Tag Archives: life birds

Pine Grosbeaks – finally

As I have noted before, a Canadian ornithologist, Ron Pittaway, each year issues a  Winter Finch Forecast.  He notes that there is a “widespread tree seed crop failure in the Northeast” this year.  It looks like a good year for winter birds — we’re already seeing a lot of Purple Finches, Dark-eyed Juncos, and hundreds of Pine Siskins.

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve seen reports of sightings of gaggles of Bohemian Waxwings and Pine Grosbeaks all over Vermont.  Friends of mine have reported berry trees laden with birds and yet, I’ve yet to come close to one of the visitors.  Until today….

Last night, before a board meeting of the North Branch Nature Center, I was whining to Chip, the ED, about all the reports of Pine Grosbeaks.  He asked, “Have you seen them up at Rumney in the fruit tree?”

A female Pine Grosbeak feeding on fruit at Rumney School, Middlesex, VT.

Rumney School is about a half-mile up the road and so this morning, after an appointment, I drove by the school and noted some birds in the tree in front.  I carefully parked out back and grabbed my camera, aware that school is in session and guys wandering around with binos and cameras may look suspicious.  I got close enough to make out the Pine Grosbeaks and took a few shots and left.  The birds were used to people and just filling their craws with the red berries.

The neat outcome was that when I entered the sighting into eBird, it marked it as a new life bird.  I had not realized that I didn’t have Pine Grosbeaks so it turned out to be not only a year bird, but my #350 life bird.  Thanks Chip.

Two Lifers in Ten Minutes

Today was a beautiful fall day to chase birds.  I returned to Artichoke Reservoir which was rather calm after yesterday’s chaos.  I was looking for the Greater White-fronted Goose that has been seen for several days in a row.  My first pass on the various vantage points brought some nice birds: lots of Mallards, Pied-billed Grebes, a Double-crested Cormorant, a couple of Mute Swans, and about 20 Canada Geese but no target bird.  I was early and knew that they had been overnighting in nearby cornfields and arriving later in the morning so I drove over to nearby Cherry Hill Reservoir.

I took a walk along the eastern edge, seeing hundreds of Ruddy Ducks, a couple of American Coots, a late Osprey, and numerous sparrows.  A birder came walking up, with a dog on a leash, and asked if I’d seen the goose.  When I said no, he told me that it had just flown in back at Artichoke — that he’d been there when it arrived.  So, back in the car I went, stowing scope and tripod, and drove the ten minutes back.  Sure enough, there was a gaggle of geese on the wind-swept water and after counting 49 and not seeing it, I went slowly back through the group and sure enough, there it was — smaller, orange bill, different coloration.  Life bird 348!  I took some digiscoped shots but they are for documentation — too far away and pretty windy.

A Greater White-fronted Goose on Artichoke Reservoir, West Newbury, MA.

As I was watching, a birder from New Hampshire showed up, and then another serious guy who’d driven yesterday to Rhode Island for the Wood Sandpiper.  They got on the bird and then a woman arrived, mentioning that “the Great Cormorant was still at Cherry Hill Reservoir.”  I asked her where and since I’d never spotted it, after watching the goose for a bit longer, I made the short trip back to Cherry Hill.  I suspect that locals are used to birders by now.

I found the juvenile Great Cormorant — perhaps two — the photos look that way — on rocks way on the other side of the water.  They digiscoped photo is pretty rough but the looks through the scope were good.  Life bird 349!

I would have liked to see the Pink-footed Goose that someone reported a few days ago and my birder friends were really after that … but it may have been a misidentification or just left, as rare birds will do.  I’m at the point in birding where I still have a number of not-so-rare birds to get for life birds.  Hope to get one more this week — perhaps a Northern Gannet.