Winter Irruptions

Watching birds can do lots of good things for you, including expanding your vocabulary. Or at least, it has expanded my vocabulary. Until I had the time to pay attention to seasonal changes and movements of birds, I did not have the word, “irruption,” in my working vocabulary. I knew “eruption,” which involves something bursting out, like lava from a volcano. Irruption refers to something bursting in, or surging up. It is the word used by ecologists to describe a sudden, rapid, and irregular increase in an animal population. It typically involves some kind of change in the natural ecological checks and balances.

In the bird watching world, irruptions are hoped for events, especially as winter imposes its grip. Winter birding can be rather monotonous - the same old, same old, unless one or more irruptions occur. “Bird Source,” the website of National Audubon and Cornell Lab of Ornithology, puts it this way: “Every winter, bird watchers across North America anxiously await the possible incursion of birds that don't normally winter in their areas. These periodic bird irruptions add a dramatic level of excitement to winter birding.”

Snowy Owl - Brattleboro, Dec, 2011

Last winter (2011-12) was an irruptive year for Snowy Owls. These large arctic predators were reported in record numbers across the northern states, often in places where they have rarely, or never, been reported. Sightings extended deep into the Great Plains and even as far south as Texas. The Snowy Owl irruption was driven by a crash in the lemming population in the Arctic; the lemming is the owls’ principal food source.

When a Snowy Owl was reported in mid-December, 2011, in the corn field behind the marina in Brattleboro, the word spread quickly through the birding community. Within an hour of the first report, a dozen birders were focusing their scopes on the white object among the corn stalks. More observers followed in a steady stream.

Finch species which inhabit the northern forests are the most common irruptive birds, and this winter has been a banner year in our area. During October, large flocks of Pine Siskins (closely related to the American Goldfinch) moved through New England and the mid-Atlantic states. The flocks which visited my bird feeders numbered 200+; they put a serious strain on my bird seed budget.

Common Redpoll have irrupted in New England this winter

The siskin flocks moved on, to be followed by the Common Redpolls (also closely related to goldfinches). Throughout December and January, and on into February, there have been breathless reports about the sudden appearance of these small finches.

What makes the winter irruptions both exciting, and frustrating, is their unpredictablility. As the birds irrupt into New England, they do so in flocks - often large and typically very nomadic. So you hear about all of these redpolls being seen, and you are frustrated, because you have not seen a single one. And then you are snowshoeing through an old hill farm, or walking along a frozen lane, or sitting in your kitchen watching your bird feeders, and suddenly you have a surfeit of redpolls, scratching the snow, squabbling over seed, and taking hurried flights into the hedges.

Winter finches are notorious for quickly exhausting a food source and then moving on. The epitome of this practice is the Evening Grosbeak. Long time bird feeders describe the Evening Grosbeaks’s winter presence with ambiguity. They are delighted to have these large, colorful, and handsome finches at their feeders, but they cannot avoid the additional use of adjectives such as voracious and greedy to describe their presence. This winter Evening Grosbeaks seem to have taken their blitzkrieg feeding habits further south; I have seen few winter reports from our area.

Evening Grosbeak flocks are notorious for emptying bird feeders & moving on during winter.

 The winter finches which are typically more common in our area have been hard to find this year. In addition to the siskins and grosbeaks which have moved on, Purple Finches and goldfinches are scarce.

Pine Grosbeak - Brattleboro, December, 2012

But then there are the frustrating reports of other winter finches - frustrating because you would love to see them, but they do not make it easy. For a couple of weeks in December, a flock of Pine Grosbeaks fed on the yew berries in front of Center Church in Brattleboro. There were females and young males. (The adult males apparently stayed home to defend their territory through the winter). When the berries were exhausted, the flock moved on. If you have not seen the Pine Grosbeaks, you may still have the opportunity. Be alert, because they could be anywhere. On the Christmas Count, we came across several getting grit and salt on a road in Dummerston. If you miss the Pine Grosbeak this winter, I am sorry to tell you that you may not have another opportunity for several years. But, that’s bird watching.

