As we all know in birding, sometimes you just have to show up. This morning is a case in point: I had a dermatology appointment (nothing like getting your ear frozen to start the day) and afterwards, decided to do my normal loop up by the nearby airport to check for owls or snow buntings.
I pulled into a favorite spot of ours near the Eye Center where we’ve seen Northern Shrikes and stopped the truck, noting a crow sweeping low over what looked like a grayish Walmart bag in the middle of the field. Sure enough, it was a young Snowy Owl about 100 yards away looking at me. I rolled down the truck window, watched it for a bit with binoculars, and fired off a bunch of shots with the Canon SX50. I called my friends at North Branch Nature Center and emailed a couple of others as I watched for about ten minutes. I decided to leave so as to not draw attention from the many patients coming and going from the medical offices.
A young Snowy Owl a long ways from home in a field in Berlin, VT.
After getting some coffee I swung back to see if my friends had seen it and sure enough, they were there with big smiles. The bird had moved into some taller grass and like me, they got it with a harassing crow’s help.
I can stop checking every clump of snow, every plastic bag, every abnormal lump in a field. With only three days left in Vermont before heading out, it’s great to end of a nice note — and to give some of my birding buddies a Christmas gift – a look at a Snowy. And I can write most of the mileage off as a medical expense.
On her way Sunday to a Christmas Bird Count, Liz Lackey, a skilled birder from Stowe, spotted a Northern Hawk Owl and reported it that evening. It was only 25 minutes from here, so Monday morning, before some scheduled appointments, I went up to take a look. The site was on Route 100, a major tourist/commuting highway, and just up the road from one of Vermont’s prime tourist attractions, Cold Hollow Cider Mill. The two-lane highway was busy and there were no shoulders due to snowbanks as I headed north, driving carefully and looking best I could. No luck the first pass so I turned into a narrow road and looked back — and immediately spotted it high in the same bare tree where Liz had reported it.
I got the binoculars on it and confirmed it easily in spite of the long distance and lousy sun angle. I pulled into a driveway to get a little closer, watched it for a bit and fired off a few photos with the telephoto knowing that the conditions were tough. Just then, it dove out of sight — either hunting or just changing position. I braved the traffic a few more times with no further success but am pretty confident that it stayed in the area and folks will see it — at least briefly — in the days ahead.
Low quality photo taken into the sun at long distance. Canon SX50 @215mm
We had a Northern Hawk Owl here in 2011 – I remember seeing it on New Year’s day. I was pretty new to birding and when I arrived, the back road had a large group of birders and several scopes set up. I met many of the top Vermont birders that morning and several shared their scopes with me as we watched the patient owl watch us — far off but offering great looks. There was no traffic, the birders were psyched about this bird on the first day of the year — and I think I got an impression that this stuff was easy. Today proved otherwise — you take your life in your hands to see the 2013 bird. Skiers on their way to Stowe’s new powder take no prisoners. So, if you try for this one, be very cautious. It is a very difficult location but perhaps the bird will move a little bit and be accessible from a quiet back road.
I thank my Mad River Birder friends Pat and Patti for making sure I knew of Liz’s report. It very well be the last County bird for me this year – what a good ending.
We stopped using the Airstream’s gas furnace system several years ago because the electric blower was a real energy hog and drained the battery quite fast. We installed a catalytic heater to take its place and it works quite well but it is positioned at the front of the rig so the dog is snug on the couch while Mary and I shiver in the rear. As we found in 2012, the first few nights in Walmart lots can be pretty cold — so I towed the Airstream over to Mekkelsen RV last week for some tuneup work.
All set to motor over for some last minute tuneup items. Truck and Airstream looking ok.
I got one of the dreaded calls from the service manager two days later. “The tech got the furnace running but when he turned on, it made a horrible racket, so he turned it right off,” she said. “What do you want to do?”
I thought a mouse might have gotten trapped in the blower — and gave her the go-ahead. I also had asked to have them check the gas stove oven, which also has been dangerous and then inoperative. (It took some time for them to find out that parts for the stove are not available so the cooktop is fine but the oven is now a storage area for pots and pans.)
The weather has turned a little wintry with an inch or two of snow and freezing rain/drizzle all day and of course, now the rig is ready. The forecast does not look good so I drove over yesterday afternoon to pick it up. The driveway was very slippery, the road slushy, and the main roads just wet.
