June 8th, 2005. Mizpah Spring area, White Mountains, NH.

As I entered the White Mountains National Forest, I couldn’t help but think how blessed we were to have such spectacular scenery so close to home in Keene. It had taken me just two hours from home to reach the boundary of the forest and I was beginning to wish that I’d been there already this year, especially when I saw two Moose holding up traffic along Route 3!  After a strenuous 90 minute hike up the Crawford Path, I was in appropriate high elevation (over 3,000 feet), spruce-fir habitat, not only for Bicknell’s Thrush but also for a number of other interesting boreal species. I spent much of the day here,  exploring this wonderful place and wandering the trails at leisure. The Mizpah Springs  hut (at 3,800 feet)  provided welcome extra water, a coffee and a much appreciated slice of banana bread! The whole area was very rich in bird song, more so than I expected, and Blackpoll Warblers were especially abundant, Yellow-rumped Warblers only slightly less so. After some time I also found reasonable numbers of Bicknell’s Thrush, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Boreal Chickadee and Pine Siskin. The day got off to a very good start with a Bay-breasted Warbler singing from a rest area near Trudeau road. Spruce Grouse however, eluded me once again. My main quarry of the day  was the 'tricky' Bicknell’s Thrush.

Bicknell’s Thrush Catharus bicknelli, Beans Grant, White Moutains, NH. This bird was identified mainly by a combination of song, call and habitat and found along the Webster-Jackson Trail just below Mizpah Hut. All four images relate to the same bird in different lighting conditions.

Further images from June 8th;

Blackpoll Warbler

Boreal Chickadee

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

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