Seacoast Chapter Owl Prowl this morning in Durham

[Steve Mirick]

Jane and I led the annual "Owl Prowl" field trip today for the Seacoast
Chapter of NH Audubon.  We starting bright and (very) early, meeting at
4:00 AM in Durham!  The weather today was overcast and not too cold or
windy with temperatures in the 40s. About 14 total birders today which
was a good group.

https://www.seacoastchapter.org/

We walked out to the beautifully quiet forests of Durham Point off
Longmarsh Road in Durham.  We covered just a small area near the end of
the Sweet Trail in a huge area of land that has been protected by
development and owned by a group of several organizations including the
town of Durham, the Nature Conservancy, and the Forest Society. As
always, a beautiful walk in the woods in one of the most beautiful spots
in southeastern NH.

https://www.ci.durham.nh.us/boc_conservation/longmarsh-preserve

The owls refused to fly in (once again).  We may rename this trip next
year as we haven't had visuals of owls in several years!  But we did
have 3 separate Barred Owl hooting and defying views.  And there were
several other nice spring birds including a Pileated Woodpecker, Ospreys
on their nest, Pine Warblers gathering nesting material, a calling
Virginia Rail, and a nice variety of assorted early spring birds.

Wood Duck  6 - Nice scope views of males and females
Mallard  4
American Black Duck  2
Ring-necked Duck  12 - Nice scope views
Wild Turkey  2 - Gobbling in response to owl hoots!
Virginia Rail  1 - Calling and came in close.  Glimpses by a at least
one on our group.
Double-crested Cormorant  1
Great Blue Heron  3
Osprey - Pair at nest site.  One bird carrying in a stick!
Barred Owl  3 - Three separate calling birds.
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Downy Woodpecker  4
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Pileated Woodpecker  1 - Nice views of birding flying by.
Eastern Phoebe  3
Blue Jay  3
American Crow  1
Common Raven  1
Black-capped Chickadee  8 - Including pair working on excavating a nest
hole.
Tufted Titmouse  6
Tree Swallow  5
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  6
Red-breasted Nuthatch  3
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Brown Creeper  5
Eastern Bluebird  3
Hermit Thrush  1 - Calling bird in trail in front of us.
Chipping Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  2
Swamp Sparrow  2 including singing birds in marsh.
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Brown-headed Cowbird  2
Pine Warbler  5 including pair gathering nest material
Yellow-rumped Warbler  2
Northern Cardinal  2

Steve & Jane Mirick
Bradford, MA