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 21, 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 Charlotte C. Browne Woods, looking and listening for recent avian arrivals. The blueberry fields, forest uplands, 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 Resource 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 C.C. Browne Woods on Washington Hill Road in Chocorua (directions below). Space is limited; please register in advance below.
Naturalist Lynne Flaccus has 30+ years of experience in land conservation and stewardship, managing protected properties, studying wildlife, and educating adults and children.
Directions to Charlotte C. Browne Woods
From Chocorua Village take Rt. 16 north to Washington Hill Rd. north of the lake (3.3 miles). Take a right onto Washington Hill Rd. and go .7 miles to the top of the hill. Park in the field, or at the side of the road.
Please do not use driveways to turn around. If you miss it and need to turn around, use Savary Rd., the next road on the left.
Coming from the north on Rt. 16, take Washington Hill Rd. on the left, which is the first road on the left after the Albany/Tamworth town line (just past the Quilt Shop).
Banner image: American Robin. Photo by Patrice Bouchard on Unsplash