Montpelier is blessed to have many multipurpose trails within the forest land of the city – trails that are not used much midweek. The dog and I walk them most days and aside from meeting a few runners and mountain bikers, have the trail to ourselves. Here’s a stretch we walked this week.

As Ginger and I move along, we see the usual bird suspects including many Yellow-rumped Warblers who are foraging and moving continually. I find them tough to photograph, and the dog, usually roaming ahead on a short loose leash, is not a great help, Here’s a shot I grabbed as the bird launched.

At the start of a walk the other day, this Eastern Phoebe posed for me. It will be migrating soon.

It looks like a Pileated Woodpecker found this tasty.

This is an interesting time of year, the leaves are nearly gone, as are the summer birds, but we are starting to see juncoes and finches and so it continues. Good birding.