Date: 9/21/25 1:38 pm From: Charlie Nims <charlie.nims...> Subject: [NHBirds] Freedom Town Forest & Alton Hawk Watch
It was a beautiful weekend to be out birding. Today, Joe Scott and I spent the morning birding Freedom Town Forest. We had 7 warbler species plus one “spuh”. While none were “special” the interesting part for me was the influx of Yellow-rumped (YRWA) and Palm Warblers which seemed to be on the early side. The YRWA’s were the first of the fall for me and we had a minimum of 25 along with several Palm’s. Another reminder of fall were the 40-50 Blue Jays which were, literally heard and seen continuously. Finally, we were regularly entertained by, what I assume, were a family of Common Ravens.
Yesterday, I went to the Alton Bay Hawk Watch, hosted by Rob Woodward. The location in the Morse Preserve (Alton) is very picturesque as it overlooks Lake Winnipesaukee and several mountain ranges. While not overwhelming numbers of raptors, we had some beautiful views of a Bald Eagle and Am. Kestrel against a brilliant blue sky. For me, another highlight was a Sharp-shinned Hawk attacking a Red-tailed Hawk.
Actually, I may have found a weekend gig: taking photos of people with a gorgeous background of Lake Winnipesaukee. There were 5 groups of people, most having problems with selfies so I became selfless :>) and left Rob alone for a few minutes to take families & friends photos with their cameras against a gorgeous background. The only birding downside to this was while I was keeping our visitors happy, Rob lost his best raptor spotter!
Anecdotally, it seems to me that the Red-breasted Nuthatch (RBNU) has become the Red-eyed Vireo of the early fall! Over the past several weeks, it seems that no matter where I go here in the Near North, I am hearing and seeing RBNU'S regardless of time of day. Not sure if it just is a good year for RBNU’s or something else is going on.
