Cape May Autumn Weekend

Cape May Bird Observatory had a stunning weekend for their annual event. I went to Cape May on Sunday, not for CMBO events, but just to enjoy the great weather, location, and birds. There were lots of birders, birding groups, and bird hikes, but also plenty of room to roam away from people and enjoy the opportunities the birds presented to the camera.

New for my photographic archives was a Eurasian Widgeon among a flock of American Widgeons in the state park ...

Eurasian Widgeon with its American cousins

In a year when photography has been frustrated by other demands and an inability to get out where the birds are, the day was refreshing and rejuvenating. A few examples of the wonderful colors and light in which the birds posed ...

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Song Sparrow

Eastern Phoebe

Brown Thrasher

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Northern Cardinal

Dark-eyed Junco ("Slate-colored" with some "Oregon" hints)

Swamp Sparrow

More soon. Good birding!

Snowed In

Mourning Doves during the snow storm

I have been unable to get free to pursue any of the Snowy Owls which have irrupted into the Northeast this winter. In fact, yesterday's winter nor'easter with its foot of snow precluded almost all venturing beyond the warm walls of the house.

That's okay, because there has been plenty to do just watching the birds in the back yard. There has been no winter finch presence this winter, but the variety of sparrows has been notable. Juncos are always present in numbers, but this year several American Tree Sparrows have been regular, as have White-throated Sparrows. The White-crowned Sparrow first seen in early December continues.

Best of all has been the Fox Sparrow. Probably my favorite sparrow, it generally makes brief stops during Spring and Fall migration. For the first few days, it kept to the brushy edge of the yard, but as the snow has continue to accumulate it has moved into the open ...

Fox Sparrow - Red (Taiga)

... and yesterday, it became a true "feeder" bird, scratching seeds on the platform feeder, and as the photo shows, un-intimitated by the much larger Mourning Doves which crowd the platform, and often chasing off juncos, goldfinches, white-throats, and even Blue Jays ...

Fox Sparrow on the platform feeder with Mourning Dove and junco

A few additional images ...

White-throated Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

American Tree Sparrow

Chickadees are unfazed by all the visiting "snow birds," always finding a free feeder somewhere to grab a seed, then head to a branch to pound it open ...

Black-capped Chicadee

Good birding in the year ahead!

Early Sprimg (Late Winter) Feeder Activity

Take your pick - snow, sleet, freezing rain, rain - we have it all today as winter just refuses to let go of Vermont and New England.

But the birds are moving anyway, and there has been more activity in the yard and around the feeders than I have seen for months.

Highlight has to be the Fox Sparrow - two have been scratching the ground - very welcome visitors who usually stop on the way north (or south). On their recent travels, I have missed them ...

Fox Sparrow

A mixed flock of blackbirds (red-wings, grackles, cowbirds) occasionally do a bit of displaying between frantic eating. Spring is the one time of the year when birders are half glad to see the Brown-headed Cowbird, though on a semi-winter spring day, this birder is mainly glad to be inside ...

Brown-headed Cowbird

Dark-eyed Juncos are moving in a very serious way - the flock around the feeders and yard must be in the 200-300+ range ...

Dark-eyed Junco

... and finally, FOY Purple Finches. The blackbirds are chasing the boys from the ground and platform, leaving only the high hanging sunflower feeder. Photo is through door window and storm section, but that helps capture is misery of the day ...

Purple Finch

Good birding, all things considered ... but better birding is on the way!

With the Blizzard came ...

I was preparing another Little Brown Job exercise this morning, when a grandson came up the stairs to tell me there were lots of birds at the feeders. Indeed there were!!!

Common Redpolls arrived with the blizzard in numbers I have not seen in almost four years. The flock numbers at least 50 birds.

A few days ago I extended the actual count of Evening Grosbeaks to 63. The flock feeding this morning could not be counted, but was 100+.

Early this morning, I swept 12 inches of snow off the platform feeder, shoveled the snow from the back porch and scattered seed there, and filled all the feeders. Soon after, the birds arrived ...

10 Common Redpolls (and one Dark-eyed Junco)

An additional 12 redpolls - still a small part of total flock, & only 1/3 of those feeding on porch

6 Redpolls feeding with 3 Evening Grosbeaks & 1 junco

Redpolls lining up on the bulk feeders

17 Evening Grosbeaks beneath bulk feeder

Red-bellied Woodpecker reluctantly shares feeder with Evening Grosbeak

I wish I could answer the inquiries as to why I have so many Evening Grosbeaks. Probably because I provide plenty of seed all year, and there are nesting pairs which feed their young here. Then add in the grosbeak communication network, and the result seems to be that most of southern Vermont's wintering Evening Grosbeaks are in my yard (judging from the lack of reports from elsewhere).

More blizzard/bird images soon.

Sampling ...

The first Vermont breeding record for the Red-bellied Woodpecker was in Brattleboro in 2001. Nine years later, it is being reported throughout Vermont, and is common in Windham County. On Monday, I returned to Phyllis' marsh in Dummerston and found this pair at their nest near the road ...

