Date: 5/20/25 5:47 am From: James Smith <jamesdanielsmith04...> Subject: [NHBirds] Seacoast Chapter Odiorne State Park 5/17 - 98 species
Hello all,
Fifteen intrepid birders (including three from Canada!) braved a damp and foggy Saturday morning to join trip leader Ethan Ring and myself for the Seacoast Chapter NH Audobon Odiorne State Park field trip. Their efforts were dearly rewarded, and we were treated with a full-on fallout of migrating birds. This was certainly the most intense fallout Ethan or I have been a part of, and I believe that this was true for almost all the participants in the group. As we gathered in the parking lot before the trip started, there was a constant stream of high-fliers reorienting themselves to the coast. Warblers were dripping from nearly every tree, and even in poor viewing conditions early on, we tallied 60 species before even leaving the southernmost end of the park south of the science center. The numbers of warblers here were tough to comprehend, there were multiple instances of 30+ warblers of 10 different species in close proximity at any one moment. People were getting eyes on a Cape May Warbler, only to be pulled away for Bay-Breasted Warblers the next tree over, to then having to leave that bird early to see a Canada Warbler in the tree after that. It felt as if we had died and gone to birder heaven.
We tripped high-count filters on an incredible 11 species of warblers and 13 species overall! American Redstarts were the most numerous species, with Common Yellowthroats hot on their (red)tails. A few of these tallies may be all-time highs for the park, even while we were trying to be conservative in our estimates. It was routine to have eyes on half a dozen redstarts at once, and even Magnolia Warblers started getting bypassed at some point because we had seen so many. I'd wager most folks saw more Bay-Breasted Warblers on this trip (17!) than in their entire birding careers. Despite this warbler bonanza, we did have to sweat it out for a couple of common species; we didn't add a cardinal or white breasted nuthatch until hour five, and persistent fog off the ocean made adding any sea-dwellers or shorebirds difficult. While activity diminished as the morning went on, we were still tripping over birds the entire day, as we traversed essentially the entirety of the park. Ethan and I quickly resolved to continue until no one would go any further, as the conditions were simply too good to call it quits. However, even folks who had to leave earlier in the day still tallied over 80 species. The roar of hunger pains finally drowned out the songs of the birds for many at some point, but the few who stayed until the very end at around 2:45pm were rewarded with a Caspian Tern. Mere seconds later the Miricks found a Gray-Cheeked Thrush a few hundred feet from where we were standing, and we walked, briskly, over there to add one final species for the day. Thanks to all the participants for their great company and efforts. I'd also like to thank Cameron Johnson and Roger Stephenson, who we ran into at the park and joined us to help with spotting at various points in the trip. This was a day I hope none soon forget. The full list is below:
-James Smith Seacoast Chapter, NH Audobon
Odiorne Point SP, Rye, Rockingham, New Hampshire, US May 17, 2025 8:06 AM - 2:43 PM Protocol: Traveling 4.1 mile(s) 98 species (+1 other taxa)
Canada Goose 12 Mallard 3 Common Eider 6 Surf Scoter 4 Red-breasted Merganser 2 Wild Turkey 2 Mourning Dove 2 Chimney Swift 30 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2 Virginia Rail 1 Killdeer 2 Spotted Sandpiper 3 Solitary Sandpiper 1 Willet 3 Greater Yellowlegs 1 Least Sandpiper 6 Ring-billed Gull 2 American Herring Gull 30 Great Black-backed Gull 1 CASPIAN TERN 1 Large tern with an unforked tail flyover. Called once. Common Tern 5 Common Loon 1 Double-crested Cormorant 4 Glossy Ibis 7 Flyovers Black-crowned Night Heron 1 Flyover Snowy Egret 2 Great Egret 1 Great Blue Heron 1 Accipitrine hawk sp. (former Accipiter sp.) 1 - Coop/Sharpie Bald Eagle 1 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Downy Woodpecker 2 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 1 Least Flycatcher 1 Great Crested Flycatcher 1 Eastern Kingbird 1 Blue-headed Vireo 10 Warbling Vireo 1 Red-eyed Vireo 5 Blue Jay 2 American Crow 2 Fish Crow 1 Black-capped Chickadee 4 Tufted Titmouse 2 Tree Swallow 6 Barn Swallow 6 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1 Northern House Wren 2 European Starling 1 Gray Catbird 7 Northern Mockingbird 2 Veery 2 GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH 1 Initially found by Miricks. Photos, and audio of calls. Responded to GCTH playback. Gray face, no buff at all anywhere in the cheeks. Faintest of a partial eyering, mostly in the back of the eye. Responded immediately and prominently to playback of GCTH. Also responded, less intently, to BITH calls. While likely impossible to say for certain, this bird seems to have all the hallmarks of GCTH. SWAINSON'S THRUSH 30 Shockingly, this may still be an under count. We were sometimes seeing 4 or 5 at a time in a single tree or clearing. Ubiquitous throughout almost every section of the park. Wood Thrush 1 American Robin 5 Cedar Waxwing 1 House Finch 2 American Goldfinch 10 Chipping Sparrow 5 White-throated Sparrow 1 Savannah Sparrow 1 Song Sparrow 10 Swamp Sparrow 2 Eastern Towhee 1 Bobolink 14 Five on the ground by bark mulch trail, a later set of 9 migrating. Orchard Oriole 4 All seen at once. Adult male, imm male, and 2 female. Baltimore Oriole 3 Red-winged Blackbird 10 Brown-headed Cowbird 2 Common Grackle 5 OVENBIRD 100 An incredible fallout. Northern Waterthrush 3 Black-and-white Warbler 40 Fallout conditions; 2 or 3 seen at once multiple times throughout the park. Tennessee Warbler 3 In disparate locations in the park. Nashville Warbler 3 COMMON YELLOWTHROAT 150 Incredibly, this may be a conservative estimate. People were almost stepping on yellowthroats there were so many. They were present in every portion of the park in nearly every tree, shrub, or grass there was activity in. AMERICAN REDSTART 200 The most prevalent bird of the day, with a staggering number of both females and males present. Every tree that had warblers in it had at least 5-10 redstarts in the immediate vicinity. They were the core of almost every mixed flock, of which there were very many. Cape May Warbler 4 Three in the south end of the park seen near simultaneously (both male and female). One male later seen near Monument. Northern Parula 50 Fallout conditions; many were singing. MAGNOLIA WARBLER 75 Fallout conditions, an incredible amount of Magnolias were present, especially on the south side of the park. BAY-BREASTED WARBLER 17 An astounding showing. Groups of 3, 4, 6, and multiple 1 offs in all areas of the park. Six in the pines near the main entrance gave especially great views. Was every Bay-breasted in NH at Odiorne this morning?! Blackburnian Warbler 2 Both males Yellow Warbler 10 Chestnut-sided Warbler 10 Blackpoll Warbler 25 Fallout conditions, likely under count Black-throated Blue Warbler 40 Present in all parts of the park, a good number of females to go along with many singing males Pine Warbler 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 1 Prairie Warbler 1 Black-throated Green Warbler 20 Canada Warbler 3 Wilson's Warbler 4 Scarlet Tanager 3 Northern Cardinal 2 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2 Indigo Bunting 1
