Church St parking lot bird bonanza

[RAQb...@aol.com]

After spending most of the day with the Concord Bird and Wildlife Club at Plum Island, MA with good but not great results (16 species of warblers including 100+ Redstarts, and several each Blackpoll and Wilson's) we moved into NH late in the afternoon and spent a memorable hour+ at the Church St. parking lot in Hampton.

 

From 4:15- 5:30 pm we recorded the following list of birds WITHOUT MOVING more than 50 feet. A small oak tree in the center of the windbreak was lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree with three Scarlet Tanagers on the top and a cascade of about 20-30 warblers of about ten species festooning the rest of it. After 30 minutes watching this amazing show I decided to move the 50 feet and saw a Swainson's Thrush, Lincoln's Sparrow, Veery, Northern Waterthrush, and Eastern Towhee all essentially in one field of view of the binoculars, plus the expected flurry of Redstarts and Parulas. And all of these birds were on the ground in clear view. After another ten minutes or so we realized there were even more birds on the ground behind the trees and crept in for better views. When I occasionally tore my eyes away from the warbler show there seemed like something interesting flew by.

 

HIGHLIGHTS from an hour plus at Church St. parking lot in Hampton: (all numbers conservative)

 

Common Tern- a dozen or so flying over the salt marsh

Chimney Swift- at least three overhead. Migrating?

Ruby-throated Hummingbird- several including a male in courtship/territorial flight. Resident?

Empidonax flycatcher- one. The only flycatcher there and no time to study it. Though it had a very bold eye ring so I suspect it was a Least.

Red-eyed Vireo- at least 8

PURPLE MARTIN- three. One male and two females flew over. Where were they heading?

Bank Swallow- probable. With the martins and also half-lost?

Veery- two. Frequently seen with the Swainson's etc.

Swainson's Thrush- at least three.

American Robin- several seemed to think they belonged with the other thrushes/ground birds.

Gray Catbird- 20+.

 

OK now is where the numbers get interesting. Trying to be realistic and conservative:

 

Northern Waterthrush- 2.  

Black-and-white Warbler- 8

Nashville- ZERO. Where were they today? The Shoals? None in Mass. either.

Common Yellowthroat- 25+. Many females.

American Redstart- 40+. Mostly first year males and females.

Northern Parula- 35+. This is probably woefully low. Very few males.

Magnolia Warbler- 20+. Mostly males.

BAY-BREASTED WARBLER- a pair. Seen together at point blank range.

Blackburnian Warbler- one or two stunning males.

Yellow Warbler- 12. Presumably almost all migrants.

Chestnut-sided Warbler- 3 or 4.

Blackpoll Warbler- at least 5 including several females, one of which had bright orange legs!

Black-throated Blue Warbler- 3 or 4. All females (but we had seen a few males in Mass.)

Black-throated Green Warbler- at least 3.

Canada Warbler- ZERO. 5-6 in Mass.

Wilson's Warbler- at least three including one female.

Eastern Towhee- one or two males.

Lincoln Sparrow- at least 3.

Scarlet Tanager- one male and two females.

House Finch- several. The only obvious local residents.

 

It will be interesting to see how many are there tomorrow morning. That will be a long scope shot from here in my office in...

 

Webstah, NH

Bob Quinn