By all accounts, the brown creeper is a common bird in New Hampshire. It has a somewhat teardrop shaped body - something that I would expect if someone were to ask a preschooler to draw a bird. It is one of those birds that I have probably heard in the past but may not have seen. Its light chirp-like call is a common addition to most woodland scenes but its diminutive size and coloration makes it especially difficult to catch a glimpse of.

It was just a flash of movement on the side of a tree about twenty feet away and eight or nine feet up. My thoughts immediately went to “woodpecker”, my best guess being a downy woodpecker given what I thought was a white underside and a white speckled, black back. It was wrapping around the tree trunk and once it came back to my side I snapped off a few quick shots.

I immediately knew that my initial guess had been wrong. The bird was simply too small to have been a downy woodpecker. Beyond that, the movement of the bird and the thin, curved beak was downright insect-like. It was a very interesting bird to observe. I stood there watching it until it had climbed too high into the tree.