Tag Archives: county bird

I Brake For Birds

This popular birder bumper sticker seems especially appropriate at this time of year when I’m looking for winter birds that can be elusive – Grosbeaks, Buntings, Horned Larks, Bohemian Waxwings, Snowy Owls.

I had some extra time this morning and took the long way on back roads to my appointment. Coming around the corner of a narrow road, I came upon a flock of about a dozen Evening Grosbeaks feeding on sumac. It was a tangle of camera, binos, labradoodle, and caution lights as I rolled the window down and shot. The birds were busy, no traffic passed, and it was a nice little moment.

Hey, we’re having breakfast!
It’s just another birder

Now to find some Snow Buntings. Happy Solstice.

An Afternoon Surprise

Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting out back near the river reading in the shade, with Ginger on my lap. I was missing seeing the inquisitive Common Yellowthroats and aerobatic Eastern Kingbirds, and many others — it was bittersweet to realize that most of our summer birds are suddenly gone.

Movement caught my eye and two large birds languidly flew upstream, right in front of me. A Great Blue Heron and what — a Great Egret, passed by side by side, circled to fly back down stream leaving me surprised to say the least. While I see Great Egrets elsewhere, I’ve never seen one here — and especially accompanied by a heron who decided to peel of and perch in a big White Pine. The egret landed just upstream.

I had no camera with me but I gathered the dog, jogged up to the house, grabbed my Canon and returned — and took a few photos. I suspect both birds are on their way south today but that last look was very special.

Mid-May Birding

Every day, new birds are arriving – it’s a great time for birding. Yesterday, I drove into a parking spot at Ginger’s play group and rolled down the window to get this hummer.

This Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and his mate are driving our neighbors crazy with their constant drilling on the sheet metal shed roof.

Canada Geese are raising youngsters all along the river.

One of the delightful new arrivals are the Warbling Vireos, like the one I saw early this morning.

My birding companion is always up for an outing.

I have gathered a few warbler shots and will post them next time. It’s definitely a work in progress.

Back Home

A lot of birds arrived during our trip to North Carolina. On the first morning back, I had a wonderful outing.

My first Vermont Gray Catbird of the year
This Mallard was spectacular in the morning sun
A Solitary Sandpiper
A Red Trillium along the trail

Many birds were singing including warblers (Yellow, Black & White, Chestnut-sided, Yellow-rumped, and Common Yellowthroat) and at the end of the walk, this American Robin was singing its heart out. So it made it into the photos.

Long-Tailed Ducks

On a morning with new wet snow on the ground and a snow/rain mix falling, Ginger and I added a little in-the-car birding to our routine before we did some errands. It was a nice venture.

I’ve only seen Long-tailed Ducks a few times — they are relatively uncommon here – but we found this pair resting in the rain, probably after a long night flight.

It was a nice treat and I’m sure they’re already on their way.

Some April Arrivals

This is a nice time to bird in Vermont as migration continues and almost every day, you can see new arrivals. Here are a few from this week.

Most Tuesdays, Ginger goes to a dog play group. Knowing that Eastern Bluebirds nest on the property, I brought my camera and sure enough.

The following day, I went up to the local airport looking for American Kestrels spotted this bird flying along the road. The photo is difficult because I had to stop on a busy road, watching for traffic as I shot.

Likewise, this Eastern Meadowlark was a challenge.

Warblers should be here soon and with temperatures warming, we are looking forward to the return of many more migrants.

A Low Expectation Saturday Outing

Things are really slow birding-wise right now with some of the winter birds gone (haven’t seen Common Redpolls for a few days) and just a few early arrivals.  We’re seeing some Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, and a few Killdeer but it will be a few weeks until water opens up more and we get more activity.  So, not expecting much this morning, I headed out with the dog in the truck to check out a few of the back roads.  We had an inch or two of snow last night and the temperature was in the 20’s — nice morning for January but not as welcome, to some of us, in mid-March.

It was early Saturday morning — things just waking up — when I drove into downtown Montpelier.  I noted a swirl of a dozen rock pigeons and then saw a raptor cruising along, having probably made a pass at them.  Big, long tail, easy wing-strokes, and a brief look as it headed west.  I also had to dodge a sidewalk snowplow and city sand truck but the look and the Jizz* told me — Cooper’s Hawk.  I snaked my way up State Street, hoping to see it perched, but no luck.  I pulled over, entered it into Birdlog on my iPhone, and had a new County bird for the year.

Encouraged by such a great start, I headed out on some back roads that we often cruise on local bird outings.  At one reliable spot, I saw a flash of red and sure enough, a pair of Northern Cardinals brightened the dull morning scene.  I saw all the normal suspects (blue jays, titmice, chickadees, nuthatches, and crows) and then moved off to a pull-off along the Winooski River where Canada Geese and four Hooded Mergansers plied the icy waters.  Here’s one of the few pictures I took:

Five geese ignore a male Hoodie paddling through the ice flows on the Winooski River. photo dickmfield

Five geese ignore a male Hoodie paddling through the ice flows on the Winooski River. photo by dickmfield

Returning on the rut-frozen River Road, I picked up a couple of Common Grackles – a species that I had yet to see this year — and drove home hoping to spot a Red-tailed Hawk.  Stopping to pick up coffee and a killer scone at Birchgrove Baking (to bring home to share with Mary) made a nice end to a nice outing.

*Jizz is a term used by birders to describe the overall impression or appearance of a bird garnered from such features as shape, posture, flying style or other habitual movements, size and colouration combined with voice, habitat and location.