White-winged Crossbill (l) & Red Crossbill (r), December, 2012

On the New England coast, this has been a good winter for Red Crossbills and White-winged Crossbills. I made a trip to Salisbury Beach on the New Hampshire coast and had my best crossbill day ever.

Winter irruptions are driven by conditions in the northern forests. Scientists and naturalists in Ontario and the Maritime Provinces have been studying the preferred food sources of various species for years. Based on their collected data, fairly accurate predictions are possible about which species will irrupt. When they document the shortage of a food that a particular species prefers, they predict an irruption. Winter survival depends upon getting enough food. When local food sources are scarce, the birds go elsewhere.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Finches are the most common irruptive species during winter, but not the only ones. It is easy for us to miss an irruption of the Red-breasted Nuthatch, since this species also nests in the higher elevations of our area and may be seen year-round. Harder to miss when you come across them are the Bohemian Waxwings. When you find Bohemians among the flock of their cousins, the Cedar Waxwings, then you have counted a coup among bird watchers. And when you meet a waxwing flock dominated by Bohemians, you have certainly encountered evidence of an irruption. And, you will be breathless.

Bohemian Waxwing, Putney, 2011

For any of these winter irruptions, I have two pieces of advice if you are not a hard core birder: First, I am sorry to say, don’t hold your breath. The winter flocks are nomadic and erratic. Hard core birders sometimes spend days trying to chase them down, not always successfully. Second, when you do stumble on one of these flocks, or when one of these flocks stumble on you, don’t forget to breathe!

Good birding!

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT - A SNAPSHOT OF WINTER BIRDS

Eastern Bluebirds favor orchards during winter.

During the winter months, it is not uncommon to hear the question, “Where are all the birds?”

A flip answer would be - “They’ve gone south” - which they have. Most of the birds which fill our landscapes during the summer are tropical birds which return to the tropics in Central and South America during our winter months. Most of the warblers, vireos, thrushes, and flycatchers fall into this category. Many other birds move to the milder climate of the southern states: This includes many species of waterfowl, wading birds, and raptors, plus some of the hardy songbirds.

On the other hand, boreal species from the north also move south, driven by changes in the weather, but also, and probably more importantly, by the availability of food in their northern homes. Food availability means that some winters they more or less stay home, while other winters they irrupt southward. When there is an irruption, we may notice their numbers. When they stay home, we may ask that question about where they are.

Common Redpoll has irrupted into New England this winter.

As we watch our feeders, or wander about on our skis or snow shoes during winter months, it often seems as though we are seeing very few birds compared to what we remember seeing in other years. For example, two years ago during the holidays, my feeders were inundated with northern birds. Flocks of Common Redpolls, and mixed flocks of Evening Grosbeaks and redpolls descended in swarms. I was filling my bulk feeders twice a day. This year as of the time of writing, my feeders have been visited by a small flocks of 15 redpolls, while the grosbeaks have been completely absent.

In October, flocks of 200+ Pine Siskins swarmed about my feeders. During December they have been absent. Where are they? Undoubtedly, they have gone further south, in spite of the dependable food source at my feeders ... because ... birds do not simply rely on bird feeders, but in fact, derive most of their food most of the time from naturally occurring food sources. If those sources do not seem adequate, they move on.

White-breasted Nuthatch is a year-round feeder bird.

There are two citizen science projects which provide a snapshot of where the birds are during the winter. One is the Great Backyard Bird Count. This is primarily a feeder count which is conducted on the President’s Day weekend in February. To learn how you can participate (in the comfort of your home) visit this website: www.birdsource.org/gbbc.

The second citizen science project is the Christmas Bird Count. In its 113th year, the CBC engages over 60,000 people in about 2500 locations.

