Everyone loves to look for Snowy Owls, but did you realize that there is a great diversity of birds to see during the New Hampshire winters? The coast hosts many species of ducks, alcids, and loons that migrate south from the arctic regions for the winter and we are their south!
We all look forward to spring and the welcome return of birds as their song fills the air. But there are birds around all year and we’re often surprised to hear them singing in the middle of winter.
“Winter Finches” are those that breed primarily north of New Hampshire and are usually only seen here in the winter where their numbers fluctuate widely in response to food supplies. Read a summary of the finches that came flocking to NH during that pandemic winter in the Winter 2020-21 issue of New Hampshire Bird Records.
Look no further than the southeastern corner of Salem, NH where early explorers of the region applied the name “World’s End” to a pond that marked the outskirts of their known world. Now most often called “World End Pond,” this end of the world site is a birding hotspot.
The Grey Rocks Conservation Area on the north shore of Newfound Lake in Hebron is a former marina now protected by the Newfound Lake Region Association. Its variety of habitats, including wetlands and the Cockermouth River, make it a great birding location.
No swimsuits needed for these beauties! An amazing array of songbirds captured on video as they perform aquatic dances and cavort beneath a gentle cascade of water, may not get an Oscar nod, but would certainly garner a thumb’s up from birders!
Between these two eponymous locations lies a hot-spot for birding. The 4.4 mile Newfields section of the Rockingham Recreational Trail provides great birding spots within reasonable walking distance of several access points.
This bird may look dead, but it’s perfectly fine! It is “sunning” and exposing its preen gland to ultraviolet light for some vitamin D.
Golden-winged, Blue-winged, Brewster’s and Lawrence’s Warblers present an interesting study in hybridization. For example, how is it that a yellow-throated Blue-winged can mate with a black-throated Golden-winged and produce the white-throated Brewster’s?
In a black and white photo of a large white long-necked wading bird, typical identifying characteristics are missing - the legs and feet are submerged, there are no visible head plumes, only the bill is visible. With so little to go on, would you be able to identify this particular bird as a heron or egret?
