Penacook Survey: Sept 21

[Pam Hunt]

This morning's 10k walk around Penacook set a new late September record of 67 species. The highlight was 16 speices of warblers, 15 of which were in the same area about two hours into the walk (in an overgrown area behind some condos that Unity and I call "The Magic Spot"). Today it lived up to its name for sure, yielding 5 Tennessee Warblers, a getting-late Blackburnian, and multiple Blackpolls, Prairies, BT Greens, Parulas, Palms, and Magnolias. A Yellow-rump and 2 Nashvilles were also nice, as were my second Ruby-crowned Kinglets of the fall (first yesterday morning in Boscawen). Sparrows have made inroads in the last week, with White-throats now common, Swamps moving out of breeding areas, and a nice showing of 8 Lincoln's scattered about. Other highlights included 2 Swainson's Thrushes, one each of Cooper's, Sharp-shinned, and Red-shouldered Hawks, and the continued abundance of Red-breasted Nuthatches (21 today, vs.  only 4 White-breasted!).

And breaking news!: The Penacook Survey will be coming to an end in the next couple of months when I move to the south end of Concord. It's been a great run, with 183 species recorded on 854 walks (5551 miles and counting). But have no fear, I've already got a new 5-mile route planned out and hope to test drive it next week while migration is still going strong. We won't be moving until early November, so there are still a few more weeks of good birding in Penacook.

Until next time,
Pam Hunt, Penacook