Father, son use net to capture exotic bird in New Hampshire

By The Associated Press

Posted Sep. 21, 2015 at 5:11 PM 

BOW — An emu that had been loose and wandering around New Hampshire for more than a week has been caught.

Maria Colby, a bird specialist who operates Wings of the Dawn Wildlife Sanctuary in Henniker,  says a father and son captured the large, flightless bird in Bow Sunday afternoon.

The Concord Monitor reports Colby searched for the bird throughout the week with police and neighbors.

The father and son used Colby's handheld net to capture the bird. Several people helped pick it up and carry it to Colby's car.

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Rare bird alert: Atlantic puffins spotted on the Isles of Shoals

These birds use their wings under water to swim

UPDATED 12:00 AM EDT Jun 14, 2015

ISLES OF SHOALS, N.H. —A pair of Atlantic puffins were spotted on the Isles of Shoals this past week and are included in this week's rare bird alert by the NH Audubon Society.

These clown-like birds with magnificent colored beaks spend most of their lives at sea, but return to land to form breeding colonies during spring and summer.

They are more often breeding north of New Hampshire.

These birds live most of their lives at sea, resting on the waves when not swimming.

According to National Geographic, they are excellent swimmers that use their wings to stroke underwater with a flying motion.

They steer with rudderlike webbed feet and can dive to depths of 200 feet, though they usually stay underwater for only 20 or 30 seconds.

Puffins typically hunt small fish like herring or sand eels.

In the air, puffins are surprisingly fleet flyers. By flapping their wings up to 400 times per minute they can reach speeds of 55 miles an hour.

The birds often select precipitous, rocky cliff tops to build their nests, which they line with feathers or grass. Females lay a single egg, and both parents take turns incubating it, according to National Geographic.

When a chick hatches, its parents take turns feeding it by carrying small fish back to the nest in their relatively spacious bills.

Puffin couples often reunite at the same burrow site each year and have a lifespan of about 20 years.

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Rare falcon finds residency on Vermont nuclear smokestack

April 21,2015

VERNON — A rare falcon has found a permanent home on a nuclear power plant smokestack. 

Employees at Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station have played an active role in creating and maintaining a home for peregrine falcons, the Brattleboro Reformer reported. 

The falcon is listed as state-threatened in New Hampshire, and Vermont has roughly 40 pairs across the state. 

Employees of the now-closing plant became aware of the falcons in 2009 after receiving a call from a New Hampshire Audubon biologist. Employees received permission from management to install a nest box on the smokestack, built by Steve Skibniowski, a longtime Yankee employee who now serves as a consultant at the plant. Audubon experts sent him the plans for a wooden box with an open front and a special perch. 

“I’m surprised it’s held up as well as it has, because it’s very severe weather up there,” he said. 

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Rare bird alert: Owls are returning to NH

Sightings are coming in across the state

UPDATED 12:00 AM EDT Mar 11, 2015

ASHLAND, N.H. —"WHO COOKS FOR YOU, WHO?"

That was the familiar question I heard being hooted in the night air near Ashland, this week.

"WHO?"

As I walked my dog for the final time of the day, I knew I was hearing the inimitable barred owl, who has been away for the winter. It was another true sign of spring.

Sightings or voices of owls that breed in New Hampshire were being heard across the state this past week including eastern screech owls in Hollis, Nashua, and Rye; northern saw-whet owls in Merrimack and Hancock, barred owls in Ashland and Orford, and several great horned owls from multiple locations.

Owls are busy courting and starting to nest during this time of the year. All of those owls breed in the Granite State.

The sightings were part of New Hampshire Audubon's Rare Bird Alert for Monday, March 9.

A juvenile red-headed woodpecker was discovered near the public boat launch at Adams Point in Durham in November and was last reported on March 8.

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Bald Eagle Numbers Increase in New Hampshire

NH Audubon 35th midwinter survey shows 34 percent increase compared to last year.

By Tony Schinella (Patch Staff)February 15, 2015 at 8:01am 

NH Audubon recently completed its annual Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey with a new state record high of 90 bald eagles counted in one day. This is a 34 percent increase over last year, when observers counted 67 birds. Overall, a record 102 volunteer observers participated in the event, which was coordinated in partnership with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program and the U.S. Geological Survey. This trend is promising for conservationists who have been tracking eagle populations since 1981.

“The 2015 count results are truly remarkable,” said Chris Martin, senior biologist at NH Audubon. “Thanks to the efforts of more than 100 volunteers this year and hundreds more over the past 35 years, we’re seeing results from our efforts to protect this threatened species in New Hampshire. To say we are excited would be an understatement.”

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Rare bird alert: Spotted sandpiper sightings reported

DANVILLE, N.H. —Over 20 spotted sandpipers were reported at Long Pond in Danville on Tuesday and recorded as part of New Hampshire Audubon's Rare Bird Alert for this week.

A snowy owl was reported at Star Island, one of the Isles of Shoals on Sunday and Monday.

Two little gulls were seen with 25 Bonaparte's gulls at Bicentennial Park in Hampton on Sunday.

Six roseate terns and a whimbrel were seen in Hampton Harbor on Tuesday.

There was a report of a possible Forster's tern seen with common terns in Portsmouth Harbor on Aug. 1.

An immature white ibis was discovered at Awcomin Marsh in Rye on July 11, and was last reported on July 29 but may still be present.

It has also been cited in reports from several different marshes in Rye along Route 1A south of Rye Harbor.

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Rare bird alert: White ibis spotted

RYE, N.H. —Visitors and residents of the Rye area may have the opportunity to see an immature white ibis.

It was discovered at Awcomin Marsh in Rye on July 11, and was most recently reported on Tuesday.

It has also been reported from marshes along Route 1A just south of Rye Harbor.

This bird is mostly found in the Southeast United States in Florida and as far north as the Carolinas.

The sighting is part of the New Hampshire Audubon's Rare Bird Alert for Tuesday.

Other rare birds seen on the seacoast are a yellow-crowned night-heron, two black-crowned night herons, two glossy ibis and three whimbrels seen in Hampton all on Saturday.

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Tuesday April 22nd: Happy Birthday Audubon

The Audubon Society of New Hampshire is celebrating 100 years of protecting habitats and threatened wildlife species across the state. It all began in 1914 as part of a movement to restore migratory bird populations which were declining due to over hunting but today The Audubon's mission isn't just for the birds.

Whether you have an interest in showing horses at the national level or you're simply looking to take riding stables Verrill Stables in Danville has a program for you.

On Fritz Wetherbee's New Hampshire: Holderness in England.

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RARE BIRD SIGHTINGS USA: This week's Rare Bird Alert

This is New Hampshire Audubon’s Rare Bird Alert for Monday, Feb. 10.

A spotted towhee was spotted in Rye on Jan. 25, and has been seen many times since then. It was last reported on Feb. 9. It has been seen foraging on the ground in the scrub on the corner nearest the traffic island at the intersection of Central Road and Route 1A. An eastern towhee was seen in North Hampton on the 1st.

At least four snowy owls continued to be reported in New Hampshire during the past week including one along the coast in Rye, two in the Hampton and Seabrook marsh areas, and unconfirmed sightings in Bow and Lancaster.

Ten razorbills and two black guillemots were seen along the coast on Feb. 9.

A northern shrike was seen on Airport Road in Laconia, and one was seen in Ashland, both on Feb. 9.

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