The weather hasn’t been great for hiking or kayaking so I took a Recce trip along the Connecticut River to look for boat launches in Thetford, Bradford and Orford. Starting at around 1000, I used US-5 between Norwich and Bradford and then crossed the river and used NH-10 between Piermont and Hanover. On the way, I stopped at the Edgell Covered Bridge (1230), where I’d counted birds during the New Hampshire Audubon Backyard Winter Bird Survey in February. This time, I brought a camera that one of my happy hour friends let me borrow. I was hoping to see some birds to photograph and I did spot a red-winged blackbird, goldfinch, cardinal, crow and (I think) a gray catbird. Unfortunately, the lens I brought wouldn’t zoom in very far I so couldn’t get pictures of them. After years of using point and click or cell phone cameras, this was an interesting experience. Even just trying to use all the myriad options (rather than “Auto”) was a little overwhelming. My friend had already told me he has a better (telephoto lens) for me to borrow and, after today, I think I’ll accept the offer. I may never figure out how to be a real bird watcher with this complicated piece of equipment but I’ll definitely make another visit to the pretty covered bridge.
