Veery –  Life Bird #297

Early this week, we took the Airstream on a little jaunt over to Stillwater State Park on Lake Groton.  It was a chance to not only test out the trailer after months of inactivity and also a chance to bird a new area.

This time of year, we are used to waking up to bird song — even this late in the season.  Red-eyed Vireos, Song Sparrows, and Common Yellowthroats are part of our early morning routine.  However, just while setting up the trailer in the wooded site, I was amazed at the birds singing: White-throated Sparrows, Ovenbirds, Winter Wrens, Veerys, along with Vireos and Song Sparrows.

Veery’s have been elusive for me — I’ve heard them in our woods but never really got a good look to be about to add it to my life list.  That was one of my objectives while camping and sure enough, the first morning revealed on singing on a naked branch right over our site.  Then, as often happens, once I saw one, it seemed like every other bird I saw was a Veery.

On the water in the kayak, I saw two pairs of loons and many mallards including at least three families.  Given the “friendliness” of the ducks, I have the feeling they have been fed by local campers.

Momma Mallard and five ducklings – taken from the kayak

Blackburnian Warblers were everywhere but with the heavy foliage, hard to track with the camera.  Their bright orange and steady singing made them easy to find, but they do tend to bounce around a lot.  I also got a good look at a Blackpoll Warbler and several Black-throated Green Warblers.  All in all, several nice days of camping and birding.

Some life birds kind of just show up — they are species you’ve either just missed seeing (or identifying) or else they’re a vagrant that hangs around (like this year’s Northern Hawk Owl or the Varied Thrush.)

Last Saturday, I got a life bird that I had to work for — hiking part of the way up Mt. Ellen with a group organized by the MadBirders.

About a dozen of us met at the parking lot of Sugarbush North ski area and climbed into the back of an old Army surplus truck, settling down for a bumpy ride up the access road.  The truck belched blue smoke and roared as we ascended but the better birders were still calling out birds whose calls they heard over the racket.  “Redstart, vireo, winter wren ….”  

A little over halfway up, we came to the jumpoff point beyond which it was travel and bird by foot.  It was pretty tough climbing up under the ski lift but the pace was reasonable and we paused to listen and look.  One birder noted, “If my heart rate and panting would slow down, perhaps I could hear something.”

The Madbirders had done this trek the previous five years and had seen Bicknell’s Thrushes each time so they knew when to expect to hear the bird.  And sure enough, almost on cue, we heard the chip note of a Bicknell’s.  We played one iPhone call and soon had a bird in sight.  Everybody tried to see it and most did — and all saw it fly.

We continued up toward the summit and saw another Bicknells’ and then another.  It was a life bird for several of us and well worth the trek.  The day was a gorgeous June Vermont day and the view up the spine of the Green Mountains and off into New York and New Hampshire was wonderful.

The Madbirders is a small high-energy club which offers a number of birding opportunities.  If you live in Central Vermont, it’s a $5.00 fee well-spent.  If you are visiting, check out their great web site and see if you can hook up with them.  They are knowledgeable and very welcoming.  Good Madbirding.

A Northern Hawk Owl

The digest of VTbirds this morning had several reports of a Northern Hawk Owl about 10 miles from here.  It’s a bird that I’d not seen and rather rare to Vermont — one or two a year get spotted each year.

So the dog and I hopped in the truck this morning and went over to River Road and sure enough, there were a group of birders standing beside the road with scopes and binoculars looking south.  I knew several of them and they pointed out the bird sitting in a tree quite a ways off.  It is a life bird for me.

It was hard to see clearly without a scope — which I had left in the truck — but several scopes were already set up and all of us got some good looks.  The owl left to hunt for a bit and then cooperatively perched on another tree about the same distance away.  Since the word was out (and it was the start of a new year of counting) birders were showing up from all over upstate Vermont.

Later, I went up to visit my other bird, my Luscombe, and install a new canopy cover to protect it from the elements. It was a nice way to start off the new year. 

photo by seabarium