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A peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) wheels above Frankenstein Cliff as I watch from the top of Arethusa Falls. Late summer, Arethusa Falls Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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A dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis) near the summit of Mount Jackson. Summer, Mount Jackson, White Mountain National Forest
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A gray jay (Perisoreus canadensis) with a peanut in his mouth, perched on the cairn that marks the summit of Mount Jackson. Summer, Mount Jackson, White Mountain National Forest
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Chipping sparrow (Spizella passerina) foraging in the middle of the Millpond Trail. Summer, Mine Falls Park
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A Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii) in a pitch pine (Pinus rigida), trying to evade the neighborhood mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos). The mockingbirds forego their normally strict territoriality in order to gang up on a hawk. Not a very good picture, I admit, but you can see the profile of this pigeon-sized raptor. I was just hanging out in the back yard when I noticed a disturbance in the trees and recognized the distinctive "let's harass the hawk" call of the mockingbirds. It's just a loud "clack," but the mockingbirds know what it means. Summer, my back yard, Nashua, NH
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A Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii) in a pitch pine (Pinus rigida), trying to evade the neighborhood mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos). The mockingbirds forego their normally strict territoriality in order to gang up on a hawk. Not a very good picture, I admit, but you can see the horizontal white-and-chestnut streaks on the breast and belly of this pigeon-sized raptor. I was just hanging out in the back yard when I noticed a disturbance in the trees and recognized the distinctive "let's harass the hawk" call of the mockingbirds. It's just a loud "clack," but the mockingbirds know what it means. Summer, my back yard, Nashua, NH
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A young male wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris). What is it with turkeys and pickup trucks? I'm guessing this is the same bird we saw on someone else's truck about a month earlier. I can tell it's a young male by the shorter feathers on the edges of his train. (Photo taken with older Concord Eye-Q camera.) Summer, Riverside Office Park, Andover, MA
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An eastern kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) sits in a white birch (Betula papyrifera) on the lookout for insects. Spring, Mine Falls Park
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A female red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) perched on a reed. Early summer, Bouchard Bridge, Beaver Brook Association, Hollis, NH
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A large hawk (Buteo sp.) soars over a suburban office park. I didn't get a very good look at it, but I don't think it was a common red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis). Summer, Riverside Office Park, Andover, MA
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A female wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) foraging in the lawn of a suburban office park. Turkeys have a reputation for being stupid, but many who ought to know will tell you otherwise. Take a good look at the expression of this bird, and you'll probably think the reputation is well deserved. Summer, Riverside Office Park, Andover, MA
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A female wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) foraging in the lawn of a suburban office park. Summer, Riverside Office Park, Andover, MA
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A peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) wheels above Frankenstein Cliff, as we look down the valley of Bemis Brook from the top of Arethusa Falls. Later this day, we hiked to the top of Frankenstein Cliff and saw a falcon fighting with a raven. Spring, Arethusa Falls Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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'Tis the season. Large glass windows on office buildings and homes are a deadly hazard to birds during migration, but also when they are frantically gathering food for their nestlings. (Photo taken with older Concord Eye-Q camera.) Summer, Riverside Office Park, Andover, MA
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I really wasn't that desperate to get a chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) to sit still for a picture. (Photo taken with older Concord Eye-Q camera.) Summer, Riverside Office Park, Andover, MA
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Don't you hate it when pigeons decorate your nice, clean car? How about a turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris)? (Photo taken with older Concord Eye-Q camera.) Summer, Riverside Office Park, Andover, MA
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A woman walks her baby and talks on the phone, oblivious to the wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris). (Photo taken with older Concord Eye-Q camera.) Summer, Riverside Office Park, Andover, MA
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Maybe it's just me, but I think this root could hardly look more like a bird's head if it had feathers. Late spring, Crawford Path, White Mountain National Forest
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A wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) makes his way beside Route 302. Late spring, Crawford Notch State Park
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Five mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) looking for a handout on Willey Pond. Gentlemen only today, as the ladies are off in the brush and swamps incubating their nests. Late spring, Crawford Notch State Park
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A white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) takes a break from hunting insects. Late spring, Mine Falls Park
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A pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) searches for insects in a fallen log. Spring, Mine Falls Park
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Myrtle Warbler (Dendroica coronata coronata), also known as the yellow-rumped warbler. Spring, Wapack Trail, Pack Monadnock.
