NH.Birds for Monday, December 7, 2009

Messages are displayed in the order they were received.  Subject  From  Time   RE: R-B woodpecker in Newmarket   Hank Chary    10:18am   shrike, larks   Phil Brown    3:55pm   Evening Grosbeaks in Lincoln   lee hansche    7:26pm   Waxwings in Hooksett again   Phyllis Yaffie    8:27pm   Massachusetts Common Shelduck   Lauren Kras    8:53pm

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Subject: RE: R-B woodpecker in Newmarket
From: Hank Chary <hankchary(AT)hotmail.com>
Date: 7 Dec 2009 10:18am

Red-bellieds have been regulars at my feeders for the past several years.
This fall I've seen them less frequently, but the female shows up at least
every 2 to 3 days while I'm at the feeder window.

Hank Chary

Bay Road, Newmarket

> From: andra.j.crawford(AT)comcast.net
> To: NH.Birds(AT)lists.unh.edu
> Subject: R-B woodpecker in Newmarket
> Date: Sun, 6 Dec 2009 15:15:38 -0500
>
> We just saw a red-bellied woodpecker eating seeds on the ground on front of
> our house. Isn't it a bit late in the season?
> Ca. 3:10 PM
> Cushing Road, Newmarket
>
> Andra Crawford & Dave Arnold
>

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Subject: shrike, larks
From: Phil Brown <downtownpab(AT)yahoo.com>
Date: 7 Dec 2009 3:55pm

MY FOS Northern Shrike (ad.) was present this morning along Bowlder Rd in
Sullivan at the Seward Mt. Farm.
Also, I heard 2(?) horned larks flying over Airport Rd at the Concord Airport
around 230 pm.

Phil Brown
Stoddard, NH


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Subject: Evening Grosbeaks in Lincoln
From: lee hansche <xxleeweexx(AT)yahoo.com>
Date: 7 Dec 2009 7:26pm

Good birding action in downtwon Lincolin this afternoon... I stoped to check a
flock of 100 cedar waxwings for bohemiens (none present) and in a near by tree
i saw 4 Evening Grosbeaks... also a piliated woodpecker landed on a tree about
20 feet from me... from there we drove about an hours or so up into and around
the whitefield area and saw nothing haha... so lincolin was where it was at up
north today...
 
lee hansche
goffstown NH


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Subject: Waxwings in Hooksett again
From: Phyllis Yaffie <pyaffie(AT)gmail.com>
Date: 7 Dec 2009 8:27pm

I saw a few waxwings a couple of weeks ago in Hooksett, but today I
saw about 30 sitting in the trees they seem to haunt each fall.  It
was like seeing old friends again.  I just love when they arrive.  I'm
sure I'll be seeing many, many more in the coming weeks.

This is at UnitedHealthcare, in the area of the front parking lot,
which is off Exit 10 of Rt. 93.  If you come, I hope you see them too.
 When they hide, they like to go to the big white pines.

Phyllis Yaffie
Deerfield, NH


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Subject: Massachusetts Common Shelduck
From: Lauren Kras <lauren.kras(AT)gmail.com>
Date: 7 Dec 2009 8:53pm

For those interested a COMMON SHELDUCK has been seen the past two days in
NAHANT, MASSACHUSETTS.  David Jones photos (
http://www.pbase.com/clamflats/essex_bay_rarities) reveal that the bird is
an unbanded first-winter bird with both left and right halluces intact.
 This strengthens its likelyhood of being a vagrant and being accepted as a
vagrant by the Massachusetts Records Committee.  However, there still is a
real chance it may be an escaped captive.  I've copied select comments below
from posts by Marshall Illiff and Richard Veit.

The bird has been seen today and yesterday at high tide off at Nahant.  It
was most recently seen on the Lynn/Swampscott line where the outflow creek
is, just off the shoreline.

Selected copied comments:

"The location (coastal), habitat (extensive mudflats/rocky shoreline), time
of year, and overall situation all seem great... The Newfoundland record
just weeks ago (of a hatch-year bird) strengthens the case significantly...
Yes, this species is kept in captivity, but with four records of Oct-Dec
shelducks along the immediate coast and in appropriate habitat, it is
perhaps time to reconsider the ABA/AOU policy that these are not acceptable
vagrants.  I think the case for natural vagrancy would be stronger if this
were a hatch-year (immature) bird; 3) its foot/plumage condition. Bands or
clipped hallux (rear toe) could indicate captive origin."
- Marshall Illiff (after hearing of the bird yesterday)

"This bird is at least as likely to be a wild vagrant as an escaped
captive.  In the absence of definitive evidence of captivity, I lean
strongly towards its being wild."
- Richard Veit in response to Marshall's post from yesterday

"For those hoping to tick this shelduck, which is an unbanded first-winter
with at least its left hallux intact, is visible in the fluorescent glow of
the streelights. Given that it is 40 ft offshore and contentedly feeding,
I'd try for it at least until the tide goes low again....all depends on how
badly you want it, but for a second/fifth US record, I'd try for the
nocturnal view if it were me!"
- Marshall Iliff while out in the field today

--
Lauren Kras
Dover, NH
Masters' Candidate
Plant Biology
University of New Hampshire