Date: 5/11/25 1:57 pm From: Martin Mick <mdmick01...> Subject: Re: [NHBirds] May 11th: a red-letter day
Hello Jon, and group: Your discussion of Purple Martins is prompting me to
write. At around 5pm yesterday I observed a loose flock of 12 Purple
Martins working hard at catching what they could over the extreme north end
of Hampton Beach. Today they were not there. I'll keep my eye out.
Martin D. Mick
201-317-2165
<mdmick01...>
On Sun, May 11, 2025 at 4:13 PM Jon Woolf <jsw...> wrote:
> I started the morning intending to go walking at Massabesic Center, but
> on a whim I decided to instead go over to the coast and see what was
> stirring there. I started on Pease Tradeport , where I bumped into Toni
> Taylor and spent a few minutes birding with her. She had stopped along
> Arboretum Drive beyond the traffic circle, in a small patch of woods
> that was swarming with birds. At least eight different species of
> warblers plus a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak, a Scarlet Tanager, and
> Merlin also claimed to have heard a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.
>
> The field opposite Short Street provided the first real prize of the
> day: a singing GRASSHOPPER SPARROW. Certainly a rare one, and I think
> it was even a lifer for me. Then it was on to Peverly Pond, where I
> found a couple of Double-crested Cormorants and heard a singing Wood
> Thrush.
>
> After that I headed over to the coast and made a couple of stops there.
> There was a pair of Willets in Fairhill salt marsh, and a Snowy Egret
> there too. Some Great Egrets a little further south. Nothing else
> really stood out until I got to Ragged Neck, where I found some
> lingering Surf and Black scoters, some Common Eiders, and the second big
> prize of the day: at least three or four PURPLE MARTINS buzzing around,
> along with Barn and Tree swallows, Song Sparrows, and what looked like a
> couple of Seaside Sparrows. I've seen Purple Martins in Seabrook, but
> never north of there. Is there a new colony of them near Ragged Neck?
>
> Full list:
>
> American Crow
> Black-capped Chickadee
> Northern Cardinal
> Blue Jay
> Tufted Titmouse
> Black-and-white Warbler
> Pine Warbler
> Ovenbird
> Black-throated Blue Warbler
> Black-throated Green Warbler
> Yellow Warbler
> Northern Parula
> Cape May Warbler (Merlin)
> Nashville Warbler (Merlin)
> Rose-breasted Grosbeak
> Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Merlin)
> Raven
> Meadowlark
> Wood Duck
> American Black Duck
> Great Blue Heron
> Double-crested Cormorant
> Eastern Bluebird
> Red-winged Blackbird
> Flicker
> Red-bellied Woodpecker
> Killdeer
> Starling
> Song Sparrow
> GRASSHOPPER SPARROW
> Seaside Sparrow
> Ring-billed Gull
> Herring Gull
> Spotted Sandpiper
> Willet
> Red-tailed Hawk
> Turkey Vulture
> Turkey
> Tree Swallow
> Barn Swallow
> PURPLE MARTIN
> Common Eider
> Black Scoter
> Surf Scoter
> Red-eyed Vireo
> American Robin
> Rock Dove
> Wood Thrush
>
> Total for the day: 48 species. Not very impressive compared to some
> lists I've seen, but any day that I get a Grasshopper Sparrow and Purple
> Martins is a success regardless of what else I might see.
>
> -- Jon Woolf
>
> Manchester, NH
>
>
>
>
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