Date: 1/26/25 3:17 pm From: Bob Littlefield <blbeach...> Subject: Re: [NHBirds] Digest for - 4 updates in 4 topics
No I'm not going to apply to it until at least know more about it. If it's
on the first floor I might be interested. Would be really nice to hear
anything from Christine. But I will look into it tomorrow a little bit
deeper
On Sun, Jan 26, 2025, 5:39 PM <nhbirds...> wrote:
> <nhbirds...>
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> - Twitchers out of the Rye in the Superbowl
> <#m_-535208043308054366_group_thread_0> - 1 Update
> - Bald eagle buddies <#m_-535208043308054366_group_thread_1> - 1 Update
> - Broadwing hawks at Superbowl of Birding 2025
> <#m_-535208043308054366_group_thread_2> - 1 Update
> - 4th & Longspurs Superbowl Results - 78 Species!
> <#m_-535208043308054366_group_thread_3> - 1 Update
>
> Twitchers out of the Rye in the Superbowl
> <http://groups.google.com/group/nhbirds/t/7340a9f18fb07db6?utm_source=digest&utm_medium=email> > birdrecords <birdrecords...>: Jan 26 09:29PM
>
> Posted by New Hampshire Bird Records because I am having trouble with my
> NHBirds email.
> Becky Suomala
>
> The Twitchers out of the Rye had a great day yesterday and did pretty well
> considering the year. There were four of us, Becky Suomala (captain), Susan
> Wrisley (driver), Jenna Rosen (navigator), and Kathryn Frieden
> (chronicler). We were entirely in the town of Hampton, NH and were hoping
> that some of the birds we scouted would still be there. This is the fifth
> year the Twitchers have done Hampton and the 15th year I have participated
> in the Superbowl (not including the year I counted in Antarctica as a fund
> raiser in 2023).
>
> The highlight was definitely the American Bittern which Susan Wrisley
> spotted while we were out scouting on Thursday. It took us four tries to
> find it yesterday, and a push from the Broadwing Hawks whose report made us
> look extra hard for the bird. It was tucked back along a bank, invisible
> from nearly all sides, including the street. Our second five-pointer was
> American Pipit, but the Broadwings scooped us on that also when we made a
> strategic error and waited for the sun to appear at dawn.
>
> We had Barred and Great Horned Owl, Razorbill and Black Guillemot, all
> three "expected" shorebird species (never a sure thing), Lapland Longspur
> with the Horned Larks, and Snow Buntings at Hampton Beach State Park
> (absent when we scouted), all the winter seabirds expected from shore,
> Winter Wren (only seen once before by the Twitchers in Rye), and all the
> one-point birds on the official Superbowl checklist except Mute Swan (and
> nearly all the 2-pointers).
>
> Total species: 65 (one short of our Hampton record of 66)
> Total points: 109 (Hampton high 119)
> We'll find out later tonight if we won the Townie Award. Last year a team
> from Massachusetts won it.
>
> Biggest disappointments:
> The Peregrine Falcon that flew up to its perch on the Hampton water tower
> at 5:03 pm - just after the end of the competition.
> Missing the 5-point Chipping Sparrow in Hampton despite four visits
> (although I don't know of any team that found it).
>
> Misses:
> Wood Duck - scouted bird present on January 23 (I don't think anyone else
> found it.)
> Cooper's Hawk
> Hairy Woodpecker
> Pileated Woodpecker (scouted)
> Brown Creeper
> Red-winged Blackbird (scouted)
> Fish Crow and Merlin - seen by the Broadwings at the Hampton Cemetery
> which we visited 4 times
>
> As usual, we were raising money for New Hampshire Bird Records and NH
> Audubon:
> https://nhaudubon.org/make-a-donation-to-twitchers/ > Thanks to those who already made a donation or sent a fun pledge (e.g. a
> bonus for each alcid species, bonus per 5-point species, bonus for
> new-to-the-Twitcher birds).
>
> Kathryn's much-anticipated and enjoyed full summary of the day's
> adventures will come out as soon as possible.
>
> Becky Suomala
> for The Twitchers out of the Rye
> Back to top <#m_-535208043308054366_digest_top>
> Bald eagle buddies
> <http://groups.google.com/group/nhbirds/t/413e980868a3b03d?utm_source=digest&utm_medium=email> > John Ranta <john.f.ranta...>: Jan 26 03:40PM -0500
>
> Went ice fishing with my grandkids today on Halfmoon Pond in Hancock. A
> pair of adult bald eagles soon joined us, circling the pond for a while,
> before they settled in a couple of nearby pine trees. They spent an hour or
> more perched, calling occasionally. Then they took off, circled the pond
> one more time, and flew off east.