Our placid Airstream was hanging out with Prowlers, Conquests, Avengers …
The trip home was short and easy — the new Ford really tows the rig nicely. Getting up our road was another story. Even in four-wheel drive, the truck tires spun in the slush and the tight turn to the steep driveway was interesting. We have a large ledge in front of the house around which the driveway goes and it is always challenging to make the turn and miss the rocks. I got around the outcropping and headed back down the driveway, hoping to back up the unit so that we could load from the garage. No way, Jose! The tires spun and we went nowhere. I slowly descended to a point where I could back the trailer on to a spot where were could store it for now. I managed to keep it from the steep bank on one side, the rock wall behind it, and the ledge. Here’s the way it ended up.
Yes, that trailer is tipping toward the steep bank. Yes, that is frozen slush and mud on the front. If it doesn’t slide forward down the driveway, we are all set.
This little outing reaffirms our decision to move it next week to Massachusetts where, even if there is snow, the site is level and easy-to-access. The weather forecast here is for snow and cold until next week so it was good to get this little move done.
I started this year all cranked to do a County Big Year and got off to good start the first quarter. Then a pinched nerve in my back took a couple of months to deal with and I missed a lot of the spring warbler season. Then, this Fall, I tore up my knee and missed much of the Fall warbler season. So, although I picked up some of the warblers, I scaled back my expectations and goals.
Recently, realizing that I’ll be out-of-state three or four weeks, I decided to get serious and get out there — and have added birds every week. Yesterday was a banner day — four additions and one the day before.
Thursday’s bird was “incidental” to say the least. I had been driving the back roads looking for Horned Larks, reported the day before, with no luck. Driving home, I stopped at a local mini-mart for the paper and as I got out of the truck, I heard this loud bird song. It seemed to echo and I thought it was a recording or something but followed it, to see a small bird high up in a bare maple, singing away. “I know that call,” I thought as I raced back to the truck for my binoculars. It had departed as I tromped into the store with bins around neck and a camera hanging from the shoulder. All the way home, I was trying to sort it out — then went on to other stuff, thinking I’d work on it that evening. Before long, I saw an eBird alert for a Carolina Wren at the same place, same time, by a friend who had seen it, but not me — and unknowingly, mentored me electronically.
Friday was more intentional. The day before, my birder friend Patti saw three birds that I needed and we exchanged emails about location. I packed up the dog early and off we went to Berlin Pond to check things out. Right away, I saw the Pied-billed Grebe that she had reported and fiddled around with trying to digiscope it. They spend a lot of time underwater and this one was out quite a ways, so the result below is simply for the record.
The pond has few spots for viewing but with the leaves gone, you can work around the branches and tree trunks and see the western shoreline. There were over a hundred Mallards and mixed in, three American Coots, a Bufflehead (county year bird), and a Common Goldeneye (county year bird.) It’s tough to park with your blinkers on and count Mallards through a scope through a forest — but worthwhile today. It was too distant for photographs, especially given the branches.
I finished up, was heading homeward, and glanced out the one open spot on the road and saw some white — and thought it was just another hoodie. I pulled over, got out the scope, and saw a bird moving fast, with lots of white, and one that I didn’t know. Three Mallards caught up with it and the little flotilla paddled northward into an area where the bank was lined with trees.
Three Mallards and a Long-tailed Duck cruising northward.
I didn’t know for sure until I got home and checked my books that it was a Long-tailed Duck. I’ve only seen one before and we don’t get a lot of them in Central Vermont. It was a good bird to hit the #150 mark. Now, to find those darn larks.
Here is a frenetic video of the LTDU moving back southward. Poor quality but good evidence.
Yesterday, I took a drive with the dog down to Warren, VT to check out Blueberry Lake where friends of mine are always running into interesting birds. It was a cold windy day with flurries and I was happy for four-wheel drive in a couple of spots.
The lake, which appears to be a Forest Service impoundment, is very small and snuggles up to the Green Mountain National Forest. Parking and letting Penny out to roam, I took the scope down to the water and immediately regretted leaving my leather mittens back at the truck. I was cold and the water was rough from the stiff wind, and the sun glare was awful. But, I was out birding so big deal. I did spot five dark objects bobbing around way out there but had no idea what sort of duck they were.
