NH-Pickering+Ponds


 * =Birding in New Hampshire=

Strafford County
Rochester =Pickering Ponds and= =Rochester Wastewater Treatment Plant= Rochester, New Hampshire 03867

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Pickering Ponds, Rochester
Coordinates: 43.2540489, -70.9587622 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

Rochester WTP
Coordinates: 43.2645499, -70.967921 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

Tips for birding Rochester Wastewater Treatment Plant
From Birdwatching in New Hampshire

Tips for birding the Rochester Wastewater Treatment Plant and Pickering Ponds
The **Rochester Wastewater Treatment Plant** is one of those places that does not look spectacular but attracts an incredible diversity of interesting birds. This is one of the premier (but little-known) gull-watching spots in New England. A series of active and defunct wastewater treatment ponds serve as a loafing area for thousands and thousands of gulls that commute daily from the coast or even farther to feed at the nearby landfill. Waterfowl are also numerous and frequently stay quite late into winter because the warmth and aeration of the treatment ponds keep them open.

Take Exit 12 off the Spaulding Turnpike (be careful if you are coming from the south, as this exit is immediately after exit 11 and is easily missed). Head south on route 125 off the exit ramp until the first light. Take a left at the light onto Main Street which soon crosses a bridge and becomes Pickering Road. Soon, you will see the gated entrance to the plant on your right (if you reach Tebbetts Road, you have gone too far). The treatment plant is open Monday through Friday from 9 AM (perhaps earlier) until 3 PM. Pass through the open gate and park in the lot in front of the office building. You MUST check in with the staff in the building before birding the plant. Leave your car in the lot as they do not like people driving out on the dikes. Be sure you are out of the plant BEFORE 3 PM so the plant staff do not have to come and get you. State birders have worked hard to maintain a positive relationship with plant staff and it is essential that such a relationship continues.

Once you have checked the treatment plant, head back to Pickering Road and take a right. After a mile or so, take an inconspicuous drive off to the right opposite mailbox #374 and park in the lot at the end. Walk through the gate to access **Pickering Ponds Trails**, which has no special hours and is normally publicly-accessible. Unfortunately, the City of Rochester has had to close the entrance to the Pickering Pond Trails for maintenance as of January 9, 2009. It is expected that the access will remain closed through the winter months until the maintenance work can be completed (check back by the end of March 2009),

This location has probably produced more gull species than any other single spot in the state, with rarities such as **Franklin’s**, **Slaty-backed**, and **Thayer’s** (pending acceptance by the NHBRC) Gulls on the list. White-winged Gulls are a specialty, with counts of over a dozen **Iceland** and half-a-dozen **Glaucous** being regular. **Lesser Black-backed Gull** is a frequent visitor as well. Sometimes the gulls loaf at Pickering Ponds, but they are more often at the treatment plant. November and December are generally best for gulls. Numbers vary throughout the season, week, and even day, so some visits are less productive than others. Waterfowl can be numerous, with **teal, pintail, shoveler, wigeon, scaup**, or **Ruddy Duck** regularly joining the local Mallards and American Black Ducks and occasionally lingering into winter. Rare species like **Eared Grebe, King Eider**, and **Barrow’s Goldeneye** have even stopped in on these small ponds! The ponds can produce a few shorebirds in season, especially if water levels are suitable. **Buff-breasted** and **Baird’s Sandpipers** have been recorded among more common species. Keep an eye open for raptors in the area, as **Bald Eagles** are frequently seen passing overhead and startling the gulls. Passerines are to be watched for at Pickering Ponds, with nesting **Brown Thrasher** in the area and **Fish Crow** and **Northern Shrike** seen on occasion.

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|| L468881 US US-NH US-NH-017 43.2540489 -70.9587622 Pickering Ponds, Rochester L275505 US US-NH US-NH-017 43.2645499 -70.967921 Rochester WTP