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County Big Year Goals – February

January was a good birding month for me in Washington County.  I missed by monthly goal of 35 by one but also picked up several birds I didn’t expect: a Bald Eagle and a Barred Owl, and saw my nemesis bird, the Northern Shrike, for the first time.  I now see one at least weekly but we knew that would happen. I got two new life birds, the aforementioned shrike and a Barrow’s Goldeneye (over in Chittenden County.)  In spite of my whining about missing Texas birds, it was a good winter birding month.

The best January bird was this handsome Bald Eagle along the Dog River just south of Montpelier. Canon PowerShot SX50 HS Settings: 1/160 ƒ/6.5 ISO 640 215 mm

The best January bird was this handsome Bald Eagle along the Dog River just south of Montpelier. Canon PowerShot SX50 HS Settings: 1/160 ƒ/6.5 ISO 640 215 mm

Looking over the birds I missed in January, I’m only concerned about one — Pine Grosbeak —  because if I don’t get them now they may not  be here in November or December this year. I have reviewed historic eBird sightings in Washington County for February and frankly, there aren’t a lot to add to my missing list.  Things will heat up a bit in March as early migrants return.

Here’s the list of birds I am targeting for February:

Cooper’s Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Great Black-backed Gull  (a little iffy but seen at Grow Compost)

Golden-crowned Kinglet (I know they are here but hard to spot, or hear)

Cedar Waxwing

Song Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Pine Grosbeak

Purple Finch

Pine Siskin

House Sparrow (I’ve been walking around parking garages and strip malls with no luck)

Red-winged Blackbird (Perhaps an early returnee)

Common Grackle  (Perhaps an early returnee)

Brown-headed Cowbird  (Perhaps an early returnee)

While I know I won’t get all of these, I may pick up something I hadn’t counted on so my modest February goal is 14 more for a total of 48.  Stay tuned.

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You Lookin’ At Me?

Today was the first day above freezing we’ve had in several weeks and with all the melting, I figured that there might be some critters stirring, and perhaps I could see a Red-tailed or Cooper’s hawk.  So, after a morning meeting, I took the truck for a little drive, looking for raptors.  I also checked the Winooski to see if perhaps some areas had opened back up.  I pulled into Lover’s Lane, a dirt road in Moretown where Mary and I had seen a couple of Hooded Mergansers a couple of weeks ago.  Nothing doing, the river was ice-covered.

I turned the truck around in a series of backs and forwards, and pulling out, saw a Walmart bag on a branch across the meadow.  No, that’s a hawk.  I stopped the truck, cross-wise to the little road, and got the binoculars on it.  A Barred Owl was staring right back at me.  I rolled down the window and took a few photos as it sat perched there, watching the ground for lunch and every so often casting a glance my way.  I was quite a distance out but got some decent shots of a neat bird.  Pretty uncommon to see one in broad daylight but it’s the first good lunch day we’ve had in a while.

A Barred Owl in Moretown, VT. Canon PowerShot SX50 HS. Settings: 1/125ƒ/6.5ISO 800215 mm

A Barred Owl in Moretown, VT. Canon PowerShot SX50 HS. Settings: 1/125ƒ/6.5ISO 800215 mm

Back in December, I set some goals for a County Big Year.  My species goal for January was an optimistic thirty-five.  Well, the Barred Owl brings me to 34 with day to go.  No big deal one way or the other, but it’s a nice start to the year’s count.

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Brown Creeper for the County Big Year List

As I noted in a blog post in October, I love Brown Creepers.  However, I haven’t seen any since that day in October and while I know they are in our woods, I’ve dipped on them.

They were one of the 35 species on my County target list for January.  They’re tough to spot, being really small and blending in with the tree trunks.  We’ve had a lot of very cold temperatures with wind so their calls may have been masked by the woods noises.   They remained the only bird I hope to see in our woods until today.  It’s been tough birding, temperature aside, with the snowy trail very rough from the times I walked it when the snow was warmer — now it demands attention to the trail, not the trees.  So I know I’ve probably walked right by Brown Creepers.

This afternoon, it was sunny but windy with a wind chill down around zero.  I took the dog out and noted that there were many Chickadees active in the pines — more so than usual.  Then, just several hundred yards from the house, I saw movement on a big white pine tree trunk and Bingo, there’s the little creeper.  I wanted to get a photo (I’m trying to record each of my County birds) so I dropped my mittens, hauled my camera out of the parka, and in doing so lost the bird.  They are tough to see.  Then, I heard it call from another tree and then it flew to the next.  I followed it down into the woods, trying to get it in the camera.  They blend so well and are constantly moving — and my bare hands, already aching from the cold, fumbled with the camera controls.  But I got a couple of shots for the record — and got back to my mittens and their “hotties.”

A Brown Creeper working up the trunk of one of our White Pines. Canon PowerShot SX50 HS 1/100ƒ/5.6ISO 64059.4 mm

A Brown Creeper working up the trunk of one of our White Pines. Canon PowerShot SX50 HS 1/100ƒ/5.6ISO 64059.4 mm

It then took the rest of the walk to thaw out my fingers.  I heard a woodpecker working away and just ahead, this male Hairy was going after an afternoon snack.

A male Hairy Woodpecker Canon PowerShot SX50 HS 1/160ƒ/6.5ISO 250215 mm

A male Hairy Woodpecker Canon PowerShot SX50 HS 1/160ƒ/6.5ISO 250215 mm

Now, the task is to find a Golden Crown Kinglet. Again, I know we have them and that I’ll see them later in the year but it would be great to spot on before January ends.  They’re small, flitty, and their call is even higher pitched than the Brown Creeper.  So, that’s tomorrow’s target bird.

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