(Reprinted from the Winter 2023-2024 issue of New Hampshire Bird Records)

Winter is the time for Snowy Owls, winter sea ducks, and alcids. The New Hampshire coast offers the most diversity in winter and there is always something to see. Inland can be more variable. Watch for waterfowl to linger on open bodies of water and gather in unfrozen sections of rivers. A few half-hardy birds (species present in small numbers during mild winters) linger, providing a welcome surprise. Unexpected birds such as orioles, towhees, or Yellow-breasted Chats are often at feeders so be sure to watch for them and keep your camera handy to document their identification.

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  Wintering sea ducks and other waterbirds arrive and will stay all winter. For some species, it is the only time we see them in New Hampshire: Long-tailed Ducks, scoters, Horned and Red-necked Grebes, Red-throated Loons.

• Purple Sandpipers are one of the few shorebirds that winter along the coast. Watch for them in rocky areas, not sandy beaches. They blend in very well and are often easiest to find at high tide in Rye or the jetty at the outlet of Hampton Harbor.
• American Tree Sparrows arrive from the north, taking the place of Chipping Sparrows. Dark-eyed Juncos join them at feeders.
• Greater Scaup gather in large numbers (1,000 or more) on Great Bay. Try looking from the Great Bay Discovery Center or the Osprey Cove trail in Greenland, or Adam’s Point in Durham. You will want a scope as birds can be distant.
• Barrow’s Goldeneye are sometimes seen with large flocks of Common Goldeneye. Stark Landing on the Merrimack River in Manchester can be one of the best spots to see them, but one or two are also usually in Laconia if there is open water, and sometimes at the coast or Great Bay.
• Hampton Beach State Park usually hosts a flock of Snow Buntings, Horned Larks and an occasional Lapland Longspur. Farms along the Connecticut River Valley from Westmoreland to Walpole and open areas near the Berlin Regional Airport in Milan are also good places to check for these species.
• Northern Shrikes can appear anywhere in the state but good places to check are the Great Bay NWR in Newington or Airport Marsh in Whitefield.
• In milder winters, look for lingering birds including Gray Catbirds, Red-winged Blackbirds, and even a few warblers like Pine and Yellow-rumped.
• Moore fields on Rt. 155A in Durham is a great place to look for unusual geese (such as Snow Geese), mixed in with flocks of Canada Geese.

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