Category Archives: Big Year

Vermont Raptors

While the Airstream is not completely unpacked, the good weather tempted me to do some birding yesterday morning, to restart my County big year effort for Caledonia County which I started just before we left for Texas.

I left early and drove about forty-five minute to the County line encountering some frost heaves and potholes but a delightful lack of traffic – and a beautiful countryside. After several stops, with some success, I arrived at my planned hot spot, the floodplain along the Connecticut River over in Barnet. I followed a farm road toward the river, through a large hayfield toward some big cornfields. The river was high and fast with little on it but the fields had ducks and Canada Geese and some sparrows while American Tree Swallows soared overhead. It was a beautiful morning and I let the dog out to roam around — she loved the spring smells. (We stayed away from the area where they are spreading cow manure.)

After a bit, I heard a loud screeching/calling from the pine trees off to the west and saw a large bird slowly moving in that direction. I got my binoculars on it: Bald Eagle, then another one.  The pair moved in to their youngsters, which I could not see, and then rested on the nest. I went back to the truck, got my scope, tried to find my iPhone setup, and returned to watch them. They were not easy to see although the white heads stuck out in the greenery where there were openings. I watched for a while, then they flew and I grabbed these two shots of one of them going overhead.

You can see that there's a missing wing feather or two from molting.

You can see that there’s a missing wing feather or two from molting.

Eagle2W

I waited a bit for them to return but I had a schedule to keep myself and headed back toward the interstate to head north. Just a mile or so up I-91 there’s a scenic pull off and I decided to make a quick stop to scan the far off river area. A car was there with two folks with cameras and binoculars, always a good sign, so I asked them what they were watching.

It turns out that they are part of a group that monitors Peregrine Falcon nesting in the region and they had spent several hours already that morning watching a nest up in the cliffs across the highway. The nest was recessed deep in a shady cave-like opening and out of sight but one of the falcons, probably Dad, was perched not far away.  I took a couple of shots of him from long range as I thanked them for their help.

Pfalcon2W Pfalcon1WIt was a great end to a nice Vermont birding morning and I added about fifteen species to my County list. Fun to be birding again on home turf.

 

eBird Targets–Exploring the Possibilities

Cornell’s eBird just announced the launch of eBird Targets–a new tool that creates a prioritized list of county, state, or life birds that you can expect to find in a region. You enter a region, range of months, and then select the list you’d like to compare. eBird compares your selected list against the full species list for the selected region and months, creating a target species list that can be sorted taxonomically or by frequency (the percentage of checklists that have reported the species). Each time you submit a checklist to eBird, a geo-referenced tag is created that allows you to keep track of your lists on the My eBird pages. From the simple life list to very focused region-based year lists, eBird Targets allows birders to play the games they find most interesting while creating more and better data for science.

I decided to run a list to see what I might find in my target county for this year, Lamoille. I am sort of stuck on 130 species and recent visits have drawn blanks and the combination of other commitments, weather, and the departure of many of my “missing” birds, make 135 to 140 a reasonable expectation.  So let’s see what eBird says — what I want are the birds that will be there during the next six weeks that I don’t have on the year’s list.

So first, I run this query:

Screen Shot 2014-11-14 at 3.24.11 PM

Now this is for a life list for the county, which in my case is the same as the year list.  The report shows 34 species and ranks them by frequency — so if I can get five I’ll be happy.

Screen Shot 2014-11-14 at 3.26.45 PM

The other neat aspect of this program is that it provides a map of where a given species was reported in the past, highlighting recent sightings.  Here is one for Evening Grosbeak.

Screen Shot 2014-11-14 at 3.31.00 PM

I’m sure that I’ll be using this a lot as we start traveling to states in the Southwest. Combined with alerts from eBird, email listings, and various iPhone apps that cull eBird data, we have a lot of tools available.

The eBird team ends with this suggestion:

Please give the new eBird Targets output a try, and use it to find everything from your next life bird to your next year bird in your home county. Have fun, and submit lots of complete eBird checklists along the way!

Babcock Nature Preserve

One of the benefits of doing a big year in another county is to explore new birding places.  Yesterday I did that when I visited the Babcock Nature Preserve, a pretty 1,000-acre area of forest that serves as an outdoor laboratory for field biology, ornithology and environmental science courses at Johnson State College.  It has a large b0g, three ponds, and lots of deer flies.  

There is a gated-gravel/dirt road that makes it easy walking.

There is a gated-gravel/dirt road that makes it easy walking.

