Date: 5/18/25 5:21 pm From: 'Steve Mirick' via NHBirds <nhbirds...> Subject: [NHBirds] Statewide Big Day on Friday - 154 species
Jane and I teamed up with Ethan Ring on Friday, 5/16/25 for a Big Day
effort. Warm and humid with highs around 82. Met Ethan at 2 AM in Salem
where we easily got Virginia Rail and Sora. Then headed north to Concord
where we easily got Whippoorwill, barely got Woodcock, but dipped on
Common Nighthawk. Then drove north to Pondicherry and Trudeau Road
where we got all the basic north country birds, but nothing special.
Missed Ruffed Grouse (again) and missed YB Flycatcher (not back yet?),
but got Red Crossbills at two locations.
Heading south we quickly got both Grasshopper Sparrow and Vesper Sparrow
sitting on the fence at Concord Airport. Then off to Pawutckaway where
we got a singing LA Waterthrush and filled in some more holes. We drove
to Exeter and quickly got a Ruddy Duck, but missed the Lesser Scaup. A
strategic move which cost us about an hour, but got us two great birds
with a calling Least Bittern in mid-afternoon and a nice Pied-billed
Grebe off the Newfields Rail Trail.
Heading to the coast, the wind was now brisk out of the SSE, but we
still managed to get a lot including bonus Sanderling and lots of
Northern Gannets at Hampton Beach SP. Moving north, we ticked off all
the ducks and loons and got a bonus Horned Grebe and an American
Oystercatcher at Rye Ledge. Finishing the day, Odiorne Point SP was
dead for birds (in stark contrast to the next day's fallout!), but
fortunately we filled a few gaps in our list and Ethan picked out a
Tennessee way up in the tree tops. At Pease, we got our last bird, a
Meadowlark, but dipped on Upland Sandpiper finishing the day at 8:00
PM. 18 hours of birding!!!
We ended the day with an impressive 154 species! More impressive is
that if you include birds we found the next day during the coastal
fallout, then we would have had 165 species!!
Complete list
-------------------
Canada Goose
Mute Swan - One continuing lonely bird in North Hampton
Wood Duck
Mallard
American Black Duck
GREATER SCAUP - 4 lingering on Great Bay (but no luck with Lessers at
Exeter)
Common Eider
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
RUDDY DUCK - Female at Exeter WTP
Wild Turkey
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Mourning Dove
Eastern Whip-poor-will
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Virginia Rail
Sora
American Oystercatcher
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Semipalmated Plover
Piping Plover
Short-billed Dowitcher
American Woodcock
Wilson's Snipe - Up north, but more surprising was a very late bird
flushed at Stuart Farm in Newfields.
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Willet
Greater Yellowlegs
Sanderling - Basic plumage bird picked out by Ethan. With big flock of
Dunlin and Purples on Hampton harbor jetty.
Dunlin
Purple Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Ring-billed Gull
American Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Least Tern
Common Tern
Roseate Tern
Pied-billed Grebe - Newfields Rail Trail
HORNED GREBE - Surprise breeding plumage bird along North Beach in Hampton.
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
NORTHERN GANNET - 29+ along the coast. Stready stream of birds moving
south into wind. Big count for date. Mostly 1 year olds.
Double-crested Cormorant
Glossy Ibis - Possible sighting of the hybrid, but no luck with White-face.
LEAST BITTERN - 1 calling as we arrived at Newfields marsh in hot,
humid, mid-afternoon.
Snowy Egret
Great Egret
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Barred Owl
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel - One at Concord Airport.
Merlin - Two for day along coast.
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Alder Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Bank Swallow
Tree Swallow
Purple Martin - Almost missed this species when I drove past Goss Farm!
Had to turn around to go back and get it!
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Golden-crowned Kinglet
White-breasted Nuthatch
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper - Jane and Ethan only.
Northern House Wren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
House Finch
Purple Finch
RED CROSSBILL - At Pondicherry and Trudeau Road.
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
Grasshopper Sparrow - Concord Airport
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-throated Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow - Concord Airport
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Bobolink
Eastern Meadowlark
Orchard Oriole - 1 at Odiorne.
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Ovenbird
Louisiana Waterthrush - 1 singing at Pawtuckaway.
Northern Waterthrush - Jane and Ethan only.
Blue-winged Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Tennessee Warbler - Nice spot by Ethan of bird at Odiorne.
Nashville Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Canada Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Birds Missed
-----------------
Red-necked Grebe - 3 in Hampton were gone
Lesser Scaup - 4 at Exeter were gone.
Ruffed Grouse
Cuckoos
Common Nighthawk
Upland Sandpiper - Has ANYONE seen any yet this year? Odd.
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Bonaparte's and Laughing Gull
American Bittern
Mississippi Kite
Great Horned Owl
Peregrine Falcon
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - Not back yet?
Willow Flycatcher - Not back yet?
Fish Crow
Cliff Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Swainson's Thrush
Wilson's, Cape May and Bay-breasted Warblers
Indigo Bunting
