Hey everyone,

On such a gorgeous day, I went hiking with a friend near Mt. Washington. We started at the small parking lot on the side of Base Station Road and then made our way up to the Lake of the Clouds. The last 1/4 mile or so of hiking to and from the Lake of the Clouds was very birdy. Warblers were flying everywhere, though they only represented two species from what I could see: there were a handful of Yellow-rumped, but the most Blackpoll Warblers I have ever seen in one location in my life- probably around 25 birds, though this might be an underestimate. Not sure if they had all congregated here as they prepare to migrate, or if they were this common earlier in the year there. But almost everywhere you looked, and almost every chip that came from the pines leading up to the lake was a Blackpoll. Birds were in fall plumage. Definitely an awesome sight, and great to be able to view these birds up close. 
The other big highlight came from the Lake of the Clouds itself- a large number of American Pipits had converged in the area, probably around 30 birds or more. Some birds were foraging on the shoreline of the lake, while others were flying around and foraging in the alpine vegetation. At one point we watched as 20 birds flew over our head. 

Below is a list of the birds I noted around the Lake of the Clouds:
- Common Raven- 3 heard
- House Wren- 1 heard
- American Pipit- 30
- Blackpoll Warbler- 25
- Yellow-rumped Warbler- 6
- White-throated Sparrow- 5

In addition the alpine area, when we were descending the mountain in the lower elevations we came across some other nice species:
- Winter Wren- 2
- Brown Creeper
- Red-breasted Nuthatch- 1 heard
- Golden-crowned Kinglet
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet- 2 singing in morning
I did come across a small chickadee flock on the way down, but no Boreals unfortunately. Still a great day, especially for hiking.

Cheers,
Kyle Kittelberger
Dartmouth