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Friday, November 07, 2008

SNOW BUNTINGS IN NH

Snow Bunting Flock

More birds on the move in NH are Snow Buntings. A large flock of 300 was recently seen by birders at Hampton Beach State park. Here is a photo I took of them on the NH coast a few years ago. These small birds breed in Alaska and the Artic and winter in lower Canada and across much of the U.S. they stay in large flocks in winter, feeding on the ground on weed seeds.
I love the dramatic black-and-white pattern on their wings. Hopefully their presence does not mean we will have the real "s" (I don't want to say the first word of their name so not to jinx the weather) anytime soon.
Other birds being seen in NH now are:
Snowy Owl
Horned Larks
Rusty Blackbirds
Golden Eagle
Rufous Hummingbird, male, seen at a feeder in Plaistow
Snow Goose
Pine Grosbeaks
and even a few lingering warblers, such as Blackpoll, Prairie, Palm, Nashville and Black-throated Green

Get out there with your binoculars to do some birding this weekend, who knows what you'll see.

2 comments:

Kim said...

What beautiful birds. I live in Central Massachusetts and would love to see snow buntings here in my area. Thinking of all of the winter birds I have yet to see is the only thing I am looking forward to in regards to the winter season.

I have lived up north for so long that after the first snow storm of the season, I just want it to go away!

Anonymous said...

i love the birds to though i havenot seen one in real life. i am actully for bad wether. that is a long list of birds!!!