>
> John Ranta
> Back to top <#m_-535208043308054366_digest_top>
> Broadwing hawks at Superbowl of Birding 2025
> <http://groups.google.com/group/nhbirds/t/2d1c1f233cf0df4?utm_source=digest&utm_medium=email> > stuart varney <stueymcv...>: Jan 26 03:12AM
>
> Team Captain Stuart Varney, Eric Masterson, Greg Tillman, Chris McPherson
> and Cliff Seifer.
> Proudlyrepresenting the Harris Center for Conservation Education in
> Hancock NewHampshire, the team known as the Broadwings soared into action a
> little after5am. First stop was Wentworth Coolidge mansion/Creek farm for
> owling. We wereproud of our screech owl calls. Convincing enough to get a
> response from anearby group of Canada geese, but no owls. We left the area
> as soon as teamMirick turned up to avoid being heckled for our amateur owl
> calls.
> After a returnto base camp to retrieve some forgotten binoculars, we
> conjured up a GreatHorned Owl at Marsh Pond in Rye – our only owl. Stops at
> Rye recreation areaand Love lane encountered other teams but no owls. We
> were happy with oursolitary owl, so our focus changed to 5 point birds.
> First team to report afive point bird gets a bonus 3 points, so we headed
> to the beach at Plaice Covefor pre-dawn American Pipit. The team had
> scouted where and when the Pipetswould appear and were ecstatic when the
> first Pipit appeared just as planned.
>
>
>
> Next stop wasfor American Bittern at Meadow pond, but we dipped. A
> consolation heron wasfound instead. Another dip at the high street cemetery
> for Chipping Sparrow wascushioned by a fish crow calling as it flew over.
>
>
>
> Greg Tillmanhas scouted an Eastern Phoebe at Depot road the week before,
> but theperishingly cold weather of the previous week was likely too much
> for it andagain we dipped. This time the dip was softened by a nice
> pick-ups of raven andhooded merganser.
>
>
>
> With high tideat 8 am, our next priority was shore birds on the breakwater
> at Hampton BeachState Park. Purple sandpipers and sanderlings (for the
> latter we had to headacross the bridge to the other side of the channel)
> were found in addition tothe trifecta of Snow buntings, Horned larks and
> Lapland Longspurs.
>
>
>
> Eagle-eyesMcPherson spotted a Peregrine resting on platform in the marsh.
> A pull over tolet an ambulance go by yielded a road side Coopers hawk. Next
> was by far ourmost pleasant stop of the day. Our thanks goes to Karen and
> Bob Dudra forwelcoming us into their home in Exeter to view Sophie the
> Baltimore Oriole whohas been visiting their feeder this winter, and a bonus
> Pine warbler, served upwith warm muffins.
>
> Gilman park gotus Pintail and Teal. We arrived at Donna Drive too late for
> the Black Vultureswho were already out and about. We zipped up to Stratham.
> Savannah sparrows atStuart Farm. Common Mergansers at Chapmans landing. A
> stop at Great BayDiscovery Center to pick out distant Scaup surprised us
> with Iceland Gull and aSapsucker.
>
> More zipping,this time back to Hampton for a no-show wood duck at Hurd
> farm. A winter wrenplaying in the stream made us happy. Swamp sparrows at
> Blake’s Lane. At leasteight or so more swamp sparrows at Applecrest farm
> but the previously scoutedField sparrows may not have survived the prior
> week’s cold. Dip #2 for chippingsparrow at the cemetery in Hampton. We
> almost had a high speed drive-by AmericanBittern at the Meadow Pond
> location, but only two of the team were payingattention. An so, not only
> did we have to slow down, we had to stop to let theothers out to see this
> remarkable monstrosity of a bird.
>
> We headed northwhile picking up the usual ocean birds. Kudos to Eric for
> picking out aKingfisher at Rye Harbor UNDERNEATH the dock he was standing
> on. Still not surehow he did this.
>
> A search forTurkeys at Odiorne was proving difficult until we realized
> there was onestanding real still only feet from us.
>
>
>
> Razorbill wasthe only likely ocean bird remaining. Luckily one of our team
> has a locationwhere you can’t miss them. Ever. He has never ever not seen
> one at FortConstitution. Until today.
>
> The sun wasgetting lower. Last thing to do was head back to Exeter for
> another try atBlack Vulture, stopping briefly to admire the merlin atop the
> pine tree snag inSouth St Cemetery,. We found a Black Vulture in Exeter and
> it was to be ourlast bird of the day. Our team all had a good time and we
> found a lot of goodbirds. Biggest misses were:
>
> Golden CrownedKinglet
>
> HairyWoodpecker
>
> Pileatedwoodpecker
>
> Hermit thrush
>
> ‘Brown Creeper’– Eric claims to have heard one but no-one believed him
> haha.