The dog and I arrived about 9 as a nearby Hermit Thrush sang away in the deep woods.  There was no one else around as we headed out laden with bug dope.  The first two bodies of water are partially hidden and require some bushwhacking to check them out.

Babcock1

There were dozens of chipmunks squealing and running as we moved along, giving Penny lots of chances to crash through the underbrush.

ChipmunkW

The biggest pond is Rittenbush Pond which featured a cooperative Common Loon who ignored us and moved around the quiet pond.

LoonW

The college has some rustic cabins around the pond which, while worn from weather and use, seem to get a lot of use from students and leaders.

One of the cabins is directly across the pond.

One of the cabins is directly across the pond.

Rittenbush4

I saw or heard 22 species of birds — nothing new per se except for the new setting.  We spent several hours watching and listening — and several Swamp Sparrows, like this one, trilled away.

SwampSpW

I was wishing that I had a plastic bag with me to grab some of the discarded beer cans and water bottles that folks, not necessarily students, had tossed here and there.  My frame of mind was improved when I got to Rittenbush Camp and saw this sign.

Rittenbush3

“EARTH provides enough for everyones (sic) need, not everyone’s greed.  Keep Mother earth —“.  (I cut off the ending with the camera — provide your own ending word.)  Good birding.

The preserve is named for Robert and Anne Hanchett Babcock who donated the tract to the Vermont State Colleges. Robert Babcock was the first provost of the Vermont State Colleges, a member of the Vermont House of Representatives, and a lieutenant governor of Vermont serving under Governor Robert Stafford.

Birding a New Patch

As I have launched a County Big Year for Lamoille County, I have found a “patch” where I have been focusing much of my attention:  it is close and pretty, and it is productive.

Lamoille County is about 10 miles from the house and the "patch" is 2 miles further.

Lamoille County is about 10 miles from the house and the “patch” is 2 miles further.

The patch is a hiking/bike/ski trail from Route 12 up to Little Elmore Pond.  Here’s the starting point with a bridge across the North Branch of the Winooski River.

Note the post, with a lock, to keep out four-wheelers and snow machines.

Note the post, with a lock, to keep out four-wheelers and snow machines.

The North Branch is a lovely stream here, colored brown with tannic acid.

The North Branch is a lovely stream here, colored brown with tannic acid.

Yesterday, I had a couple of hours so the dog and I went up for some birding.  I hadn’t even got out of the truck when I heard two Ovenbirds calling back and forth.

Ovenbirds are probably the most common bird along the trail -- usually hear five or ten -- but rarely see them.

Ovenbirds are probably the most common bird along the trail — usually hear five or ten — but rarely see them.  This one was more accommodating than most.

There’s little traffic on the highway but it’s nice to get up the trail a bit and get away from what road noise there is.  The the woods come alive with the calls of warblers however the new foliage makes sightings a challenge.  I never meet anyone along the way and it is wonderful just walking along, listening.  I usually keep the dog leashed going up so that she doesn’t spook everything before I get there and it pays off, we heard and saw a Tennessee Warbler early on the trail.

The trail has water in vernal pools and a small brook runs alongside and the black flies are out and about.  Last week, about a quarter-mile in, I heard a loud bird up ahead, low in the underbrush, but didn’t recognize the call.  Quietly moving ahead with the dog straining, I saw a small bird moving and got it in the binoculars (one-handed since the leash was in the other) and saw an Ovenbird-like bird with a different call.  I realized that I had my first Northern Waterthrush of the year.

A "Selfie" along the trail - birding was slow.

A “Selfie” along the trail – birding was slow.

Of course, although the landscape is wild and beautiful, there is debris — some from hunters (shell cases), and some from former logging operations.  I spotted this big black object off the trail and thinking “bear cub,”  saw that it was just an abandoned skidder tire.

Why haul it out when you can just leave it in the woods?

Why haul it out when you can just leave it in the woods?

It’s really been fun getting to know this little area.  I see Common Yellowthroats in the same spots each visit and am getting to know the hot spots along the way.  I took my bike a few weeks ago and rode/pushed the six or seven miles up to Little Elmore Pond.  I approached the pond carefully, thinking that I might see some waterfowl but nothing was there.  I sat by the water’s edge, hearing a Barred Owl and a Pileated Woodpecker, when a shorebird whizzed past.  It settled on a rock and I got a few shots of this lonely Spotted Sandpiper.

SandpiperW

So far, in about a month I have over 60 species in this birding patch and got three new birds yesterday.  It’s been a good find and in fifteen minutes I can get there and be in wild country filled with some pretty good birds.  It’s a great place to slow down and enjoy things.  Here are a couple more shots of things along the way.  Good birding.

