops and road side stops.....and this day Garfield was among the very best!

Worcester County Tour 5/28

Chuck, Paul and I birded from 2:15Am to 9Pm on Saturday for a Worcester County big day effort. While none of us had ever done a Worcester County "specific" big day before, we have enough long term knowledge of the area to "throw together" a decent route. Perhaps we will do a few more of these in the years to come and refine the process, perhaps others will do the same?

Wetland off Turnpike Road in Royalston.
Our first birds were Song Sparrow, Eastern Whip-poor-will and Barred Owl at Birch Hill Dam in South Royalston. We came up empty on a few other owling spots in the area, and continued on to Turnpike Road in Royaston, which abuts Priest Brook and some nice open marshy space. Key prizes in this area included American Bittern, Ruffed Grouse, Alder Flycatcher (many) and a nice assortment of warblers including Magnolia, Black-throated Green (and Blue), Nashville, Blackburnian and Northern Waterthrush along with Veery and Hermit Thrush. Next we headed to Royalston hoping for Evening Grosbeak and perhaps Pine Siskin, while we missed those; Blackpoll Warbler, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Least Flycatcher were tallied.
Female Hooded Merganser in a backyard nest box, our only "hoodie" of the day!

Prospect Hill Road in Royalston, if Paul heads any further north he'll be in New Hampshire!

In route to the Gardner Airport we pickup Savannah Sparrow at the old Fernald School and a flyover female Common Merganser was a real bonus! At the airport our target Horned Lark was spotted on a runway, Prairie Warblers and Field Sparrows were heard but we missed Dark-eyed Junco. Onto the Ware River Water Shed, another key area were a very grudging Golden-crowned Kinglet finally sang, we added Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Canada and Blue-winged Warblers and Eastern Bluebird to name a few.

The Rte 56 overlook of the Worcester Airport yielded an Eastern Meadowlark, but no American Kestrel, two species that have declined in our area over the past few decades. After a "healthy" lunch at Hot Dog Annies we continued south into Chalton's "Water's Edge" were Louisiana Waterthrush, Wood Thrush and Indigo Bunting were added then a Yellow-throated Vireo at Oxford's "Greenbriar" and the off to Uxbridge for a Worm-eating Warbler. We missed both the Worm-eating Warbler and Orchard Oriole there but added Ring-billed Gull and a lingering Solitary Sandpiper.

We decided to avoid downtown Worcester for the nesting Peregrine Falcons and headed for Westboro's nesting Osprey and Mute Swans (which we still didn't have yet). On the way we picked up Grasshopper Sparrow and Northern Mockingbird in Sutton and a Great Black-backed Gull in Milbury, this a surprise as very few linger in Worcester County after their breeding season commences. In Westboro we'd get the Osprey and Mute Swans quickly, but a Herring Gull was a nice surprise, we'd only get one Herring and Black-backed Gull for the day!

We were now headed back north to Wachusett Reservoir were Bald Eagle, Common Loon, Spotted Sandpiper and a "bonus" Bonepart's Gull were added. Our total stood at 114 species, but daylight was getting short, but we still had Pine Hill Road in Lancaster and Bolton Flats were we expected to add a few species such as shorebirds, marsh birds and perhaps a surprise or two. We hit the Pine Hill Road WMA but the territorial Vesper Sparrows were not singing, so we quickly headed for Bolton Flats with the expectation of returning to Pine Hill right at dusk.

At Bolton we quickly added Bank Swallow, Amercian Black Duck, Northern Shoveler (a bonus) and Blue-winged Teal (another bonus)! A few Greater Yellowlegs, 1 Least Sandpiper, 2 Semipalmated Plovers and a calling Virginia Rail were added shortly after then we waded through some deeper water and found the Red-necked Phalarope that bart Kamp had mentioned (see previous post). Despite being on a big day effort we lingered to enjoy the handsome phalarope and shortly after picked up a Lesser Yellowlegs and lastly a Marsh Wren. The previously reported Common Moorhen nor the Sora called while we were present and as darkness was approaching we headed back to Pine Hill Road, only a short distance away.

The wind had subsided in the past few hours and listening conditions were perfect, the only noise we had to contend with were the buzzing blood-thirsty mosquitoes! Soon we heard American Woodcock calling, then Vesper Sparrow, soon the whip-poor-wills started up, further in Grasshopper Sparrows joined the chorus and not to be undone at least 2 Barred Owls called in the distance and our last new bird of the day would be a distant Great-horned Owl that answered a our imitation!

