Category: Vermont Birding

Hey, I dove for that fish as well

After a nice two hours of birding at North Branch Nature Center with a nice selection of warblers and the usual suspects, and intermittent showers, I drove downtown to get the paper.  There’s a small stretch of the North Branch of the Winooski right in Montpelier that I normally eyeball as I drive by.  There’s a little pocket park and once in a while, something is on the water.
Today I was driving with the windows up and heater going to thaw out a bit and thought, as I passed, that something was moving on the creek.  I slammed on the brakes (no one fortunately was behind – it is a major highway out of the city) and backed up 100 yards and quietly got out and peered through the roadside bushes.

Six Common Mergansers were cruising across the small stream, and making lots of splashing as they dove and fished.  I hustled back to the car and got my camera and caught them fishing and cruising.  Cars were streaming by on busy Elm Street but they were not bothered and I watched them motor back and forth, preening, stretching, and just screwing around.  It was one of those instant birding situations that makes you glad you have binoculars and camera at the ready — but also makes me wonder how many such opportunities I miss by keeping my eyes on the road.  Well, most of the time.  A pilot needs to maintain a good scan pattern.

“It is a monumental decision in the life of any birdwatcher. At stake is nothing less than the pleasure you

Green Jay by Dick Mansfield

get in the company of birds. So here is some wisdom on buying and using binoculars.

First recognize that bigger isn’t always better. Binoculars bear two numbers: 7×35, 8×30 or 10×50, for example. The first is magnification. You’re fine with 7- or 8-power. Sure, a power of 10 makes the tanager appear even larger, but it also magnifies your own trembling (and who doesn’t tremble in the presence of a tanager?). Higher magnification also reduces your field of view – the breadth of habitat you see out there. You spot a bird, lift your binoculars for a look … and find no bird in view. If this is all too familiar, your optics might be too powerful (or your aim needs practice). I bird with a pair of 8x42s….”   (Read whole post by Bryan Pfeiffer)

Birders are getting cranked up about this new movie — nearly every major birding blog mentions it since finally, the trailer from the much awaited – in birder circles –has been released.  The movie is based on Mark Obmascik’s book The Big Year about three obsessed birders who independently decide to do a big year birdwatching. That is, they try to see as many birds as possible in mainland US and Canada in a calendar year.

Will it be good? Will it be funny? Can you judge from this trailer?

There is a good chance it is good. Director David Frankel did Devil wears Prada and even has an academy award for short movie Dear Diary in 1997. There is even a better chance that it is funny with a cast consisting of Steve Martin, Owen Wilson and Jack Black.

The big question is of course….. will it be good for birding? The whole movie you may see from Oct 14.

I returned to the North Branch Nature Center early this morning to look for the elusive Black-billed Cuckoo (which I did not see) and check for fall warblers.  It was a grey overcast morning with little activity at first but once the sun started warming things up, bird activity cranked up.  I was by myself, armed with my Nikon Monarch binoculars and Canon 60D camera.

Young Cedarwaxwing hiding in bushes

There was lots of flycatcher and kingbird action as well as the ever-present Song Sparrows and Common Yellowthroats.  Seeing some movement deep in some bushes, I got my binos up and saw the gaping mouth of a young bird — and trying to take a photo with all the foliage, captured the image of a juvenile Cedar Waxwing.  The tail was much more red than the adults but from the mask and the noise it made, I was pretty sure of my call.

White-Throated Sparrow

Moving just further into the underbrush, I came face-to-face with a couple of White-Throated Sparrows and grabbed a couple of pictures.

Then the activity up high picked up — with all the constant flitting around and resultant neck craning that warbler watching can entail.  Sometimes I understand why Audobon shot them and took his time identifying them.

Blackburnian Warbler

Perhaps my favorite is the Blackburnian Warbler because the males are easy to identify and just gorgeous.  There was one this morning that I grabbed some poor shots of and then a Black and White Warbler popped up.  I saw Yellow-rumps as well as Yellow Warblers and missed a bunch more.

Common Flicker

Heading back, the Flickers were again on the path and one posed nicely for the camera.  It was a nice Saturday morning outing with about 27 species noted.

A Yellow Warbler peeking out

This morning I went on a bird walk with Chip Darmstadt, the director of the North Branch Nature Center.  We were looking for fall migrants and found a nice batch of them over a two hour period.  We started with a Bobolink perched on a Goldenrod and several frolicking Eastern Kingbirds along the entrance path, we found the trees along the river laden with warblers.  It’s quite a challenge with all the foliage and the frenetic nature of these elusive birds.  And they are not calling and in the fall plumage so it was nice to have Chip and his expertise along.

A Yellow Warbler bounced around in the morning sun, while a more shy Chestnut-sided lurked in the leaves until finally popping out for a good look.

A pair of House Wrens scolded us

We were scolded by a pair of noisy House Wrens while we watched a flock of Cedar Waxwings do their flycatcher routine.  And then we saw a flycatcher, probably a Least, and several other warblers (Yellow-rumped, Common Redstart, & Magnolia.)

