Skip to main content

Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests

Get our e-news!

Sign up

small nav

  • About Us
    • Staff
    • Board of Trustees
    • Our History
    • Contact Us
    • COVID-19 Updates
    • Partners
    • Business Members
    • Annual Reports
    • Bylaws
    • Policies
    • Conservation Center
    • Employment
  • log in
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Main menu

  • What we do
    • Land Conservation
    • Education & Events
    • Advocacy
    • Forestry & Recreation
    • News & Features
    • Forest Notes & More Publications
  • Current Projects
    • Mount Major Stewardship Fund
    • Forest Society North at The Rocks Campaign
    • Clay Brook Forest, Hampton Falls
    • Stillhouse Forest Addition, Northfield
    • Moose Mountains Expansion
    • Merrimack: River at Risk
    • Morrill Dairy Farm, Boscawen
    • Weeks Woods - Rene and Elizabeth Gilbert Tract, Gilford
  • Visit & Explore
    • The Rocks
    • Conservation Center
    • Forest Reservation Guide
  • Get Involved
    • Upcoming Events
    • Membership/Renewal
    • Support Our Work
    • Take Action
    • Volunteer
    • Subscribe to E-news
  • Search

Search form

Donate
Menu

News

  • Acclaimed Cottrell-Baldwin Environmental Lecture Series Starts in March

    Anna Berry
    February 22, 2021

    The annual series has moved online this year, with experts exploring topics ranging from restoring wildlife habitat to foraging for edible native plants.

  • Cold is Cool Speaker Series Continues

    Anna Berry
    January 20, 2021

    Plug in to watch and learn from expert speakers and then unplug outside.

  • A New Way to See the Merrimack Watershed

    Anna Berry
    January 12, 2021

    Thanks to the Clean Water Act of 1972, the Merrimack has been cleaned up considerably over the last 50 years. But there is still work to be done.

March Celebrates Spring

Ellen Kenny
March 27, 2019
Wildlife
Geese and mallards welcome spring on the floodplain brook
A Canada goose and mallards welcome spring on the floodplain. All photos by Ellen Kenny.

Finally. March High Holy Days of open water in the marsh: a congregation of raucous geese honking out hallelujahs, righteous gossip from the mallards, a choir of chanting redwing blackbirds with wood ducks wailing the soprano line, presided over from above, in full vestments, by the great blue heron. 

So much to see... Hooded mergansers and a muskrat in the Mill Brook, and a coyote weaving in and out the treeline on the far side of the cove. I had to run (as best I could in my spikes over the icy path) back to the parking lot, once again trailing the school buses to work. 

I’m always amazed at how quickly it happens—how we go from one or two bold cardinals, to this sudden cacophony of sound, with newcomers dropping in hourly for the celebration—and this is just the beginning. 

Ducks in the water during early spring in Concord, New Hampshire
Ducks all around: Green winged teals, hooded merganser, and a wood duck

Red-winged black bird calling during early spring in Concord, New Hampshire
The red-winged black bird's conk-la-ree! call is a classic sound of spring.

Great Blue Heron during early spring in Concord, New Hampshire
Great Blue Heron

Mergansers and a goose during spring in Concord, New Hampshire
Hooded mergansers and a Canada goose

Merganser mid-bite into a fish in Concord, New Hampshire
This merganser got a fish!

Melting snow and March light on the floodplain in Concord, New Hampshire
Melting snow and March light on the floodplain

Ellen Kenny is a photographer and teacher who frequents the floodplain in Concord. Ellen volunteers with the Forest Society to share her observations throughout the year.

Map and guide to forest reservations in New Hampshire

Explore Our Reservations!

Visit our Reservations Guide to plan a day in the woods or learn about land we own near you. Click here to see a map of our Forest Reservations and get directions.

Reservations Guide

Footer menu

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests54 Portsmouth St.Concord, NH 03301
Phone: 603.224.9945Fax: 603.228.0423info@forestsociety.org
Land Trust Alliance accreditation logo