Finding a LONG-EARED OWL & Hiking at Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge | Essex County Little Big Year

Описание: **Apologies that some of my arrows in one section about Pondicherry got mixed up in the timeline!**

Here's some links to the maps & more info:

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/silvio-o-c...
https://nhaudubon.org/lands/sanctuari...
https://www.friendsofpondicherry.org/
https://www.trailfinder.info/trails/t...

Week 9 of my Little Big Year in Essex County, Massachusetts — and it's a big one.

A rare Long-eared Owl was reported in Essex County, and I went to go find it. Long-eared Owls are notoriously secretive and genuinely uncommon in this area, so for a beginner birder working a county Big Year, this was not a bird I could pass up. I also started picking up some early spring migrants moving through — a sign that even in late winter, the season is already starting to shift.

The next morning I was back at Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge in Jefferson, New Hampshire — just two weeks after my last visit, but this time trying a different set of trails. Last time I needed snowshoes. This time I didn't, and the new route turned out to be significantly easier. Snow-covered trails, open bog views, the Presidential Range in the distance. I share everything I've learned about visiting Pondicherry across both trips: which trails to take, what to bring, when snowshoes are actually necessary, and why it's worth coming back more than once.

Two very different days: one chasing a rare owl through Essex County, the other a quiet, snowy return to one of New Hampshire's most beautiful wildlife refuges.

Locations featured:
– Essex County, Massachusetts
– Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge, Jefferson, New Hampshire
– White Mountains, New Hampshire

If you enjoy Massachusetts birding, rare bird chases, Little Big Year updates, and honest days afield, this one's for you.

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