New England
- Nicholas Turner
- Jul 31, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 31
4th - 20th July 2024
This was a 3 week trip to New England in the USA, taking in the states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine and including an academic conference in the middle. July is a great time to visit the USA with plenty of sunny weather and although it can be hot we planned to spend weeks 1 & 3 close to the beach to keep cool.
Thursday 4th July: We flew from Manchester to Boston via Dublin, picked up the rental car and then drove north to Newburyport, Plum Island, MA where we planned to stay for 4 days.
Friday 5th July: Plum Island is an extensive area of wetland near the coast of Massachusetts and just to the south of Newburyport is the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. In addition to birds and butterflies there are quite a lot of insects at this time of the year, especially mosquitoes and greenback flies so before venturing out you need to be fully prepared. On the saltmarsh Song Sparrows are frequently found but we also located a couple of the rarer Saltmarsh Sparrows which breed here. Waders included Great Egret, Lesser Yellowlegs and Great Blue Heron. Yellow Warblers, American Goldfinches and Cedar Waxwings were fairly common as well as Eastern Kingbird, Common Yellowthroat, Eastern Towhee, Tree Martin and House Finch. In the afternoon we explored the sand dunes north of Newburyport and found colonies of both Least Tern and Piping Plover, both of which breed here.
Saturday 6th July: Braving the mosquitoes and the local greenhead flies, a type of biting horsefly, we ventured out again to the Parker River NWR, this time a little further north. We came across a Willow Flycatcher and a few Roseate Terns near the beach although the low cloud made photography difficult. In the afternoon we stayed close to our Airbnb in Newburyport where we saw a Common Loon off-shore, an Osprey carrying a large fish and a Wild Turkey.
We were now on to the second part of our vacation and drove north from Manchester, NH to Kennebunk in Maine. On the way we stopped at the very picturesque seaside resort of Ogunquit where we saw Common Eider, American Goldfinch, Song and Chipping Sparrows. The coastal path was also full of flowers attracting butterflies including Monarch, American Copper and Northern Crescent.
Saturday 13th July: The first morning there was some light rain so we decided to start by exploring close to our Airbnb. A few miles down the road we parked the car and walked out to Parsons Beach. This turned out to be a real gem of a place, full of birds both on the beach and near the coast. Here we saw a female Bobolink (a first for me), a flock of American Goldfinch, Brown-headed Cowbird, Barn Swallow, Least Tern, Piping Plover, Common Tern, Willett, Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Eastern Kingbird and Ring-billed Gull amongst others. Butterflies appeared when the rain stopped with Summer Azure, Common Wood-Nymph, Orange Sulphur and Monarch.
Sunday 14th July: Early the next morning we visited an interesting local nature reserve called Wells Reserve at Laudholm which was run by volunteers. We parked in the large car park and walked the 3 Km trail to the beach. A Red-tailed Hawk sat on one of the outbuildings in the early morning sun. On the trail we saw our first Eastern Towhee and Purple Finch as well as Eastern Kingbird. The highlight at the beach were the Bonaparte’s Gulls, another lifer, together with more Piping Plovers and Least Terns.
After resting during the afternoon we returned to Parsons Beach where a few Least Sandpiper were feeding in a small pool. Along the beach were Semipalmated Sandpiper, Common Eider, Double-crested Cormorant, Kildeer and Common Tern. A Chimney Swift and Tree Swallow flew over the inland lake where there was also a Mourning Dove and American Black Duck. More Common Wood-nymphs were found together with a new butterfly, a Northern Broken-dash.
Monday 15th July: Today we ventured further afield to East Point Sanctuary which is north of Kennebunk near Biddeford. Here a trail runs along the coast offering spectacular views of the sea. Birds seen included Grey Catbird and Brown-headed Cowbird. Inland at Biddeford Pool an area of grassland contained Eastern-tailed Blue, Northern Crescent and Pearl Crescent. Further along the coast there were several Common Tern.
Tuesday 16th July: Sanford Lagoons is a wastewater treatment plant that attracts birds and other wildlife. On the lagoons were some Wood Duck and Canada Geese. Butterflies included American Copper and Canadian Tiger Swallowtail and there were also several Widow Skimmers and Halloween Pennants. On the way back to Kennebunk I stopped over at the curiously named ‘For All Forever Preserve’ and found a Dun Skipper and a Horace’s Duskywing.
Back near the Airbnb at Kennebunk a family group of Eastern Phoebe was found in the adjacent woods. In the late afternoon we headed back to our favourite spot at Parsons Beach where the highlights were undoubtedly a summer plumage Bonaparte’s Gull and a few Roseate Terns in amongst the Least Terns and Common Terns.
Wednesday 17th July: Our final day at Kennebunk where we spent the morning back at Wells Reserve at Laudholm. Here we had a very brief view of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird which was put to flight by a Canadian Tiger Swallowtail butterfly which was about the same size. Back near the car -park there were several Black Swallowtails in the meadows. At Parsons Beach late afternoon there were more Black Swallowtails as well as some Sanderling and Least Sandpipers on the beach.
Thursday 18th July: We were now nearing the end of our US trip and planned to stay for a couple of nights at Old Orchard Beach in Maine before flying back home from Boston. On the way from Kennebunk we stopped at Crescent Beach State Park where we found a very approachable Willow Flycatcher on the beach. At Old Orchard Beach there were Common Terns and Bonaparte’s Gulls on the beach.
Friday 19th & Saturday 20th July: The best local birding area at Old Orchard Beach is the extensive area of inland saltmarsh called Scarborough Marsh. Here we found some more Saltmarsh Sparrows as well as distant views of Glossy Ibis. Common Wood-nymphs flew along by the side of the path and we also found a new butterfly, a Broad-winged Skipper. Later that evening we returned home to Manchester on the overnight flight from Logan airport.
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