Odds and Ends

Just a couple of quick notes as I've been thoroughly "swamped" of late.

First, some exciting news on the bird front. We had three scarlet tanangers at our house over the weekend. They perched on a tree immediately outside our window for a half hour (while the camera was in the car), and spent the better part of the weekend across the street and in the shrubs on our neighbors property. The picture above is disappointing considering that I was staring at two males in a tree six feet out my window for 5-10 minutes.

Also, if you have never seen it before, check out the NH Audubon Society's Peregrine Falcon camera here: http://www.nhaudubon.org/research/pcam.htm A chick hatched a week or so ago so it has been interesting to check in from time to time and see how they are doing.

Second, the Newington Conservation Commission voted to try to negotiate a conservation easement for the Boiling Springs prime wetland. I put together a supplemental package for the Commission's meeting on May 10, 2007 that you can download here. There is a plan from the registry of deeds showing the property with the wetland, an aquifer map from a USGS Study that shows a high transmissivty aquifer is the source of the Boiling Springs wetland, as well as some pictures I took from the Arboretum Drive side of the property of turtles in the wetland.

Lastly, I'd like to ask that anyone feel free to post comments on any subject in response to this thread. I'll give off-hand and occasionally accurate responses as occasion allows.

-Justin

Black and White Warbler

This years bird sightings continue to be good. Over the weekend we saw a couple of kingfishers (not rare but always fun to watch), an osprey hovering overhead, a female common yellowthroat, and a new personal first: the black and white warbler. Wikipedia has a good discussion of the black and white warbler, its habits, migrations as well as pictures. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-and-white_warbler

I was lucky to get close enough to take the picture above using my clunky digital camera. Similar to a nuthatch, it was running quickly up and down the bark of trees looking for insects. While I was watching it caught a fairly large catepillar. It either does not yet have young to feed in its nest, or it was trying to catch more because it continued its search.

May 10, 2007 Newington Conservation Commission Agenda

The agenda and information package for the Newington Conservation Commission's May 10, 2007 meeting is available for download here.

Certain documents such as the plans for the two hotel proposals are not available electronically. However, copies may be viewed on request at the Town Hall.

I hope that posting this information helps keep members of the public and project applicants informed of the Commission's activities. If you have any questions or comments that you'd like to be part of the Commission's official record, please direct them to the Commission in writing or at its meeting, as this blog is run for informational purposes only and is not an official part of the record, nor endorsed by the Commission.

-Justin