>
>
> We finishedwith a decent 78 birds in total, with 165 points. Four five
> pointer birds,three of which we got the bonus three points for being the
> first to see it(American Pipit, Baltimore Oriole, and American Bittern).
> Thanks Stuart Varney
> Back to top <#m_-535208043308054366_digest_top>
> 4th & Longspurs Superbowl Results - 78 Species!
> <http://groups.google.com/group/nhbirds/t/10fbb4e5648d2530?utm_source=digest&utm_medium=email> > Steve Mirick <smirick...>: Jan 25 08:04PM -0500
>
> Jane and I joined up with Paul Lacourse and Kurk Dorsey today for the
> "Superbowl of Birding" sponsored by the Joppa Flats Education Center of
> Massachusetts Audubon. This is the 22nd anniversary for this competitive
> event. The event is a fun way of beating the winter cold and getting
> out and finding birds in Essex County, MA and Rockingham County, NH.
> Our team name is the "4th and Longspurs". We've now competed in NH for
> 19 years of this event having missed 3 due to a broken elbow and covid.
> As we've done in the past years, we participated in the category of
> "Rockingham County, NH only". A weighted valuation system determines the
> winner, where the rarity of the species determines the number of points
> awarded.
>
> Unlike the last couple of winters, this winter has been very
> cold....more like the older days. Very little snow so far this winter,
> but temperatures have been colder than normal. Today continued this
> trend. Not sure about others, but our car thermometer bottomed out at
> -1 this morning!!! Fortunately, the wind wasn't bad early and the
> temperature rebounded into the upper 20's later in the day. Lots of
> sun, and the winds increased making it uncomfortable on the coast. But
> the seas were good and visibility offshore was good.
>
> We've found "good" birds in short supply as compared to the last few
> years and most birds have been at feeders. Our scouting efforts have
> been generally not too successful. Fortunately others have had some
> luck scouting and finding birds and we capitalized on a few nice birds!!
>
> We started the day on a VERY OMINOUS note by getting pulled over by the
> police at 4:15 AM in Exeter on our way to meet Kurk and Paul!!!!!!
> Failure to come to a complete stop at a stop sign!!!! Fortunately, the
> officer was in a good mood and when we taught him about "birding" and
> the Superbowl event, he decided not to give me a ticket! Phewww!
>
> Owling turned out to be very successful for us. The first being a
> Barred Owl that came in to my Saw-whet Owl toots. We followed this with
> 2 spectacular Screech Owls calling to each other giving the whistle and
> toot calls simultaneously at Massacre Marsh in Rye! And then we got a
> nice calling Great Horned Owl at Goss Farm in Rye as it started getting
> light. I completely missed this species in 2024! Dawn was successful
> as we caught one of the Black Vultures coming out of the roost in
> Exeter, and then we timed it right for a home owner who feeds the
> massive group of Turkeys off Linden Road in Exeter. They were running
> in from everywhere as he sprinkled corn. We lucked out with a pair of
> Pileated Woodpeckers that landed over our car, but dipped on a few other
> species. We managed BOTH Pintail and Green-winged Teal at Gilman Park
> in Exeter and then zoomed up to Newmarket. One of my personal
> highlights was getting BOTH a Belted Kingfisher and a Great Blue Heron
> in this TINY little rivulet of a stream, but remarkably had open water.
> We also got a key 5-pointer when we got a Chipping Sparrow off Maple
> Street in Newmarket. One (of two) that I had scouted a couple of days
> ago. Working our way back south, we managed our only Yellow-bellied
> Sapsucker (now not all that rare) AND a key Hermit Thrush off Dearborn
> Road in Greenland.
>
> Then things got more difficult......we zoomed down and MISSED the Wood
> Duck that's been present in Hampton and MISSED that Baltimore Oriole in
> Exeter. So....off to the coast. We had good luck along the
> coast.....got Horned Lark, Snow Bunting and Lapland Longspur at Hampton
> Beach SP with a bonus Northern Harrier! And we got the awesome American
> Bittern (first ever for us on a Superbowl!) found a couple of days ago
> by Susan Wrisley (but it took us two attempts and wouldn't have gotten
> it without a nice phone call from Becky!) and we got American Pipits
> that have been at Plaice Cove. One of the other highlights was stopping
> at Ragged Neck in Rye where Holly Bauer had found a Dovekie earlier in
> the afternoon. I wasn't optimistic we would get them, but Kurk and I
> simultaneously got on TWO DIFFERENT Dovekies at the same time!
>
> We ended the day with an excellent total of 78 species. This is well
> below our record high of 87, and below our total for recent years, but I
> think an excellent total considering the winter. We tied the total
> species count of Eric Masterson's team, but I think they will barely
> edge us out on the point total. Official results won't come out until
> tomorrow night.