My return to the marsh was specifically to observe the nest of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. The female returns with food for her young ...

In Brattleboro, the Prairie Warbler is still singing on territory, although this pose resulted from his curiosity about my presence ...

Atop Newfane Hill this morning, the colorful birds were high in the canopy, or silent. Not to worry. It was a good morning.

Dark-eyed Juncos breed in this forest. So common around the bird feeders during the winter, it is a very different experience to encounter them singing in deep woods during the spring and summer ...

In a patch of open forest, I found this Eastern Wood-Pewee vocalizing enthusiastically between short flights for food ...

... and finally, another nondescript flycatcher went from forest edge to apple tree top, barely interrupting his enthusiastic, if unmusical, vocalization: che-bek, che-bek, che-bek, che-bek. Least Flycatcher ...

Good birding!

Snow Birds

Dark-eyed Junco bears the appropriate folk name, "Snow Bird." A flock of 60+ juncos have been feeding at my feeders throughout the winter. They were constant over the weekend as the Nor'easter brought snow off and on. When they rested, they were never far away, as though they knew they could hurry to the pantry whenever they needed an energy fix against the elements. Here are just a few images taken through the kitchen winter as I did my limited birding from a warm interior space protected from the elements:




A few other neighbors came to the bird feeders as well, including the pair of resident White-breasted Nutchatches ...

... and the three pair of Tufted Titmice ...

Happy New Year!

Snow Birds

Yesterday we had a real snowfall - about 12 inches. Except for snow-blowing the drive and helping a neighbor get a vehicle out of his drive, it was a good day to den up. But the feeders were active and a few photos were required, although the conditions were difficult - dark gray skies, heavy snow falling, and dirty kitchen window to shoot through - I managed a few keepers.

About 15 Blue Jays are regulars at the feeders. Occasionally they will rest/perch in a tree. Only a brief pause for this jay, but the snow was already forming a cap.

The jays often shovel the seeds from the feeders, providing ground feeders with plenty of forage. This one had to excavate the accumulating snow to find seeds. I had cleared the platform less than an hour earlier.

Dark-eyed Junco - the "snow bird" of our region. A flock of about 50 feed through the day.

Only a couple of feet from the house, the female Northern Cardinal posed nicely. I keep trying for a good, crisp photo of the male, but without success. Maybe his uniform red blurs detail, or perhaps he is just too skittish to hold still for a good portrait, or maybe I just haven't figured out how to photograph him - whatever, I have yet to get a picture I am willing to make public. I'll just have to keep trying.

Good birding!

A Few November Backyard Birds

Like so many people who have reported to me, the birds in the backyard have almost disappeared. Almost no finches and very few sparrows. The resident Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers are regulars, plus a few doves and pigeons, a stray starling, our cardinal pair, and nuthatches.

The chickadees and titmice are also regular visitors, and when I went out this afternoon to take advantage of the wonderful light, the Tufted Titmice were making regular forays for the sunflower seeds ...


The one species for which there is no shortage is the Blue Jay; this morning I counted twelve in the flock, and this afternoon they kept coming and going - rather uncertain about my presence in the yard with this long thing pointed at them. With patience, I was able to get them to hold still, and even pose from time to time ...



Among the sparrows, only the Dark-eyed Junco has been present in anything more than one or two. So far only one sighting of a White-crowned Sparrow, and no Fox Sparrow as yet.

We're off to Texas for the Rio Grande Bird Festival in Harlingen next weekend. I hope to have some good photos to post along the way - I am sure I will have plenty of photos to choose from.

Good birding!

Hawk Watching

Yesterday at the Putney Mountain Hawk Watch was a wonderful day. We had twelve species: Accipiters (SSHA, COHA, NOGO); Falcons (AMKE, MERL,PEFA); Buteos (RTHA, RSHA, BWHA - the one broadie was missing primaries and secondaries on one wing, other wing also ragged, making us wonder how it could even fly), Big Black Birds (BAEA, OSPR, TUVU). Many were low and the stream was steady.

A few photographic highlights. The Green Mountains are fast becoming hills of brilliant color. At 9am, Stratton Mountain still held a cloud in its grip.

Vermont's true snowbirds are returning - not the two legged kind that head to Florida for the winter - but the Dark-eyed Juncos that shift south, or down-slope, and stay around for the winter months. Now they stand out against the bright fall colors ...

The hawk watch/photographic highlight was the young Cooper's Hawk which made several sweeping attacks at the plastic owl we put on a tree top ...


Red-tailed Hawks are beginning to move southward, though often hunting along the way. This one kited to the west, then drifted north, and finally went south with dispatch ...

Likewise, the Turkey Vultures are beginning to move. A few drift northward for a while, but most are moving south, including this young one ...

And finally ... there were many Canada Geese flocks (20-70 birds at a time) on the move, often close enough to look for the smaller Cackling that might be mixed in. No Snow Geese yet. This flock never organized itself into the familiar V formation, but moved with seeming randomness from the Connecticut valley to the West River Valley ...

Good birding!