Grout Pond

I finally got out yesterday morning for some birding. Headed into the Green Mountains in Somerset and the Grout Pond area.

Magnolia Warblers were vocal, busy, and common in the upper elevations. Require patient (as always), but one hyped up male finally came in camera range ...

Magnolia Warbler

Speaking of hyped up, wandering slowly down a remote lane, I ambled through the territory of this pair of Common Yellowthroats. They were agitated just by my presence. When I pished, they went bonkers. I love these masked rogues ...

Common Yellowthroat - female

Common Yellowthroat - male

Along the road, this Ruffed Grouse hen was clearly agitated when I stopped to take her picture. I suspected she had young about, and sure enough, a very young chick finally, and suddenly, scurried across the road. Mom and chick quickly disappeared.

Ruffed Grouse - hen

Good Birding!

Mountain Top to Valley Marsh

Started yesterday very early with a drive to the top of Okemo and the mountain top boreal forest. Target for the camera was the Bicknell's Thrush. Gorgeous morning, especially after the several days of rain we've had, but chilly - in the upper 30s. Few birds were singing in the cool morning, except for the Winter Wren.

I never did hear the Bicknell's sing, but one did flash across the trail with all the characteristics of a thrush.

Once it warmed into the upper 40s, other birds began singing, including Swainson's Thrush. One even paused for the camera ...
 

Swainson's Thrush

Magnolia Warblers were common along the roadway, providing me with my first good opportunity to capture a breeding male after several seasons of trying.

Magnolia Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

 The chick-a-dee-dee end to a buzzy song alerted me to Golden-crowned Kinglet. When I see these little guys post breeding in October or November, they are quiet and sweet little things. But not now. This guy was revved up, and his orange crown was not a barely visible stripe, but an excitedly raised crown. He was a bundle of excitement.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Golden-crowned Kinglet

  From Okemo, we drove to the Rutland marsh, near West Rutland. After picking tips from a group of birders, our first stop produced a clear view of this Virginia Rail, as he raced among the reeds and across a mud flat before flying off in pursuit of a lady love.

Virginia Rail

Virginia Rail

And then, while creeping along the road, this Least Bittern flew into the reeds and stayed still, watching us watching him.

Least Bittern

Least Bittern

Not a bad day ! ! Good Birding ! !

Putney Mountain - Hawks and More

After the big flight of Broad-winged Hawks last weekend, the counts tapered off dramatically with hawks often coming few and far between.

Searching the sky for hawks

Even so, there were moments, such as the hour when there were 20 Osprey, and the 20 minutes when there were 5 Bald Eagles ...

Osprey migrating over Putney Mountain

Among the other rather hard-to-come-by raptor highlights, was this beautifully backlit Cooper's Hawk ...

Cooper;s Hawk

 The slow hawk flights gave time to search the ridge for other "things with wings" ... such as a migrating Magnolia Warbler ...

Magnolia Warbler

... and butterflies - American Lady and "Summer" Azure ...

American Lady

"Summer" Azure

 Dragonflies are often seen flying over the clearing, and occasionally being taken by a kestrel or sharpie. One day this week, Shadow Darners were racing everywhere, but seldom resting. Early in the day, I captured one who paused briefly ...

Shadow Darner

Putney Mountain Hawk Watch is occasionally short on hawks, but rarely short on the magic of the Green Mountains ...

... and when things become really lazy, well you just sit down for a period of somnolent contemplation ...

Good Birding!!

Warblers

Last year in a remote area of Somerset in the Green Mountains, I photographed the Canada Warbler. The bird was not cooperative and I was not satisfied with my results. So I returned to the same spot this year to try again.

Two to four males were singing on territory, but they were even less cooperative this year. During the 1 1/2 hours I spent there, I had mere glimpses of the Canada Warbler through thick foliage.

However, other wood warblers in the same spot posed quite nicely and provided a morning of good photography and good birding.

Magnolia Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

American Wood Warblers - Photo Gallery 3

This third American Wood Warbler (Family Parulidae) Photo Gallery is possible because I was able to spend several long mornings this past week looking for and, in some cases, photographing these jewels.

The Prairie Warbler was found singing on territory along Old Ferry Road in Brattleboro. During the field work for the Vermont Breeding Bird Atlas (2003-2007), this species was not even recorded in Windham County ...

Several common warblers have refused to allow me a decent photograph - Black-and-White Warbler, and male Yellow-rumped Warbler have been elusive. Likewise, the Magnolia Warbler. This gentleman was unusual when he sang on an open branch, but he was high in the canopy, a virtual yellow spot before cropping the photo ...

In a remote portion of the Green Mountain NF, several Canada Warblers were singing around the tangles of a beaver pond. On my second visit to the area, one finally came into the open briefly ...

A previous gallery included a first year female Black-throated Green Warbler photographed in September, ‘08. The male has generally remained only fleetingly visible. This male came to some lower branches to feed between songs, and provided a rare glimpse of the “green” in his name ...

Not to slight the distaff side, this female Black-throated Green Warbler was much more curious about my presence and inspected me at length ...

The male wood warblers typically have the brightest colors and the boldest patterns. The females are often dull and inconspicuous, a defense for the protection of self and young. An earlier post included the male Black-throated Blue Warbler. His companion is a dull colored little bird. Walking a narrow trail on the south end of Grout Pond, I may have been close to where this female was building a nest. She flew low across the trail and stayed surprisingly close as she moved in the understory and waited impatiently for me to leave ...

Two photos of the black-masked rogue of the thicket were posted earlier. Here is the often overlooked female Common Yellowthroat ...

... and then there was everything else. More soon.

A Few Small Birds that Held Still

Small birds are tough to photograph. You have to find them, get them to hold still, and hope they are in reasonable light. From my Cape May trip, here are a few which cooperated. I also got lots of photos of leaves, branches, and blurs.

Blue Grosbeak in a field at Higbee Beach WMA - a very cooperative first year male. Occasionally he would sing briefly. This is not a bird which makes it as far north as Vermont, so it is always a target on my spring trips. I have seen a first year American Redstart singing, and apparently breeding. Also a year old Orchard Oriole. So perhaps this young gentleman has a chance of attracting a mate.



Another species which doesn't make it to the Vermont north (though I have seen it in late Fall near the Massachusetts coast) is the White-eyed Vireo. They were singing everywhere, but it took three days before I finally had one that would stay in the open for a few seconds, as this one did in a brushy edge field along the road to Jake's Landing.


When I lived in Delaware Water Gap, the trail allowed me to look into the canopy and see these birds. Another "southern" species, I have usually been able to see them at the crossroads in Belleplain State Forest - and almost always hear them - Worm-eating Warbler ....

Once the Magnolia Warbler reaches my neighborhood, it typically disappears into the thick branches of the spruce and other favored nest areas. At Higbee Beach WMA, they were singing, and even showed themselves.

At Thompson's Beach, Barn Swallows were busy building their mud nests beneath the board walk, and putting on a magnificent display for the few people who ventured there. The Clapper Rails were also going wild, chasing one another in the open and vocalizing loudly, but never holding still in the open for anything but a brief look.

Obviously this is no rarity, but I love watching the Red-winged Blackbird displaying his epaulets as he makes his harsh courtship calls, which they were doing everywhere. This one just happened to be near the walk at the Nature Conservancy.

Good birding!