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Holes in a dead American beech (Fagus grandifolia) drilled, while the tree was still alive, by a yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius), the only woodpecker in this area that feeds in this way. When the sap oozed out, the bird would return periodically to eat both the sweet sap and any insects that were attracted by the sap. In this view, we're looking "down" the tree from what had been the top, although the tree is now lying head-down on a slope. Spring, Marion Davis Trail, Pack Monadnock.
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Closer view of holes in a dead American beech (Fagus grandifolia) drilled by a yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius). Spring, Marion Davis Trail, Pack Monadnock.
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Yellow-throated vireo (Vireo flavifrons) in an American beech (Fagus grandifolia). Spring, Marion Davis Trail, Pack Monadnock.
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Yellow-throated vireo (Vireo flavifrons) in an American beech (Fagus grandifolia). Spring, Marion Davis Trail, Pack Monadnock.
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Yellow-throated vireo (Vireo flavifrons) in an American beech (Fagus grandifolia). Spring, Marion Davis Trail, Pack Monadnock.
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Black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus). I finally got a halfway decent picture of a chickadee. Spring, Mine Falls Park.
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An American robin (Turdus migratorius) hunting worms beside the Mill Pond. Spring, Mine Falls Park.
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An American robin (Turdus migratorius) hunting worms beside the Mill Pond. Spring, Mine Falls Park.
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A Canada goose (Branta canadensis canadensis) hanging out on the Mill Pond. I've never seen Canada geese on the Mill Pond before. It's unusual for them to be sitting on the water during the day. (Geese typically spend the day feeding on land, and roost on water at night.) I suspect that this may be the male of a mated pair, and that the female is incubating a nest somewhere on the shore of the pond. I'll be watching for goslings on the pond in the next few weeks. Spring, Mine Falls Park.
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A Baltimore oriole (Icterus galbula) beside the trail calls to his mate down by the pond. I rarely get so close or clear a look at this brilliant bird, but now I think I know about where they are nesting. Spring, Mine Falls Park.
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A pair of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) feeding along the edge of the Mill Pond. In early spring, the males are hungry and feed voraciously, but the females, with their growing eggs to nourish, are in a feeding frenzy. Spring, Mine Falls Park
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A hairy woodpecker (Picoides villosus) on the thin, high branches of a white birch (Betula papyrifera). Fall, Frankenstein Cliff Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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A pair of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) cross the pond as the evening darkens the fall foliage. Fall, Mine Falls Park
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A red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) sits in a bare oak tree beside the highway. Winter, Route 101, Milford, New Hampshire
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A red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) sits in a bare oak tree beside the highway. Winter, Route 101, Milford, New Hampshire
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A hairy woodpecker (Picoides villosus) apparently feeding on the ground. There are ground-feeding woodpeckers, but this is not one of them! Turns out he was pecking at a rotten fallen stick. Winter, Pack Monadnock
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The stick that the hairy woodpecker (Picoides villosus) above was feeding on. Winter, Pack Monadnock
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A white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) in an American beech near the Marion Davis trail, fall, Pack Monadnock
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A pair of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) cruise through the reflected fall colors on the Mill Pond, fall, Mine Falls Park
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A pair of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) swim in formation, looking for late-season fodder, fall, Mine Falls Park
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A lost feather decorates the snow on Christmas Eve, winter, Mine Falls Park
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Tracks of a bird, probably a spruce grouse (Falcipennis canadensis), foraging in the snow. I've never seen spruce grouse at such low elevation, but I rarely go to Frankenstein Cliff in winter conditions. Late fall, Frankenstein Cliff Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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A hairy woodpecker (Picoides villosus) fluffs his long belly-feathers, which give the species its name, to keep its feet warm while it forages. Late fall, Frankenstein Cliff Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Many times, I've come close to deleting this picture of a chickadee (Poecile atricapillus), but I always stop myself. Is it an awful picture, or a serendipitous study of motion? How the bird's head markings elongate into streaks of black white and chestnut! How the forward motion and the downstroke of the wings transforms the primary flight feathers into neat diagonal gray bars! If you don't like it, don't download the full-size version. In any case, it shows why I don't have a proper picture of a chickadee: Little buggers won't sit still! Fall, Pack Monadnock
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A wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) hen and four poults cross the road. I don't know why. Early fall, White Mountain National Forest