Fungi on yellow birch

Fungi on yellow birch

Many patches of violets adorn the pathway.

Many patches of violets adorn the pathway.

Russ Pond – A Mystery Solved

One of the neat things about tackling a new county for a big year is that you get to explore many new places.  In reviewing the Lamoille County map online and in a printed atlas (I need to get some topo maps), looking for interesting back roads and features, I came across a tiny body of water called Russ Pond just over the County line, not far from the highway.  There was nothing online about it other than a map, showing it with a trail leading to it.

With visions of flocks of unmolested waterfowl at a secret place, I took the dog on a hike to it the other day.  I  didn’t see any ducks or grebes but found an interesting mystery.

Gated roads are no big deal unless they are posted -- and you don't block the entrance. Or at least that's my theory.

Gated roads are no big deal unless they are posted — and you don’t block the entrance. Or at least that’s my theory.

So, up the steep road we trekked and soon were away from the highway noise and hearing Yellow-rumps and the other usual suspects.  There was no evidence of recent travel but there was one small tree that had fallen across the path with a saw cut from perhaps this winter.  We came into an opening and up ahead, several large I-beams lay in the field.  I thought that a bridge might be up ahead but was puzzled by them.

Mystery2W

What are these massive I-beams doing in the middle of nowhere?

We pushed ahead about a quarter-mile and through the sparse trees, I saw a big rusty structure that at first looked to me like some sort of an industrial building — but as I got closer it turned out to be a massive A-frame skeleton built on ledge, anchored by a large reinforced concrete base.  Eerie to say the least — no sign of recent activity.

This photo does not reflect the size of this large structure -- it is very large -- and rusting away.

This photo does not reflect the size of this large structure — it is very large — and rusting away.

Since birding was the objective of the trip, I scanned the small pond, finding nothing on the water but one aluminum boat lying on the shore.  Penny went down to check it out.

Any critters under this boat?

Any critters under this boat?

I went down to the water and watched a Belted Kingfisher, oblivious to us, fishing on the far bank.  It was very still except for a few warblers and peepers — and a pretty little pond.

Russ Pond on a May morning - 2014

Russ Pond on a May morning – 2014

I walked back to the truck, after seeing my first Black-throated Blue Warbler for the county, wondering what the deal was with this place.  Did someone die?  All sorts of scenarios came to mind — but why haul skyscraper-style I-beams up a mountain and leave everything?

I searched for Russ Pond history online — nada — and decided to do a little research next time in the County.  So, yesterday morning, I stopped by the highway garage — they were out working somewhere — but found a young man working at the volunteer fire company building.  He didn’t know much about the place but said, “The guy who will know, if anyone does, is Warren over at the store.”

Warren Miller is a fixture in the County, a long-time resident who has operated the Elmore Country Store for ages, and who knows everyone.  I know him by name and dropped by, explained my birding trip and asked if he knew Russ Pond.  He responded, “Haven’t been up there in years, but the place is owned by a doctor from Nova Scotia.  He wanted a little piece of Vermont so I sold him 504 acres, for cheap money back then — about $80,000.”

I asked him about the massive structure and he related that the guy’s brother-in-law was a steelworker (which brings up all sorts of steel beam acquisition scenarios) and that the doc wanted to build something that could withstand anything.  Guess plans changed – there it sits.

I expected to have to get into tax records or go on a long chase for information but in the time it took to order a coffee and muffin, I had my answer.  No bodies, nothing newsworthy, but still a good example of some of the interesting things you stumble into into when you get off the beaten paths of Vermont.  Looking at the photo of the pond, I can see why the doc bought it.

Birding Lamoille County

One of my plans for 2014 was to focus on one of our adjacent counties for a mini-Big Year effort once I got home from the Southwest.  I looked at Caledonia, to our east where we sometimes camp, and Orange to the south which is not too long a drive.  I settled on our northern neighbor, Lamoille County, since it starts just ten miles or so up the road and it is the county in which my brother has a second home — which we like to visit periodically.  So last week, I got started and am enjoying the challenge of learning a new county.  Here’s the layout (our home is marked at the bottom):

LamoilleMap

So once or twice a week, I head north on Route 12 with the dog.  The snow is still melting and there are many “Moose Crossing – next X miles” which are taken seriously.  There’s a fair amount of commuter traffic into Montpelier but later, it is lightly traveled.  Here’s a typical scene from the road — here at the county line.

