Category Archives: Birds
Northern Shrike — The Butcher Bird
One of the winter birds that I have yet to see and add to my life list is the Northern Shrike. We’ve been away much of the last three winters but there’s also been a fairly reliable visitor, which we … Continue reading
Posted in Vermont Birding, Winter Birds
Tagged Northern Shrike, Tom Slayton, Vermont Birding, Winter Birds
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Smart Birds Stash Stores, Thwart Thieves
We know that squirrels make the most of fall’s plenty by hoarding nuts for the winter, but the fact that birds also store, or cache, food goes largely unappreciated. Through clever observation and experiments, biologists have found that food caching … Continue reading
Posted in Bird Behavior, bird feeding, Birds
Tagged Bird behavior, bird feeding, Black-capped Chickadee
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Southern Birds
Mary and I drove three hours southeast to northern Massachusetts yesterday and it is like we became southerners. Not only have we changed stick season’s chilly rain and fog for mid-seventies and pretty foliage, I’m hearing and seeing birds that … Continue reading
Posted in Birds, Digiscoping, MA Birding
Tagged digiscoping, MA Birding, Ruddy Duck
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Bird Larders – storing up for winter
I’ve been watching birds cache food this week. The days are shorter, and the birds are preparing for the next season. The nuthatches prefer the hulled sunflower, and they’re choosing the heavier seeds as those are the ones higher in … Continue reading
Posted in bird feeding, Birds
Tagged Backyard birds, bird feeding, Newburyport Birders
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Brown Creepers Make Me Smile
Walking in the woods yesterday afternoon, I heard a loud “see” call. I thought it might be a White-throated Sparrow or even a Dark-eyed Junco but as I searched, I saw a little brown bird climbing up a White Pine. … Continue reading
A Birder’s Band for Vermont?
The onset of waterfowl hunting has spawned a lively discussion on VTBirds about ways for birders to get more credit for supporting conservation efforts. As I blogged last month, we get little respect from our contributions for Federal duck stamps … Continue reading
Posted in Birds, Conservation
Tagged conservation, Federal Duck Stamps, hunting
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Winter Birding — Bring It On
As I noted last week, we are being bankrupted by the influx of Pine Siskins that mob our feeders, leaving their small poops all over everything, and making the Black-capped Chickadees wonder what hit them. Yesterday, I saw about 25 … Continue reading
Won’t Get Fooled Again
I’m heading to Massachusetts next week and plan to do some birding and the Who song, “Won’t Get Fooled Again” comes to mind. Here’s the way I described it a couple of years ago: “Camera ready, I walked through the … Continue reading
Posted in Birds, Conservation
Tagged BioDiversity Reseach Institute, Common Eider, MA Birding, Penny, Salisbury Beach State Reservation, scoter
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Decline of American Kestrels
“One autumn day, 15 years ago, I found myself perched on a ladder that was leaning against a highway sign on Interstate 89 somewhere in Vermont. There was a wooden box clamped to one of the sign poles at least … Continue reading
Posted in Birds, Conservation
Tagged Adirondack Almanack, Kestrel
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Introducing the Birds of Paradise
This fall, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Geographic are bringing the Birds-of-Paradise Project to the public with a coffee-table book, a major exhibit at the National Geographic Museum (opening November 1), a documentary on the National Geographic Channel … Continue reading
Posted in Birds, Conservation
Tagged conservation, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
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