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A great black-backed gull (Larus marinus), early fall, Mine Falls Park
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A gray jay (Perisoreus canadensis) near the summit of Mount Jackson, late summer, Presidential Range
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A dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis), late summer, Presidential Range
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A great blue heron (Ardea herodias) surveys the Mill Pond. Note that in this sequence of images that follows, I was at times less than 15 feet away from the heron. You can read the story here. I also have video of part of this episode, showing the heron successfully catching a small fish. About a week later, I saw the same heron catching a large fish in deep water and flying, as you can see in this video. Mid-summer, Mine Falls Park
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A great blue heron (Ardea herodias) on the prowl in the Mill Pond, mid-summer, Mine Falls Park
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A great blue heron (Ardea herodias) on the prowl in the Mill Pond, mid-summer, Mine Falls Park
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Looking over the shoulder of a great blue heron (Ardea herodias) as he hunts in the Mill Pond, mid-summer, Mine Falls Park
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Looking over the shoulder of a great blue heron (Ardea herodias) as he hunts in the Mill Pond, mid-summer, Mine Falls Park
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Close-up of the heron (Ardea herodias) shows a nearly-healed injury on his left shoulder, mid-summer, Mine Falls Park
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Close-up of the heron (Ardea herodias), mid-summer, Mine Falls Park
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The heron (Ardea herodias) moves out farther into the pond to select his target, mid-summer, Mine Falls Park
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In this new position, a spike of purple loosestrife buds hides the heron's (Ardea herodias) injury, mid-summer, Mine Falls Park
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A great blue heron (Ardea herodias) poised to strike, mid-summer, Mine Falls Park
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The heron (Ardea herodias) strikes, mid-summer, Mine Falls Park
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The heron (Ardea herodias) comes up empty, mid-summer, Mine Falls Park
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The great blue heron (Ardea herodias) moves on to find his next target, mid-summer, Mine Falls Park
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Chipping sparrow (Spizella passerina) foraging in the middle of the Millpond Trail, early summer, Mine Falls Park
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Eastern kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus), early summer, Mine Falls Park
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A pair of young mute swans, (Cygnus olor) just about the last time I saw them on the Mill Pond, late spring, Mine Falls Park
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Eastern kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus), late spring, Mine Falls Park
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Double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) swims with his body almost completely submerged, late spring, Mine Falls Park
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The double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) basks to dry out his non-waterproof feathers, late spring, Mine Falls Park
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The male mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) keeps watch while the female feeds, but the mute swan (Cygnus olor) feeds on his own, mid-spring, Mine Falls Park
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A mute swan (Cygnus olor) preening in the rain, mid-spring, Mine Falls Park
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A barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) dips in front of a mute swan, (Cygnus olor) mid-spring, Mine Falls Park
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Downy woodpecker, (Picoides pubescens) mid-spring, Crawford Notch
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Three mute swans, (Cygnus olor) late spring, Mine Falls Park
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Mute swan, (Cygnus olor) mid-spring, Mine Falls Park
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A pair of eastern kingbirds (Tyrannus tyrannus), mid-spring, Mine Falls Park
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Hairy woodpecker (Picoides villosus) digging a nest hole, mid-spring, Crawford Notch
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Hairy woodpecker (Picoides villosus) digging a nest hole, mid-spring, Crawford Notch
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Mute swan, (Cygnus olor) early spring, Mine Falls Park
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Male mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) changing from winter plumage to summer plumage, mid-spring, Mine Falls Park
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Mourning dove (Zenaida macroura), early spring, (my back yard, actually)
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The male mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) keeps his eye to the sky, looking for hawks, while the female watches the shore, looking for nesting sites, early spring, Mine Falls Park
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Male mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) in winter/breeding plumage, early spring, Mine Falls Park
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Gray jays (Perisoreus canadensis) on top of Mount Jackson will eat gorp right out of your hand, summer, Presidential Range
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Dark-eyed junco, (Junco hyemalis) summer, Crawford Notch
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