It's damp and not very inviting in this changeover season but nuthatches, kinglets, woodpeckers, and chickadees welcome you.

It’s damp and not very inviting in this changeover season but nuthatches, kinglets, woodpeckers, and chickadees welcome you.

I bird my way north, half-watching in Washington County but then really sharpening my attentiveness (to birding and driving) once I cross the line.  I’m finding some new personal hotspots and with the help of eBird and an avid birder I met yesterday, am learning some of the “go-to” places.

In less than two weeks, I’m over 50 birds and migration is yet to kick in.  The best bird so far was this Palm Warbler I saw last week, as he made his way through the area.

PAWA1W

I’m a little surprised at how energized I get from tackling a new area.  I still check my home county spots when I’m out and about but it is fun to game plan and explore a brand new birding area, even one like this just “up the road a piece.”

Now, if that Snowy Owl that I saw last week was only about four miles further north….

A Look Back and Birding Goals for 2014

Last year, I decided to do an informal County Big Year in my home county since we were not heading out for the winter. It was successful in spite of operations, injections, and general immobility for over two months. I ended up with 154 species, tied for second place with a birder friend, and probably missed a dozen during the spring and fall migrations. I was very pleased with the results.

I ended up with 179 species for the year, most of the rest being in Massachusetts.

I only added six life birds with the best being a Northern Shrike – a nemisis bird which, after I got it, seemed to pop up everywhere, including our back yard.

The best bird of the year for me, like many other birders this year, was the Snowy Owl I found in December.

2014 Goals

Since we are enroute to Texas and Arizona, New Mexico, and southern California, I am raising my sights. Here’s what I am aiming for:

  • 250 species for the year

  • 50 new life birds (come on, you Western birds!)

  • Five counties with at least 100 species (Starr & Aransas in Texas, Essex in Massachusetts, Washington & Caledonia in Vermont)

  • Explore 25 under-birded areas in the Northeast

So, I’m off to a good start with 27 species on the first dauy of 2014. I don’t get crazy about the numbers, they are just fun targets. Today, my best birding moment was the 15 minutes I watched Cedar Waxwings and American Robins work over a choke-cherry tree with Yellow-rumps diving into the fray from time to time. It was an avian fast food frenzy.

We are off to Louisiana in the morning, hoping to see a pair of Great-horned Owls who in the past, have raised families there. What are your birding goals for the New Year?

Last Bird Outing of 2013

It was frosty in Tennessee this morning as Penny and I toured the nearly-vacant grounds of the Harrison Bay State Park. She could race off leash over massive parking lots and playing fields. It’s fun to imagine the thousands that visit it on a summer day.

Eight or ten Eastern Bluebirds greeted us, starting the day off well. Kinglets, warblers, woodpeckers, and several noisy Carolina Wrens were out and about.

We buttoned up the rig and were off to deal with the traffic of Chattanooga, then Birmingham, then Tuscaloosa, before hitting the Mississippi line and heading down to Clarko State Park. The trip was fairly easy and without incidents. I must say that Alabama drivers are a lot like Mass. drivers: to signal a lane change is a sign of weakness. And yahoos in the South who text or talk on cells drive just erratically as their northern kind.

I had time for one last birding outing with Penny this year so once I got the Airstream settled, off we went. We have been here before and found the birding good. Today was no exception – no sooner had I headed out when we flushed an owl just 50 yards from our site. It flew right in front of me and I tried to make it a Short-eared but the habitat was wrong and then it perched and it was obviously a Barred Owl – still a neat bird. The bird was obscured by branches which drove the auto-focus crazy but I got a shot for the record:

Barred Owl in MS

We had a nice mix of birds but the final ones were the best: very active Pileated Woodpeckers beating the heck out of pines. They are so much fun to watch and these were so busy that they seemed to ignore us. The flash of their red is spectacular. Here is a poor shot through the trees:

Pileated Woodpecker at work

So we end 2013 – a year that I missed several months of birding due to injuries to my neck and my knee. It will be fun to use eBird to analyze my results for the year and set some goals for 2014. With new states of AZ, NM, and CA up ahead, it should be a good year. I hope it will be for you.

County Bird #153 — Snowy Owl

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.

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.

County Bird #150

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.

Pied-billed Grebe. Vortex Razor HD, 20-60 eyepiece at 20x, Canon SD4000, Vortex DCA & PS100 adapters.

Pied-billed Grebe. Vortex Razor HD, 20-60 eyepiece at 20x, Canon SD4000, Vortex DCA & PS100 adapters.

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.

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.