We'd "pack it in" about 9PM with 128 species for the day, we had looked for something in the 125 to 135 range, so we were very pleased with the effort and remain optimistic that higher totals are within reach with a little more route refinement and scouting of more key and uncommon species.

Our list for the day:
Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Wood Duck
American Black Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Grouse, Ruffed
Wild Turkey
Virginia Rail
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
GreaterYellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
SolitarySandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Red-necked Phalarope
American Woodcock
Bonaparte’s Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
Barred Owl
Eastern Whip-poor-will
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Alder Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Blue-headed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Horned Horned
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Blue-winged Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Redstart, American Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Canada Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardina
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
Purple Finch
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Red-necked Phalarope (Bolton Flats 5/28)

Chuck Caron, Paul Meleski and I were concluding our Worcester County big day effort, at Bolton Flats last evening and crossed paths with Bart Kamp, as he was heading back to his car. What I thought a bit odd was he was not carrying a scope. The Mystery was soon solved, he'd left his scope in the field to get his phone (in his car), to notify a few local birders of a Red-necked Phalarope in the muddy corn fields. We continued in, and soon had the handsome phalarope in sight.
A few digi-scope shots:
Working between the corn stubble.

It moved into the open a bit...

Looking away

This was a Worcester County life bird for me and my 3rd species of phalarope for the county. Including the Wilson's, in Sterling, last summer and the "storm driven" Reds from mid May 2006, which included a "wreck" (a relative term) of 11 on Wachusett Reservoir on 5/13/2006.

Mt Watatic, Bolton and Wachusett Reservoir...

Karin and I took a hike up Mt. Watatic Sunday, while the weather was dreary the rain held off and the short hike was very pleasant. Many of the spruce trees near the summit held a heavy load of new cones, so perhaps these might attract some crossbills, once they mature in the fall. abundant Red Spruce cones.

A close up...
Blueberry were flowering...time to pick in about 6 weeks!

Painted Trillium

A Willet was reported from Bolton Flats and while common on our coastal marshes, such as Plum Island they are exceedingly rare inland! Superbowl of Birding team mate, Rod Jenkins found it and to boot....he heard a King Rail at the same time!

I made a visit during the week, while I did not see the Willet nor hear the King Rail, there were other nice birds in the muddy fields. 14 Semipalmated Plovers, 5 Greater Yellowlegs, 3 Spotted Sandpipers, 22 Least Sandpipers and 2 Short-billed Dowitchers (originally found by Alan Marble) made a nice assortment of inland shorebirds.

One of 14 Semi Plovers ...

A very handsome Short-billed Dowitcher.

I hoped for a tern species at Wachusett Reservoir, Bart Kamp had two Black Terns recently, but none were to be seen. A large raft of tightly "packed" waterfowl in the distance turned out to be Brant! I estimated about 100, certainly one of the largest spring occurances of this species on record, for Worcester County! Bart Kamp had also seen them a little earlier and the birds took flight and set down again, while in flight he was able to get an accurate count of 133. Paul Meleski had seen the same group of birds and estimated 70-80, but they were so close together it was impossible to get an exact count.

A long range digi-scope photo of Brant on Wachusett Reservoir.

A few other "good" birds on Wachusett were a Horned Grebe (in breeding plumage) and 14 White-winged Scoters.

Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak digi-scoped from the deck at home.

Horned Grebe (Westminster) 5/10

While scanning Round Meadow Pond, in Westminster, for swallows late this afternoon, I notice a Horned Grebe in breeding plumage. It is not too often I have seen this species in breeding plumage at such close range. Some of the digi-scoped photos are below.

Also skimming the water were Barn (~10), Tree (~20), Northern Rough-winged (~5) and Bank Swallows (~40). Yesterday was the general arrival for Bank Swallows in my local patch, as I'd seen none (this year) before despite looking intently, but about 30 were feeding over the pond.

and a last shot of this little gem, compair with their none-breeding plumage from early November of 2009 at Quabbin Reservoir!

Also of note, one of the Bald Eagle pair (with a slight dark mask) was present this evening, a neighbor stopped by to let me know they were viewing the bird from their deck.