Apr 16 2009
About New Hampshire: New Hampshire Birds
About New Hampshire: New Hampshire Birds
New Hampshire Birds are so diverse that New Hampshire is on its way to becoming an important destination for birders and wildlife watchers. New Hampshire’s mix of Northern Hardwood and Boreal Forest, its open fields and miles of New Hampshire mountain trails, and remote New Hampshire lakes, New Hampshire ponds and 18 miles of New Hampshire seacoast present a perfect sanctuary for New Hampshire birds and everything a bird-or a birder-could ask for.
Before You Go
Try to familiarize yourself with the New Hampshire birds you can expect to see in the area you plan to visit by referring to a field guide. There are also excellent tapes and CDs of bird songs available.
What To Bring
While professional photographers who shoot New Hampshire birds have highly specialized gear, you don’t need much to get started birding. You’ll need a field guide, binoculars, a notebook (to record your findings), comfortable outdoor clothes (including a hat to shade your eyes) and insect repellent.
Where To Start
While watching New Hampshire birds, remember to follow the Birdwatcher’s Code of Ethics.
If you’re a first-time watcher of New Hampshire birds, consider starting at the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center in Holderness, New Hampshire where you can see many native New Hampshire birds. Observe New Hampshire bald eagles, New Hampshire hawk and New Hampshire owls at the Raptor Exhibit, as well as a variety of New Hampshire songbirds at the Bird Aviary. Trailside talks by naturalists often include the opportunity to see raptors up close. The Center also offers tours of Squam Lake aboard pontoon boats with the opportunity for loon sightings.
Audubon Society of New Hampshire’s Silk Farm Audubon Center in Concord has live animals, programs and events, as well as walking trails. Plans are underway for a brand new visitor and program center to be built adjacent to the current Silk Farm Audubon Center.
Of Special Interest
There are a number of endangered and threatened New Hampshire birds; those marked with an asterisk (*) are on the Federal endangered list. If you see any of these, be sure not to disturb them or their nesting sites. Endangered New Hampshire birds include the Bald Eagle,* Northern Harrier, Golden Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Pied-billed Grebe, Piping Plover,* Upland Sandpiper, Roseate Tern,* Least Tern, Purple Martin, Common Tern and Sedge Wren. Threatened species include Cooper’s Hawk, Common Loon, Osprey, Arctic Tern, Common Nighthawk, Three-toed Woodpecker and Grasshopper Sparrow.
Birdwatcher’s Code of Ethics
Birders must always act in ways that do not endanger the welfare of New Hampshire birds. This includes keeping your distance from New Hampshire birds when you observe and photograph them. You should never approach New Hampshire birds so closely as to flush or disturb them.
Birders must always act in ways that do not harm the natural environment. This means staying on existing trails and not trampling hay fields, crops or fragile habitat.
Birders must always respect the law and the rights of others. The biggest issue here is respect for private property. Never trespass on posted property. Always obtain permission from the landowner before entering private lands. If property is fenced off or gated, then it is safest to assume that the landowner does not want intruders. Never assume that it is acceptable to enter private lands. Always be careful about where and how you park your car. Never park on someone’s lawn or in anyone’s driveway. Never block a gate, woods road, path or other access. Lack of proper respect for the rights and privacy of others is what causes the biggest problems in our area. Please consider all of your actions carefully. Will they promote good will between birders and landowners?
Group birding, whether organized or impromptu, requires special care. Limit group sizes in areas that are not conducive to large crowds. If you need to, divide your throng into smaller groups. Take care not to be noisy or unruly. Never do anything that will make birders unwelcome.
Birdwatcher’s Code of Ethics is courtesy of New Hampshire Audubon.
Where To Go
Lakes New Hampshire Region
For an up-close view of New Hampshire birds on NH lakes or NH ponds, consider a kayak, canoe or pontoon tour. While Squam Lake is known for its loons, you can also see them (and hear their haunting call) at other lakes, including Lake Winnipesaukee. Also visit the Loon Center at Markus Wildlife Sanctuary in Moultonborough, Prescott Farm Audubon Center in Laconia and the Newfound Audubon Center in Hebron.
Great North Woods New Hampshire Region
The New Hampshire Bird Checklist for the untouched Umbagog Lake Wildlife Refuge is a long one. Three popular draws are its nesting osprey, Bald Eagles, and loons. All are best viewed from a canoe, kayak or pontoon boat. New Hampshire birds normally found in boreal forests are here too: Chickadee, Black-backed Woodpecker, the much rarer Three-toed Woodpecker, and the Gray Jay.
Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee New Hampshire Region
New England’s longest river, the Connecticut, makes its unruly beginning at the northernmost border of New Hampshire and runs along the state’s western border on its way to Long Island Sound. Its shores are home to nesting species beloved by birders-Bicknell’s Thrush, Spruce Grouse, Three-toed Woodpecker, Gray Jay, Warblers, Northern Finches and American Pipits, among others.
Merrimack Valley New Hampshire Region
At Massabesic Audubon Center in Auburn there are education programs along with undeveloped habitat for New Hampshire birds. In the Merrimack Valley you might spy Red-Headed Woodpeckers, Grasshopper Sparrows, Vesper Sparrows, Eastern Meadowlarks, Brown Thrashes, and Eastern Towhees.
Monadnock New Hampshire Region
Combine watching New Hampshire birds with a hike: 3,165-foot Mount Monadnock may yield sightings of three coveted warblers: the Blackburnian, the Magnolia and the Black-throated Green. Swainson’s Thrush and Veery hang out here too, along with Dark-eyed Juncos and Eastern Towhees. Look for them where mixed hardwoods turn to spruce-fir. The Wapack National Wildlife Refuge northeast of Miller State Park in Peterborough is known as a hawk migration area.
Seacoast New Hampshire Region
The Great Bay Estuary, 4 miles west of Portsmouth, is comprised of nearly 4,500 acres of tidal waters, mud flats and 48 miles of inland shore. Wildfowl on view include heron, nesting osprey and Bald Eagles, which winter there. Sandy Point Discovery Center in Greenland has a self-guided nature trail that takes you through the saltmarsh. Sandy Point is an excellent location to watch for Great Bay’s wintering eagle population, migratory warblers, waterfowl and locally nesting pairs of osprey. Or you can access the Estuary at Adams Point by the Jackson Estuarine Research Laboratory, off Durham Point Road in Durham; there is an observation platform that is ideal for watching New Hampshire birds. You might see cormorants, herons, shearwaters, egrets and bitterns.
White Mountains New Hampshire Region
With nearly 800,000 acres, the White Mountain National Forest is a vast refuge for New Hampshire birds. Approximately 38 species can be found in the Forest year-round, while 110 or more are found during the summer months when neotropical migratory birds-like the Wood Thrush, American Redstart and Black-Throated Blue Warbler-breed here. Another 35 species, including the Northern Hawk Owl, Great Gray Owl and Bohemian Waxwings, pass through the Forest as migrants or winter visitors.