The lake has several access points and as I drove around it, I got to a spot where the light was good, but the wind was straight in my face off the water. Walking down toward the lake with the telescope, I saw what appeared to be a Blue Jay whiz by me but then I saw it hover in mid-air, like an American Kestrel, with its wings going a mile a minute. I got the binoculars on it and thought, “That’s not a Blue Jay … perhaps a shrike.”
It flew off to the top of a nearby small tree and through the bouncing scope (from the gusty wind) I could see it clearly. I snapped off some digiscope shots and then watched it hunt again, using the wind as buffer, and returning to the same branch. Then it saw the dog and vanished.
A Northern Shrike in snow flurries — Blueberry Lake, VT. Vortex Razor HD, 20-60 eyepiece at 20x, Canon SD4000, Vortex DCA & PS100 adapters.
I was then able to get a good look at the five ducks and identified three Mallards and two Least Scaup (which are a County Year bird for me — #145), before they flew. It was only a half hour drive back to Red Hen Bakery for coffee and roll with Mary. Good morning outing.
It was a chilly morning with a stiff wind. Penny and I were headed down the closed-off road to the Wrightsville Reservoir rec area to check for waterfowl and get some exercise. Lugging my scope over my shoulder and binoculars and camera from my neck, I felt like a pack mule while the dog ran here and there. There’s no one around this time of year so it’s a great place for us – and only a mile from home.
My hands were freezing in the thin gloves — I realized that the hand warmers, guaranteed for 10 hours, were last year’s supply and had lost their pizzaz. I didn’t even get 10 minutes.
As I carefully approached the water, I set up in the woods and immediately saw a Great Blue Heron fishing on the far bank. The water was roiling and the wind was tough, so I headed down on the loop we often take, planning to keep it a short one.
I saw some movement — a large bird flying — and thought that the heron had flushed. Then, in my binoculars, I saw that it was a Bald Eagle, being harassed by crows. I fumbled for the camera, turned it on, set the dial for action shots, and with frosty fingers, took a few shots.
Two crows pester a young bald eagle — Wrightsville Reservoir, VT
The trio circled above us, whipped by the winds and disappearing now and then over the tree line. I fired away but in situations like this, I find out that I am a birder who carries a camera, not a photographer who happens to bird. Here are a couple of highly cropped shots:
I have seen this eagle once before here. I am guessing that it is a 2nd-year bird from the markings.
It was only a show of several minutes but exciting — Bald Eagles are scarce enough in the area (I saw one other last February) that they are a treat for a birder.
We struck out on waterfowl and the wind had driven all the sparrows and friends deep into cover so we cut it short, but I for one didn’t feel cheated. As an aviator, to see the eagle gracefully soaring on flat wings ignoring the dive-bombing of the crows was fun and worth a few white fingers.
We have had a pair of Winter Wrens in our woods all the Fall and while they don’t sing the way they do in the spring, they chip away at the dog and me on nearly every walk. I know just where they hang out — in a brushy area with some old apple trees — and I can hear one of them before we approach. Because they are low to the ground, the dog too often gets interested.
So, I have been on a quest to get a photo or two of these cute little balls of energy. Sometimes I don’t have my camera, other times it is too dark, but too frequently, the guys just move too fast in the brush, popping up for clear looks once in a while. I got lucky the other day.
Here’s how we normally see our Winter Wrens, visible but surrounded by brush and branches.But this guy just popped up for a “What are you doing?” pose. 1/250 f/6.5 215 mm
I just love these birds — feisty, inquisitive, and a beautiful singer. Glad we have a good habitat for them — and I look forward to their springtime calls that seem to go on forever. Have a good winter, buddy.
One of the wonderful harbingers of spring is the fluid call of the Hermit Thrush. Always starting on a different key, the song is unmistakeable and just a delight. But this time of year, while the birds are still around, all you get is a chip once in a while.
This morning, while doing some birding prior to appointments, I visited a favorite spot up by nearby Berlin Pond and along with some warblers and vireos, found this guy (or gal) hanging out in the lower branches of some trees along the road. Not a great shot but it’s hard to get HETH’s in the open.
Hermit Thrush – Berlin IBA – Oct 3, 2013
So, it got me thinking about this state bird of ours. I did a little checking and found out that it was a contentious choice. Here’s how one web site described it:
As in so many states, the Vermont Federated Women’s Clubs played a part in the adoption of the Vermont state bird. They adopted, in 1927, the hermit thrush (Hylocichla gutta pallasi) as their state bird.
