Cheshire Run
Pam Hunt
I spent all the daylight hours in Cheshire County today, mostly in the company of my friend Mara Silver from western Mass.
Before we met up I stopped at the parking lot for Pitcher Mt in Stoddard on the off chance of some flyover finches. All I turned up in my 20 minute walk in 4” of snow was a flushed Ruffed Grouse – an auspicious start to the day.
Things were quiet but not dead along Airport Rd in Swanzey, where highlights were a pair of Wood Ducks coming off the Ashuelot to the west, a winter wren, a Swamp Sparrow, and lots of Tree Sparrows. The Krif Road fields in Keene had a flock of ~20 Horned Larks and ~15 Snow Buntings, and a short walk down the nearby rail trail turned up a female kingfisher.
Then we were off to circumnavigate Spofford Lake. Hooded Mergansers were everywhere, with ~80 from a vantage point on the west side. Among them was a single Common Goldeneye, a new county year bird and the 103rd species I’ve seen in all 10 counties this year. Otherwise just the usual waterfowl suspects, plus a Bald Eagle making a pass at a pair of Common Mergansers on the east side.
Landbirds had gotten quiet by the time we got to Hinsdale, but waterfowl did not disappoint. The highlight by far was the two male American Wigeon that “suddenly” appeared in a flock of blacks and Mallards that landed next to some Common Mergansers. There was also a distant flock of ~15 Ring-necked Ducks and a lone Herring Gull. The wigeon had the honor of being my 1700th 2021 NH county tick: the number you get when you add up all the separate county totals. Driving north in Hinsdale, Mara saw a flock of waterfowl toward the Vermont shoreline, so we crossed into Brattleboro to see if we could get a better look. It turns out they were “just” Canada Geese in a setback on the VT side, but while there we took a side road to the river and found a female pintail with a half-dozen Mallards (in the river, and thus in Cheshire County). A Great Blue Heron flew over (VT side) as were leaving.
I stopped again at Spofford Lake on my way home and tallied 118 Hooded Mergansers from the west side, plus 4 Common Loons. The day ended back along airport road with a Great Horned Owl calling in the distance around 4:45.
Overall I found 46 species in the county today (plus a heron in Vermont), and brought Cheshire up to 163 for 2021.
Time to stay local tomorrow, but there might be one more adventure in my this week.
Stay tuned!
Pam Hunt
Penacook
“The most dangerous worldview is the worldview of those who have not viewed the world.”
- Alexander von Humboldt