Chip got pretty excited when we saw another little yellow bird flitting through the trees.  “I think that’s a Wilson’s Warbler,” he said.  We followed it with our binoculars trying to lock in field marks, as he called them out.  Yellow underparts, yellow face, no wingbars.  We knew we had it when we saw black on the top of the head.  Then it flew off.

Wilson’s Warbler (photo by goingslo)

We saw 28 species including a Flicker, a couple of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, and a Hooded Merganser sunning herself on a log with three turtles.  Chip got a quick glance at a Black-Billed Cuckoo but we couldn’t get it to show again.  That’s another that I need for my life list so I think I’ll scoot down there tomorrow morning and see if I can spot it.

As any novice birder knows, it’s great to have an experienced set of eyes with you.  I find that’s particularly true with warblers and shorebirds — otherwise I get pretty frustrated sorting them all out.  But then, having seen these birds in their fall plumage, I have a much better chance to identify them next time I see them — like tomorrow.

Everyone needs something or someone to lean on for support once in a while. Backcountry explorers are no different, whether it is a pair of telescoping hiking poles or simply a thick stick picked up along the trail. A pole or stick can assist with a wide range of backcountry situations from crossing a beaver dam to descending a mountain. This extra support becomes even more important as one gets older when the knee and hip joints need relief from the stress caused from hours of hiking over arduous terrain.

Although most hikers use the typical high-tech aluminum telescoping poles, there still remains a few who prefer the old-school wooden hiking sticks. These sticks are often found along the trail, especially near tricky wetland or beaver dam crossings. Occasionally, a hiker might develop an attachment to one of these sticks, removing the stick from its native habitat to live out a life as a trusty object of support and balance.

An alternative to these options is to buy a wooden hiking stick from Brazos Walking Sticks.

Brazos Walking Sticks makes a wide selection of walking sticks, canes, and accessories. The company’s walking stick line are an attractive alternative to the high-tech hiking poles for anyone but the most aggressive mountain climber.
Brazos products come in a wide variety of wood types including oak, cedar, ash, maple, cherry, pine and others. Each walking stick or cane is handcrafted by one of their gifted artisan craftsmen in central Texas, not far from the company’s namesake, the Brazos River. 

Read complete review by Dan Crane in Adirondack Almanac

Photo by Brazos Walking Sticks

Everyone needs something or someone to lean on for support once in a while. Backcountry explorers are no different, whether it is a pair of telescoping hiking poles or simply a thick stick picked up along the trail. A pole or stick can assist with a wide range of backcountry situations from crossing a beaver dam to descending a mountain. This extra support becomes even more important as one gets older when the knee and hip joints need relief from the stress caused from hours of hiking over arduous terrain.

Although most hikers use the typical high-tech aluminum telescoping poles, there still remains a few who prefer the old-school wooden hiking sticks. These sticks are often found along the trail, especially near tricky wetland or beaver dam crossings. Occasionally, a hiker might develop an attachment to one of these sticks, removing the stick from its native habitat to live out a life as a trusty object of support and balance.

An alternative to these options is to buy a wooden hiking stick from Brazos Walking Sticks.

Brazos Walking Sticks makes a wide selection of walking sticks, canes, and accessories. The company’s walking stick line are an attractive alternative to the high-tech hiking poles for anyone but the most aggressive mountain climber.
Brazos products come in a wide variety of wood types including oak, cedar, ash, maple, cherry, pine and others. Each walking stick or cane is handcrafted by one of their gifted artisan craftsmen in central Texas, not far from the company’s namesake, the Brazos River. 

Read complete review by Dan Crane in Adirondack Almanac
Photo by Brazos Walking Sticks

I took a quick trip over to Dead Creek this morning with the dog to check out the shorebirds — but saw none.  I did see a nice variety and took some photos.  Here are a few:

An immature Brant with a Canada Goose

A Double-crested Cormorant with lunch

One of many Eastern Kingbirds

Dozens of Great Blue Herons were fishing and flying

After appointments this morning, I swung by a local birding hotspot — Berlin Pond — and was surprised to find, even in mid-morning, a lot going on.  The air was just full of feeding birds.  Swallows, Cedar Waxwings, Eastern Kingbirds, and others chased after insects while young Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers chased one another.

The pond is a protected water supply for the city of Montpelier.  This time of year, much of it is clogged with lilly pads and other aquatic weeds.  Amongst them, a Common Loon cruised, diving every so often for food.

I watched a Broad-winged Hawk being harassed by a Red-Winged Blackbird and thought once again, “Why don’t you just stop and clean that blackbird’s clock.”  But once it shook off the chaser, the hawk hightailed it off to the south.

Heading down to the south end of the pond, I came upon a Great Blue Heron who acted like I couldn’t see him.  Four juvenile ducks paddled around, in and out of the cattails (it looks to me like they are young wood ducks.) 

Juvenile Wood Ducks duck into the weeds

One of the dozens of Cedar Waxwings

So, in about an hour, I saw at least 30 species and missed a number more.  My dog was “helping” me bird and several times, she yanked on the leash just as I brought the binoculars in focus.  Such is the challenge of birding with a Vizsla.

So, as a fellow birder wrote:  it may be late July, and the birding a bit slower, but there are still fun places to visit and birds to be discovered.