Despite this weekends fairly high temperatures, even for up in northern New England, my good buddy Kirk and I just had to make our first stop of the year to
Pondicherry NWR in Jefferson, NH. I had been itching for weeks to get up there, for I consider this wonderful haven of mine to be my "paradise" in all of New England so far!! And so, I met up with Mr. Marshall in Burlington, MA by 6:30 am, and it was at 9:30 am that we arrived at Pondicherry!!! We certainly figured the flies would be horrendous, and they did not disappoint. They were still bearable, but they seemed to love Kirk far more than me, which is certainly a good spate of fortune on my part.
Kirk and I just love being up there, for it truly is "god's country" as the saying goes.....breathtaking panoramic views, crisp air with a hint of fresh pine aloft! We never know what to expect when we visit Pondicherry, but it never disappoints! The birds were hard to get on because it was so sunny and of course, so much foliage. Still, we had a few good birds. An
Alder Flycatcher and
American Kestrel were our first treats, though the Alder was heard only, for we all know how well Empids tend to blend in with their surroundings. We were hoping, when we got down to "Big" Cherry Pond that we would chance upon Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Chestnut-sided Warblers again, but alas, none such species were seen this go around. We then walked down to Moorhen Marsh, and sadly, no Marsh Wrens either, though a female Common Yellowthroat was chipping away at us and and displaying to protect her nest, a very peculiar and interesting show!
On our way back to Cherry Pond, a Common Loon was sighted, much to our pleasure, before us heading off to Little Cherry Pond to see if the pair of
Black-backed Woodpeckers were still around. Sadly, this was not the case. However, on our way over to Little Cherry, we came across a bunch of
Hermit Thrushes and a warbler of some question. There may have been 2 warblers in the same vicinity, for the bird that my binocs were sighted upon looked by all accounts to be a
Canada Warbler. My good buddy, according to all that he saw, was a
Hooded Warbler. I am not sure if we were looking at the same bird, and my observation skills were in error if so, but he was adamant it was a Hooded. But, I just have to go with my gut here based on what I saw, though at the time I did not protest this to Kirk. Thusly, I firmly believe what I saw was a Canada. For all intents and purposes, I hope it was another bird he was on and it was indeed a Hooded, for that would be a Lifer for him (would've been for me as well). As it is, the Canada is in fact a Lifer for me. If he reads this post, of which Kirk might indeed, he may be upset with me, but I just have to go with me gut on this. I saw a yellow throat and breast, grayish back and the black necklace that Kirk fondly calls dribbled chocolate sauce that is on the chest of the Canada. He firmly believes that bird he saw had the yellow face with black mask, which definitely indicated a Hooded. Here is hoping we were both on different birds!
Well, enough of that, after the warblers we chanced upon, we were treated to 3 river otters swimming across Little Cherry Pond, though sadly, no Black-backed Woodpeckers. That is alright though, we were able to come upon them last year while on the trail leading to Little Cherry!
The icing on the cake for us though was just before we came back to the parking lot. I saw a large black mammal about 75 feet in front of us dart across the path after giving us a quick glance. At first I thought it was someone's dog (Pondicherry was kinda busy that day, at least the most active in terms of visitors that we have ever experienced). But I quickly decided it was a black bear! And to prove it, another black bear darted across the path after the first one!!! The first live black bears I have ever seen without being killed by me (accidently killed off of Route 5 in the NEK of VT, hitting it with my old Chevy Celebrity wagon that I had back in 2001). The bears were the first ones Kirk had ever seen either!! What a way to end the day, that is for sure! I highly recommend everybody goes up to Pondicherry at least once a year! Happy birding to all!!
Location: Pondicherry NWR, Jefferson, NH
Observation date: 6/19/10
Notes: The Black-billed Cuckoo, Least and Alder Flycatchers were heard only.
Number of species: 37
Wood Duck - Aix sponsa 1
Common Loon - Gavia immer 1
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias 3
Northern Harrier - Circus cyaneus 1
American Kestrel - Falco sparverius 1
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura 2
Black-billed Cuckoo - Coccyzus erythropthalmus 1 (heard only)
Hairy Woodpecker - Picoides villosus 1
Alder Flycatcher - Empidonax alnorum 1 (heard only)
Least Flycatcher - Empidonax minimus 1 (heard only)
Great Crested Flycatcher - Myiarchus crinitus 2
Eastern Kingbird - Tyrannus tyrannus 2
Red-eyed Vireo - Vireo olivaceus 2
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata 4
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos 3
Tree Swallow - Tachycineta bicolor 3
Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus 6
Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor 4
Red-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta canadensis 2
Veery - Catharus fuscescens 3
Hermit Thrush - Catharus guttatus 5
American Robin - Turdus migratorius 4
Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensus 1
Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos 1
Cedar Waxwing - Bombycilla cydrorum 14
Yellow Warbler - Dendroica petechia 2
Black-throated Blue Warbler - Dendroica caerulescens 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - Dendroica coronata coronata 1
Black-and-white Warbler - Mniotilta varia 3
Ovenbird - Seiurus aurocapilla 1
Common Yellowthroat - Geothlypis trichas 4
Canada Warbler - Wilsonia canadensis 1
Chipping Sparrow - Spizella passerina 2
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia 3
Swamp Sparrow - Melospiza georgiana 2
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus 4
Purple Finch - Carpodacus purpureus 1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/massaudubon/)
