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Bald Eagle at Squam Lake
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The tour we were leading for
Naturetrek was entitled "Autumn Colours of New England" and as yet I've not posted a single "colour" image. That will change on my next blog but firstly I need to show some of the birds we photographed during our 2 weeks travelling in Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire.
I admit I'm not good on the North American 'lbj's' but was fortunate that our other leader Martin Pitt was an expert and could hear and spot warblers at some distance, often buried in deep scrub or at the tops of trees so don't expect many to be included in this blog.
These are in no chronological order so I'll start with the big guys first. Bald Eagles were ever present throughout the tour and our visit to Monhegan Island in Maine saw one fly very close overhead whilst we had stunning views of 2 birds on Squam Lake in New Hampshire.
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| Bald Eagle at Monhegan Island |
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| Bald Eagle at Monhegan Island |
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| Bald Eagle at Squam Lake |
Common Loons were on a few peoples bucket list to see and they weren't disappointed. In the UK we call them Great Northern Divers but in the US they're Loons!
Once again Squam Lake provided our best views and for those of a certain age this is the lake where they filmed "On Golden Pond" a 1981 production featuring Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda and Katherine Hepburn. Anyone who remembers the film may remember the Loons calling in the background of many scenes.
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Common Loon
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| Common Loon |
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| Common Loon |
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| Common Loon | |
As would be expected in a land of millions of trees Woodpeckers turned up on several occasions.
Our best sighting was of a huge Pileated Woodpecker knocking hell out of a rotten stump.... we watched it from the car whilst waiting for traffic lights to change so no photos from our vehicle but I do believe that Martin got a quick video on his phone.
Our most frequent was the Hairy Woodpecker and the Red-Bellied alongside several good views of Northern Flicker.
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| Red-bellied Wodpecker |
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| Hairy Woodpecker |
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Another arboreal specialist was the Red-breasted Nuthatch.
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| Red-breasted Nuthatch | |
Cedar Waxwings turned up wherever there was a berry laden tree, often accompanied by American Robins. We had views of them in Tenants Harbor on the coast and at Bethel inland near the NH border. Many of the Waxwings were juveniles.
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Juvenile Cedar Waxwing
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| Cedar Waxwing |
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| Juvenile & an adult Cedar Waxwing | |
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| American Robin |
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The coastal stretch from Kittery Point up through Maine to Acadia National Park provided many good estuarine and shoreline birds so here are a selection....
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| Mostly Double-crested Cormorants with a few Great Cormorants |
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| Double-crested Cormorant | |
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| Great Blue Heron |
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Greater Yellowlegs at Scarborough Marsh
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Belted Kingfisher at Weskeag Marsh
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Great Egret at Scarborough Marsh
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American Herring Gull
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Black Guillemot at Monhegan Island
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Eider Drake at Monhegan Island
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| Semi-palmated Plover at Acadia NP. |
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Many of the other birds were snatch shots in passing as I was driving and leading so despite wanting to push to the front our responsibility was to get the clients up front to see the wildlife!
After passing numerous Wild Turkeys I finally gave in on the next to last day and drove into a farm entrance so we could all photograph them.
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| Wild Turkeys |
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| A few of the group gathered around a berry tree | | |
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Here are a selection of "others" taken during the tour.....
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Brown-headed Cowbird
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Ruby-crowned Kinglet
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Blue Jay
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Song Sparrow
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Northern Cardinal
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| Northern Cardinal |
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Eastern Phoebe
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Gray Jay
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| Northern Harrier |
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American Goshawk
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| Merlin | |
Dark-eyed Juncos
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Dark-eyed Junco's
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| Myrtle Warbler |
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| Black-capped Chickadee |
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Savannah Sparrow
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Wood Ducks
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Wood Ducks
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This was an organised tour by Naturetrek Tours and we will be doing the same trip again in 2025. Please follow the link if interested in joining us.
Naturetrek: Autumn Colours of New England 2025
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