Spirits were high as 23 birders eagerly gathered for the Mascoma Chapter's
first birding event of the nascent spring. Even the snowy ground conditions
and near freezing temperature could not suppress the assembled crowd's
eager anticipation over the prospect of viewing the season's first migrants.

It was a rewarding morning. The group started at Norwich's Foley Park
overlooking the Connecticut River adjacent to the Ledyard Bridge. There
nine species were seen including a pair of hooded mergansers and a singing
male cardinal.

From there the party car pooled north to "Pompy Flats where the
Ompompanoosuc River flows into the Connecticut. Most of the flats area was
ice covered, but there was enough open water to accommodate six hooded and
three common mergansers.

Nearby, across US Route 5, Kendall Station Road proved well worth the visit
as the group recorded 27 species. Early arriving common grackles (3) and
red-winged blackbirds (7) were noisily making their presence known. A
sharp-eyed observer saw over on the Connecticut's New Hampshire side, an
adult bald eagle barely visible in a thicket of poplars.

On the river were observed Canada geese (12), mallards (16) and two hooded
mergansers. Four sparrow species were recorded including four
white-throated, three song, two American tree and ten of the ubiquitous, at
least for this season, dark-eyed junco. The day's most numerous species by
far was the American goldfinch with 44 counted at Kendall Station.

Complete lists of all the counts can be accessed by using the following
links.

Foley Park: https://ebird.org/vt/view/checklist/S43916996

"Pompy Flats": https://ebird.org/vt/view/checklist/S43917403

Kendall Station: https://ebird.org/vt/view/checklist/S43917789

Many thanks to George Clark, Blake Allison and Ed Hack for being trip
co-leaders, and extra tip of the hat to Blake for keeping the count lists.

Our next spring, Mascoma Chapter birding event will take place on Saturday,
April 21. We'll travel up the Connecticut's New Hampshire side from
Hanover's Wilson's Landing to Grant Brook in Lyme.

A complete listing of all upcoming Mascoma Chapter events can be found at
www.mascomabirds.org.

-- 
Mascoma Chapter of NH Audubon


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