birds at pillsbury state park | Birds of New England.com

Photo by Chris Bosak – A great blue heron stalks the edges of North Pond in Pillsbury State Park in New Hampshire.

A recent camping trip with my son to Pillsbury State Park yielded a slew of quality wildlife sightings.

It started right away as I made my first entry to our remote camping site on the edge of North Pond, one of the smaller ponds at the park. A greater yellowlegs, a relatively large shorebird often seen at freshwater ponds and lakes during migration, worked the shallow water around the rocks looking for morsels.

Three half-mile walks to the car and back later, I headed out for my first canoe ride. It proved to be a bit of a challenge to launch, as the extremely dry weather in New Hampshire had the pond as low as it’s been in years, according to the park ranger.

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Photo by Chris Bosak
A common loon swims at May Pond in Pillsbury State Park in New Hampshire in June 2019.

The recent camping trip to Pillsbury State Park in New Hampshire was a blast, as expected, with good birding every day of the outing. The loons, of course, were the highlight and we heard them from our waterfront campsite day and night.

One morning — the one when it wasn’t raining — I got great views of three loons as I noticed them from far away and just drifted in my canoe and let the loons come to me. It took a bit of time and a lot of patience, but they eventually came toward me and offered close views. At one point, one surfaced very close to me and started preening. They dived and surfaced in the vicinity of my canoe for several minutes before continuing about their day. I didn’t give chase as loons face enough struggles as it is without any added pressures from photographers.

So, here are a few of the loon photos. More to come soon, in addition to some other birds I saw on the trip.