Each day I take Ginger, our labradoodle, on walks around the city or on trails throughout the county. We spend an hour or two and try to integrate a little birding into each adventure.

Montpelier itself has some nice birding and we found this House Finch just a bit down the road — heard it chipping and then spotted it.

On one of our jaunts on the trails of East Montpelier on Saturday, we flushed a Great Horned Owl who was out of sight before my camera was out of my pack. But later, in a real surprise, three Rusty Blackbirds, which I never see up here, flew into some trees and posed for the camera.

I hear that Common Redpolls are around. It’s time to bundle up and see our winter visitors. Hopefully a Snowy Owl has Washington County in its gps.