It was not so easy for the hermit thrush to gain status as the official state bird of Vermont. According to the Vermont Legislative Directory and State Manual, Biennial Session, 1993-1994:
“Among other things, it was not considered a true Vermonter because, unlike the blue jay or crow (which were favored by some legislators), the Hermit Thrush leaves Vermont during the winter in its southward migration. The record is not clear, but this bird was selected to represent Vermont, among other things, because it has a distinctive sweet call, and because it is found in all of Vermont’s 14 counties.”
The hermit thrush was adopted as the official state bird of Vermont by an act of the Legislature in 1941, effective June 1, 1941.
State bird or not, it’s one of my favorites. We have dozens of them on our property and they are part of our spring/summer early morning dog walks. We don’t consider them flatlanders.
I took the dog and my bum knee out birding in the truck yesterday morning and we cruised some of our normal routes — Berlin Pond and the E. F. Knapp state airport. There were few birds on the pond but what I noticed was the large numbers of Tree Swallows swirling over the water and trees — probably several hundred. It looked to me like they were gathering for a trip southward.
At the airport, I noted three Eastern Kingbirds feeding together. I took a shot of one but the morning sun made the lighting poor for photography. I hadn’t ever noted Kingbirds in groups before.
At the other end of the airport, I saw a larger bird off a ways acting a little like a swallow, swooping and zooming. As I got closer, it flew right over the truck and landed in a tree. An American Kestrel. I grabbed a couple of shots from the truck window and then it flew, did its hovering act, and then was joined by three other Kestrels. They actively hunting and interacting but moved off, out of site, once I got out of the truck. It sure looked to me like they were getting ready to migrate.
This Kestrel paused for just a moment before flying again. It was then joined by three more.
I have noticed that the Chestnut-sided Warblers who were so noisy along our driveway a week ago, seem to have left. The American Goldfinches and Purple Finches are hitting the feeders like mad. Change is in the air.
Last week, I had the truck in for maintenance and rather than sit in the waiting room with a mindless tv program blaring, I decided to take a walk with the dog and do a little birding. Fortunately, we have a wonderful forested park right in downtown Montpelier so off I headed toward the golden dome of the statehouse.
Hubbard Park rises straight up behind the statehouse and has a winding trail that weavesbup through tall pine and hardwood trees to an observation tower. No sooner did I enter the wood when I heard an Ovenbird over the din of morning traffic. There is construction underway downtown so the singing Red-eyed Vieros and Hermit Thrushes competed with back-up signals from dump trucks. This faded as we climbed and I began to hear Black-throated Greens (and Blues) and other woodland birds as we climbed.
The trail was rebuilt by Youth Conservation Corps teams who also built some clever resting spots like this one.
In 1899, Montpelier was given 134 acres of land by John E. Hubbard for use as a park and then, in 1911, was donated additional land was donated where the present stone observation tower stands.
You come out of the woods into a lovely clearing, filled with birds, in which stands the Hubbard Park tower. Penny and I don’t do towers — but I hear the view is great.
We started to encounter dogs and walkers as we entered into the roads of the park. It is a popular exercise spot for canines and at present, there is no leash requirement so it can be a little dicey with a bossy Vizsla, who is on a leash. We maneuvered by several groups of people and dogs as we moved down toward the new shelter. There were some American Redstarts and Blackburnian Warblers calling high in the foliage and a half dozed Red-eyed Vireos.
The park is extensive and hooks up with trails at the North Branch Nature Center and other city land.
As we descended back toward the “Meadow Area” of Montpelier, we started running into some field-habitat birds and I grabbed a couple of photos:
This American Goldfinch was chowing down on some plants and ignored us.A juvenile Common Yellowthroat played hide and seek as I tried to take a photo.
We were soon back on city streets and heading back toward the garage to pick up the Ford. It was such a lovely outing, right smack in the middle of the capitol city of Vermont. Without a lot of work, I logged 20 species, and know that I missed some. So if you are visiting Montpelier, carve out some time to walk the trails of this great resource. You can drive most of the way up this time of year and avoid some pretty steep climbs. It is a safe place and a great place to air out a restless pooch — and see and hear some neat birds.
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