If your bedroom windows are open on these spring mornings, you can sense that the season is changing before you even open your eyes. The air is full of song. The birds are back.

On Saturday, May 15, at 7:30AM, join the Chocorua Lake Conservancy for a fresh start to your day with an early morning bird walk with CLC Stewardship Director Lynne Flaccus. With spring comes the return of thousands of migratory birds, readying for nesting season in the fields and forests around the Chocorua Lake Basin.

Lynne will share her enthusiasm for birds and birding while picking out the field marks and songs of our feathered friends. We’ll take a walk through the fields and forests of the CC Browne Memorial Woods, looking and listening for recent avian arrivals. The blueberry fields, recent timber harvest, and recent shrub plantings on the site create a variety of habitats attracting birds to the area. We’ll find our way to the Chocorua River and look for any birds that may be taking advantage of the unique wetlands along the stream.

The CLC was provided with Natural Resources Conservation Service funding to place nest boxes for bluebirds on this site, in addition to funding to plant fruiting shrubs for wildlife. Come to see and hear birds, and to learn how the CLC is working to enhance wildlife habitat on some of our properties.

Bring your own binoculars, comfortable footwear that may get wet from dew, dress for the weather, and bring a mask, please. No experience necessary. As with most fields and woods this time of year, be prepared for ticks and other biting insects. Meet at the CC Browne Memorial Woods on Washington Hill Road in Chocorua. Please email lflaccus@chocorualake.org with your phone number to let us know you will be coming so that we can let you know of any changes in the schedule.

Naturalist Lynne Flaccus has 30+ years of experience in land conservation and stewardship, managing protected properties, studying wildlife, and educating adults and children.

Banner image: Eastern bluebird. Photo: Debra Marnich