Our Association held its annual migratory bird day walk yesterday, May 11, at Weeks State Park and Martin Meadow Pond.
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We had about 2 dozen enthusiastic birders and were led by renowned naturalist and Ammonoosuc Audubon President, Dave Govatski. The weather was perfect and we knew that we were in for a great day right from the start after seeing this year's stunning poster by Nicaraguan artist, Augusto Silva.
Dave usually doesn't make any guarantees on our bird walks but he did yesterday when he told us "I guarantee that today we will see none of the birds that are on this poster!" This year's theme was "WATER" and its importance in sustaining bird life.
It was a beautiful spring day and we saw 30 different species at the park and another 29 later on at Martin Meadow Pond. Here is a list of the birds seen and/or heard:
John Barth shared some beautiful photos he took yesterday. Here is a yellow-bellied sapsucker:
From the North Overlook our group had a good look at a rose-breasted grosbeak.
Of course, it being a beautiful spring day, we couldn't help notice early spring flowers - such as columbine, red trillium, and trout lily.
The flowers put us in mind of our upcoming spring flower walk at the park on Sunday afternoon
(1-4), June 4.
Later in the morning, many in the group opted to go to nearby Martin Meadow Pond where 29 species were spotted and/or heard.
John Barth shared a couple of additional photos: an osprey that was flying out over the water and a spotted sandpiper that accommodated us by flying across the pond near where we were standing along the shore and then perched on a birch log.
Dave Govatski has kindly written a report that can be viewed here:
Thank you to our leader, Dave Govatski, and to John Barth for sharing his beautiful bird photos and for everyone that came out on a perfect spring day to participate in WSPA's first program of 2023. Be sure to check our Schedule of Events on the "Event Details" page of our website to learn about all of the events that we've scheduled.
By the way, Dave will be leading another Migratory Bird Day Walk tomorrow, Saturday, May 13th in Whitefield. It will be held at two locations that are quite near one another:
6:00 AM - Airport Marsh - Hazen/Airport Road at the west end of the airfield.
8:00 AM - Pondicherry Trailhead/Presidential Rail Trail off Hazen Road across from the Biomass Power Plant. This walk will go along the Rail Trail to Big Cherry Pond, Moorhen Marsh and then along the Big Cherry Pond shore path to Little Cherry Pond.