There are several Christmas Bird Counts done in southeastern Vermont and southwestern New Hampshire. I participate in the Brattleboro Area CBC on the third Saturday in December, so that is the one I can write about.  Here is a snapshot of where the birds are around Brattleboro.

Many participants returned from their day of counting speaking of how hard it was to find birds and how low the numbers were. But when the counts were tallied, the number of birds counted (4100) was slightly above the ten year average (3900).

With open water in the Connecticut and West Rivers, waterfowl were well represented by Canada Goose, Mallard, and American Black Duck. Most significant was the number of Hooded Mergansers. Consistently present on the count, this year the 138 “hoodies” was five times greater than in any previous year.

The winter finches and boreal species showed no consistency as a group. The American Goldfinch was hard to find and the count was the lowest in the last 15 years. Pine Siskin, so abundant in October, was absent. Evening Grosbeak, consistently present the last 11 years was absent. There are usually a few Purple Finches in December; not this year.

Pine Grosbeaks appear in SE Vermont every 5 or 6 years.

On the other hand, Pine Grosbeaks appear every 5 to 6 years. This was their year. Common Redpolls show a consistent pattern of being present every other year. This was the year they were expected, and they did not disappoint; counters tabulated the largest number of redpolls (almost 300) in recent years.

Sparrows were hard to find, but the winter sparrows, American Tree Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco were within their expected numbers, along with small numbers of Song and White-throated Sparrows.

Red-bellied Woodpecker has continued its expansion in Vermont.

The Red-bellied Woodpecker which first nested in Vermont in Brattleboro in 2001 continued its steady population increase.

Blue Jay and American Crow had their smallest numbers in years. Putney Mountain Hawk Watch counts migrating Blue Jays (when not counting hawks); they counted hundreds of jays. Apparently, the Blue Jays kept on moving because they were difficult to find in the Brattleboro area.

Other common feeders birds were present in average or above average numbers: Black-capped Chickadee (up), White-breasted Nuthatch (up), Downy Woodpecker (down slightly), Tufted Titmouse and Northern Cardinal (steady).

American Robin often winter in Vermont, feeding on fruit.

Some species are seen in flocks, and may be very localized. Horned Larks were in Vernon (180). Eastern Bluebirds were mostly in Dummerston (total 59 verses 10 year average 25). American Robins were scattered, but with a large flock in an old Dummerston orchard (total 244 verses 10 year average 44). Only one small flock of Cedar Waxwings (31) was found around Sunset Lake.

There are always a few birds which should have migrated, but have not. Brattleboro recorded this year a Red-shouldered Hawk and a Common Yellowthroat (a first CBC record for Brattleboro).

If you are a reader who is worried about a lack of birds at the bird feeders, I say, “Don’t be.” The CBC suggests that the birds are still around. Except when humans really screw up the environment, the birds are resilient and adaptable. Their population numbers go through regular and natural fluctuations. Once the counters on a CBC thaw out and examine the count numbers, this is confirmed (for most species) year after year.

Stay warm, and if the birds don’t come to your feeders, go out and look for them. Good birding!!

Pine Grosbeaks

A flock of 30-40 Pine Grosbeaks have been hanging out in downtown Brattleboro, feeding on the yew berries next to the Center Church educational wing. As I watched them yesterday, they wandered between the yews, large maples along Main Street in front of the church and behind the church near the railroad tracks.

They make an appearance on the Brattleboro Area Christmas Bird Count in southeastern Vermont every 5 to 6 years. Last time was 2007.

The flock included females, and young males - no mature males.

A treat.

Pine Grosbeak - female

Pine Grosbeak - young male

Good birding!!

Spring and the Recovering River Valley

Last August Hurricane Irene scoured the river valley around our home in devastating ways. Most of our backyard disappeared in a few minutes on a Sunday morning when a huge log jam gave way. The river was returned to its course and we got our backyard rebuilt (see posts in September/October).

Now comes the recovery. In the next few days, we will have topsoil brought in and begin the process of lawn and yard recovery.