>
>
> Total List
> -----------------
> Canada Goose
> American Black Duck
> Mallard
> Northern Pintail - Gilman Park in Exeter
> Green-winged Teal - Gilman Park in Exeter
> Lesser Scaup - One lonely bird at Exeter WTP
> Common Eider
> Surf Scoter
> White-winged Scoter
> Black Scoter
> Long-tailed Duck
> Bufflehead
> Common Goldeneye
> Hooded Merganser - Taylor River in Hampton
> Common Merganser - Squamscott River and continuing male at Odiorne.
> Red-breasted Merganser
> Wild Turkey
> Common Loon
> Horned Grebe
> Red-necked Grebe
> Great Cormorant - Concord Point
> Great Blue Heron - Two total for the day.
> Turkey Vulture
> Bald Eagle - At least 4 for the day including PAIR SITTING ON Osprey
> nest at Chapman's Landing. Clearly setting up territory.
> Northern Harrier - 1 at Hampton Beach SP
> Cooper's Hawk
> Red-shouldered Hawk - TWO for the day. Both in Newmarket.
> Red-tailed Hawk - Remarkable total for the day and at least 3 or 4 pairs
> sitting together....spring is in the air!
> Purple Sandpiper - 3 at Little Boar's Head rocks.
> Dunlin - 49 in Hampton harbor
> Ring-billed Gull
> Herring Gull
> Great Black-backed Gull
> Black Guillemot - 5 total for the day.
> Rock Pigeon
> Mourning Dove
> Eastern Screech-Owl - 2 calling at Massacre Marsh in Rye.
> Great Horned Owl - 1 calling at Goss Farm in Rye
> Barred Owl - 1 off McIntyre Road in Newington.
> Belted Kingfisher - 1 for the day.
> Red-bellied Woodpecker
> Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1 for the day.
> Downy Woodpecker
> Hairy Woodpecker - Just one for the day.
> Northern Flicker - About 3 for the day.
> Pileated Woodpecker - Two together in tree in Kensington.
> Blue Jay
> American Crow
> Horned Lark
> Black-capped Chickadee
> Tufted Titmouse
> Red-breasted Nuthatch - RARE SURPRISE! Scarce this winter on Seacoast.
> We had a single at feeder off New Road in Newmarket
> White-breasted Nuthatch
> Winter Wren - One scouted bird in Newmarket off Mastin Road.
> Carolina Wren
> Golden-crowned Kinglet - One only. Staked out bird in pines at "Spotted
> Towhee" spot on coast.
> Eastern Bluebird
> Hermit Thrush - Surprise bird with Sapsucker in Greenland. Scarce for
> us this winter.
> American Robin
> Northern Mockingbird
> European Starling
> Cedar Waxwing - RARE SURPRISE! Scarce this winter on Seacoast. 6 or so
> off Bay Road in Newmarket.
> Lapland Longspur - At least one continues at Hampton Beach SP
> Snow Bunting
> American Tree Sparrow
> Savannah Sparrow - Lots of them, but only at Stuart Farm where we had
> easily 12.
> Song Sparrow
> White-throated Sparrow
> Dark-eyed Junco
> Northern Cardinal
> House Finch
> American Goldfinch
> House Sparrow
> American Bittern - One of the birds of the day. Continuing at north end
> of Meadow Pond in Hampton
> Dovekie - The other bird of the day. TWO of them at Ragged Neck in Rye.
> American Pipit - 6 or so at Plaice Cove in Hampton.
> Chipping Sparrow - 1 off Maple Street in Newmarket.
> Black Vulture - 1 off Donna Drive in Exeter.
>
> Big Misses
> --------------
> Wood Duck - Female at Hurd Farm was a disappointing no-show.
> Greater Scaup - Great Bay was a frozen Popsicle with no open water in
> scopable distance.
> Red-throated Loon - Rare miss, but they've become scarce with the cold
> winter since the beginning of January.
> Sanderling - None
> Razorbill - TOUGH MISS. I had two clear birds at Pulpit Rocks in Rye,
> but no one else could get on them. A rare miss.
> Merlin - One 2 days ago.
> Peregrine Falcon - No luck with Hampton bird.
> Common Raven - TOUGH MISS. Kurk and I heard a bird in Newmarket, but
> Paul and Jane didn't get it.
> Brown Creeper - Not many around.
> Gray Catbird - Scouted bird in Newmarket by Kurk was a no-show.
> Yellow-rumped Warbler - Scouted bird in Greenland was a no-show,
> Swamp Sparrow - We HAD FOUR of them in Portsmouth Hospital marsh last
> weekend. None today!
> Blackbirds - Nope
> Baltimore Oriole - Missed the one in Exeter. Bad time of day and not
> much bird activity at the feeder. Had to keep moving.
>
> Steve Mirick (for the 4th and Longspurs)
> Bradford, MA
> Back to top <#m_-535208043308054366_digest_top>
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