July 6, 2026 · Mount Washington Auto Road, above 4,000 ft
Bicknell's at dawn on the Auto Road
Up before three to be in the krummholz at first light. Two singing Bicknell's Thrushes, a Swainson's for contrast, and pipits on the cone.
Left the valley at 2:45 a.m. to drive the road in the dark and be parked at the four-mile mark before the sky did anything. It was 41°F and blowing maybe twenty, which for the summit is a mild morning.
First light around 4:50 and the thrushes started almost immediately — a spiralling, upslurred, slightly nasal phrase from inside the stunted fir, then a second bird answering further up the slope. That upward-flip ending is the thing to hold onto; a Swainson’s Thrush two switchbacks lower was going up the scale in a smoother, rounder spiral and never gave that terminal twist. Having them within earshot of each other was the whole point of the trip.
Kept climbing after the light came up. Two American Pipits on the fellfield near the five-mile mark, one doing the parachute song-flight. Juncos and White-throated Sparrows everywhere in the scrub. Down by seven, before the road filled with cars.
The window for this is short — call it June 10 to July 15 for reliable song — and it closes fast.
Birds mentioned:Bicknell's Thrush, American Pipit, Dark-eyed Junco