The ups and downs of my trip to New Hampshire

 

Both Mourning Warbler photos are cropped
but I'll take it!

  I went to New Hampshire on Monday night planning to spend Tuesday and Wednesday birding and fishing. The plan did not go as I hoped. 

   Tuesday started off with a bang. I got to Pondicherry by 6 am and I was the only one there. Pondicherry is an amazing place to see wildlife. I've seen moose, bear, porcupine, and Snowshoe Hare for mammals. For birds it is incredible with Ruffed Grouse, Alder Flycatcher, and Black Backed Woodpecker as reliable species. It is also loaded with nesting warblers. While the only mammal I saw was a beaver, I did have some great birds. I saw Least Flycatchers and Alders everywhere. There was a Yellow Bellied Flycatcher singing that I saw. They are really rare and my best find for the day. I also saw a Purple Finch which is my biggest nemesis bird. There were multiple singing Canada Warblers. All in all, Pondicherry was the highlight of my trip.

    On my way back to my car I heard what I thought was a singing Mourning Warbler. Mourning Warblers suck. They are absolutely beautiful. They are a rare species to see and worst of all they do not like to be seen. They stay hidden in thick brush and will frustratingly sing without letting you see them. This one sounded to be up in a tree and was singing continuously. After a twenty minute search, I found it singing about fifteen feet up. It is amazing how a yellow bird can blend in. I had never seen one out in

the open before. The only other one I had ever seen was for about a second as it hoped from one branch to another in heavy brush and I had a one foot window to look through. This guy sang for a minute or two in my view then flew back to the tree behind where I saw it and it continued singing. I got my first ever photos of a Mourning Warbler which was really exciting.

   From Pondicherry I went to Moore Reservoir hoping to catch Smallmouth Bass. The wind was blowing and I got frustrated fighting it. I caught a couple Rock Bass but no smallies. I stayed around two hours.

   Next I went to Echo Lake. Again, I did not have any luck. I had a couple bumps on my lures but no takers. I walked around half the pond trying to find fish but did not. At this point it was around 3 pm. I stopped and got a couple slices of pizza for lunch. 

  From there I went to Mirror Lake in the hopes of catching Red Breasted Sunfish. Again, it was a bust I caught Pumpkinseed Sunfish and Yellow Perch, but no Red Breasted. So I moved on.

   My next goal was Sandwich Notch Road. I was going to look for newts then fish for Common Shiners (and Brook Trout). After fishing, I was going to find a parking spot and sleep in my car for the night. Wednesday, I planned on Smallmouth fishing in the Lakes Region. Depending on wind, I'd fish two lakes if it was calm. If it was windy, I'd fish one for a few hours then beat the afternoon traffic and get home about 3 pm. 

  None of that happened. While driving down Sandwich Notch Rd I had to pull way over to the side of the narrow road so an oncoming car could pass. As I slowed down, I saw what looked like a lot of dust blowing around the front of my car. This isn't unusual on these dry dirt roads. However, there was a lot. I looked at my temperature gauge and it was pinned HOT. The dust was not dust but smoke. I pulled over and lifted my hood and it was smoking like crazy. Everything was wet. Either I blew my radiator or a radiator hose. I was done for the day!

    Not only was driving my overheated car a bad idea, but I didn't have cell service. None what so ever. I couldn't make any calls. So I let my car cool down and after ten minutes, I started it and drove it back towards Waterville Valley. I drove it between sixty and ninety seconds and I pulled over to let it cool again. I did this about five times. Finally while on Rt 49 I got cell service. I called Triple A and told them about my situation and that I needed a tow back to MA. This was about 5 pm. 

    It took Triple A an hour to find a tow truck willing to pick me up and bring me home that late. Then it took another two hours for them to come get me. After that I had a three hour ride home. The tow truck had to make a couple stops. I got home at midnight. They dropped me and my car off at my house.

   Wednesday morning I drove it to the mechanic a quarter mile from my house and dropped it off. It was a radiator. Six hundred dollars later I have my car back with a new radiator. If there is any good news it is that having Triple A saved me almost seven hundred dollars for my tow.

  I got seven new vertebrates for the year on Tuesday ( Least and Yellow Bellied Flycatcher, Purple Finch, Black Backed Woodpecker, Rock Bass, Beaver, and I saw Brook Trout). My biggest dip was the Red Breasted Sunfish and I didn't get a chance to see newts or Common Shiner). My best experience was finally getting a life photo of a Mourning Warbler.  Obviously my Wednesday was ruined. At least I made it home without paying for a tow. I realized my car was overheating before I blew the motor so that is probably the most important thing.