BATCHELDERS GRANT - Eleven birding enthusiasts from Maine, New Hampshire and Oregon enjoyed a two-hour guided birding tour in the White Mountain National Forest on Saturday with wildlife biologist Lesley Rowse.

The highlight of the chilly, but sunny, morning came when some watched a great blue heron take flight over Moose Pond only to land and people-watch, peering down at the crowd from atop an overlooking spruce.

Seen close up through binoculars, it was a sight to behold.

"Oh, my gosh! Isn't it magnificent?" Rowse asked of everyone around her, their eyes also pressed tightly against binoculars.

Off to the right, a solitary vireo could be heard, while a yellow-bellied sapsucker woodpecker pounded its beak into a hollow tree trunk, sounding like a bongo drummer on steroids.

Saturday's group was one of the largest ever, surveyor Gary Inman of Albany Township said. Normally, Rowse's birdwalks attract four or five people.

For most, like amateur birders Lorrie Hoeh of Albany Township and Henrietta List of Hanover, Saturday's walk was a learning adventure. They'd never seen or heard a solitary vireo.

"There were a lot of birds that I had not seen or heard before, so it's wonderful to be able to go out with someone like Lesley," List said.

Belted kingfishers and tree swallows darted every which way over the pond. A winter wren thrilled Rowse with its long melodious stream of notes and trills, while a black-throated blue warbler piped its "zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zee" call.

"Sometimes I don't even know what these guys look like. So you really have to learn what they sound like," Rowse said, scanning shrubs for a small, drab least flycatcher that was making a harsh "che-beck" sound.

A singing chestnut-sided warbler caught her attention.

"Their song sounds like 'Pleased, pleased, pleased to MEETCHA,' " Rowse said to laughter.

In woods nearby, an ovenbird's voice ripped the air - "Tea-cher! Tea-cher! Tea-cher!"

Farther into the walk, a solitary vireo that - unlike others - remained in one place for a while, mesmerized everyone. Its eyes were distinctively ringed by white circles that resembled glasses.

"Oh, what a beautiful thing. See those spectacles. Look at him, he's eating a worm. Oh, yummy," Rowse said.

Like the others, Dave Willcox of Randolph, N.H., said he enjoyed both the woods walk and birding opportunity.

"This just opens one's eyes and ears to how many birds there are out here," he said. "It makes you realize how many there are when you have experts like Lesley along."