Northeast Scouting

Northeast Scouting

August 6 – 11, 2006<= /p>

I asked for assistance on Northeast birding on the car= olinabirds listserver, especially on finding the Bicknell’s Thrush. I received a huge amount of inform= ation from Carolinians and folks from the Northeast. Thanks again!

Everyone warned how difficult this adventure would be.= My window of opportunity was the s= ize of the eye of a needle…I had to go immediately or wait until next year. = No problem!

This trip actually represented scouting for two future= trips – a winter trip to Block Island, Montauk Point, and Long Island and an early summer trip to the mountains of New Hampshire<= /st1:State> and Vermont. The winter trip will include the National Wildlife Refuges of Rhode Island and Connec= ticut plus sites on Cape Cod.

I scouted the RI,= CT, & Long Island sites on Sun & Mon…I expected it to be crowded and not very productive…so I planned to spend only a little time at each site. Crowded? Who can blame the throngs= who went to the beach on a beautiful Sunday just after an oppressive heat wave = was broken. What I did not know i= s that Rhode Island apparently has a law requiring everyone to go to the beach on Sundays and w= alk, jog, or bicycle. <= /span>

I had some flexib= ility in that I could blow off Cape Cod given pre= vious experience. This I was willin= g to do to concentrate on my one target bird – the Bicknell’s Thrush. In the end, I gave up= Vermont, as well as Cape Cod, to concentrate on fin= ding the thrush and to enjoy the cool, beautiful White Mountain Nati= onal Forest. I stayed in Twin Mountain three nigh= ts instead of the one night as planned.

Did I get the Bicknell’s? Yes and no.=

On my first New Hampshire mo= rning, lingering clouds and fog from a passing cold front were too thick to be abl= e to identify birds. Jefferson notch was full of warblers and other small birds but the light was so bad, I could only identify Black-capped Chickadees and Black-throated Green Warble= rs.

I returned to the= motel, showered, had breakfast, and moved on to Mt. Washington. I arrived around Noon, way too lat= e in the day. The traffic on the mountain was very bad and the wind was whipping around above 50 mph. Considering alternatives, any bad = day birding is still wonderful.

I reversed my str= ategy on the second day and was first in line at the Mt. Washington auto tour when they opened at 7:30AM. The day was stunningly beautiful and a young bull moose entertained me while I waited for the gate to open.

I was able to bir= d the pullouts between the 3,000 and 4,000 foot levels before the other traffic caught up with me. I stopped = at a large area of rocks and krumholz, at the pullout just above the 4,000 foot marker. I had this area to my= self for over an hour before other cars began to stop.

As I pulled in, t= wo thrushes flushed. They flushe= d two more times as they moved into the stunted trees. Unfortunately, these birds were ea= sily flushed from a distance. I lo= st sight of them; however, as I rounded the rocks overlooking the patch of stu= nted trees, I saw the brown back of a thrush as it dove for cover.

I worked the outc= rop and ribbon of trees that spread downhill for the remainder of the hour. I discovered that I had not downlo= aded the Bicknell’s vocalizations from my laptop to my recorder so I hasti= ly recorded the Gray-cheeked Thrush song from the Peterson CD. It was worth a shot.

Surprisingly, the Gray-cheeked song attracted White-throated Sparrows akin to the attraction a pit bull has for a pork chop…or for that matter, a human leg…th= ey were all over me. =

Right location an= d right color but not enough to count as a lifer.&= nbsp; So I’ll return next summer when the birds are singing and try again. Aw shucks!

My final New Hamp= shire morning, the start of another beautiful day, I returned to Jefferson Notch. I was entertained by s= everal warbler species and the Black-capped Chickadees. It seems as though the birds were already foraging in post-breeding mixed flocks.

My last bird was = a Boreal Chickadee. However, as I was pulling out, a hiker appeared and told me there was a Black-backed Woodpeck= er a one fourth mile up the trail. I had resisted going up the wet, root infested trail to a good thrush location because I did not have my boots with me.&n= bsp; However, if I had had more time this morning, I would have ruined my running shoes for the woodpecker.

Fortunately, I st= ayed just outside the Providence airport Thursday night, planning to rest and fly out early Friday morning.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Fortunate in that Friday was not t= he first day of the newest security/flight delay crisis.

I got to the airp= ort at 3 AM for my 6:30AM flight. The = first thing I saw was my flight to C= harlotte was cancelled so I called and rebooked through LaGuardia. My early arrival allowed me to be = one of the first twenty-five through security.&nb= sp;

We have a direct = flight from NY to Wilmington, NC; however, I was very concerned about getting delayed or stranded at LaGuardia.&= nbsp; No problem! We were on= ly about 30 minutes late leaving LaGuardia which is probably as rare as a Bicknell’s Thrush.

I enjoyed my trip= and look forward to returning to those great sites in the next couple of years…during the right seasons. I am not sure if I will post pictures of this trip since, other than= the moose, I was reduced to shooting Gray Catbirds and House Sparrows. I did however shoot some great but= terfly and dragonfly pictures in Con= necticut. Also, I took some good lighthouse shots. You gotta love photogr= aphing those relatively large, slow moving subjects.

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The autho= r, John Ennis, is a semi-retired healthcare consu= ltant and half-time birder. He live= s in the Wilmington, North Carolina area.

John B. E= nnis ã 2006

Swampwolf@thebusinessbirder= .com

TheBusine= ssBirder.com

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