Following Roots Back To New Hampshire

A few family members took an October day trip up to a small town in New Hamphire. Gilsum has a population of about 800 and you can tell by looking at this picture of the town mall that the town hasn't changed much over the years.

 We visited a small cemetery and were able to find several relatives dating back to the 1800's buried here with old-fashioned first names like Wendell, Kendell, and Bertha.

 I attended a big family reunion back in the early 70's  that took place on a big farm. The house on that farm is over 200 years old. It has been passed on to family members through the years. It was a thrill to go back and see this historic home which has so much character. It was so interesting to meet our relatives who now own this house and we were able to learn a lot about our family history.They even had a picture of the family tree with our names listed on one of the branches!

 There was a lot of swampy habitat in the area including that shown in the photo above. 

I found a Belted Kingfisher way off in the distance.

The hole in this tree looks like the work of a Pileated Woodpecker. 

There was one of those times when I put birding on the back burner for the day but it was well worth the sacrifice.