Some is happening of its own accord. I am especially happy to report that Belted Kingfishers are working the river behind our home - a sign that life is returning to what last Fall was a scoured riverbed.

Belted Kingfisher - female

Other Spring signs are beginning to show their teeming presence. Eastern Phoebes are singing in several locations, and I watched one pair which was well into their nest building.

Eastern Phoebe

Evening Grosbeaks have nested somewhere nearby in past years. They have returned. They are singing - they don't have much of a song, but it is a song. A couple days ago, it looked as though they were trying to break sticks from a bush, a probable sign that they are preparing to nest - hopefully somewhere nearby. And the gentlemen are splendidly attired ...

Evening Grosbeak

Song Sparrows continue their enthusiastic singing, along with robins (4:30am) - joined by chickadees, titmice, Chipping Sparrows, and others.

Song Sparrow

Goldfinches are singing their cheerful song, joined by a good number of Pine Siskins - probably more Spring siskins than we have had in recent years.

Pine Siskin with American Goldfinch

And finally ... the Red-winged Blackbirds are no longer tuning up. The girls have returned and the boys are fully into their display.

Red-winged Blackbird

Spring!

LBJs - IDs for 3 & 4

Little Brown Jobs - Here's the IDs on the Sunday and Tuesday posts. Scroll down for last week's IDs, or go further to see Quiz 1 & 2. Thanks for dropping by.

#11 - Chipping Sparrow, non-breeding adult, late October. The cap is not the deep red of a breeding adult, but still very rufous, more so than that of the juvenile. In late summer and early fall, the juveniles I see in the yard are even plainer than this bird, which leads me to say this is an adult. Note the clean, grayish breast -  an important field mark so as not to confuse this sparrow with a similar winter sparrow.

#12 - House Sparrow, female - A bird that birders love to hate, although that is not fair to the handsome male, and the fact that in NA this bird has adapted to harsh environments, such as inner cities. She is dingy brown, but lighter stripe behind her head is a good field mark. Also, a big head, stout bill.

#13 - Lincoln's Sparrow - Looking at the head, one might think Song Sparrow, but the supercilium is a much broader gray, the streaking on the breast is crisp and thinner, and the breast is buffy. It is smaller than the Song, more delicate; its beak is more pointed. Even so, this is a difficult bird for me, because I do not see it often. Even when I chased down breeding Lincoln's in the Green Mountains this past June, this shy sparrow gave few good looks. It is always something of a surprise to see one in my neighborhoods, though I suspect I may be overlooking it because I don't expect it.

#14 - Purple Finch, female - Quite a contrast to the deep, red wine color of the male. She is similar to the female House Finch, but stouter, more heavily streaked. The stripe above the eye is a good field mark. I sometimes think of her as a scaled down version of the female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Her finch beak is larger that the House Finch; Pine Siskin beak is smaller and pointed.

#15 - Brown-headed Cowbird, female - Larger than most LBJs, this blackbird is another bird that birders love to hate, which is unfair because she finds so many more nests to drop her eggs into due to our radical alteration of the landscape. She is a dirty brown-gray, or gray-brown. I photographed this bird on the back of a horse. She was in a mixed flock of female cowbirds and female House Sparrows; it was a flock of nondescript birds. Either species could have been overlooked in the colorless plumage and songless calls.

#16 -  American Tree Sparrow - Very similar to the non-breeding and juvenile Chipping Sparrow, but considerably larger, with a bi-color bill, a warm tan wash along the flanks, and a distinct, isolated dark spot on the breast

#17 - Chipping Sparrow, fledgling - This was a very young bird just recently out of the nest, photographed in mid-August. It was being fed by parents. Even without those helps, the strong, dark eye-line remains a good clue to ID.

#18 -  House Sparrow, male - Putting aside prejudice, this introduced species is handsome, and the black bib and bold pattern is distinctive.

#19 -  Pine Siskin - goldfinch in disguise. Pointed beak, strong streaking, and hints of yellow in the wings, set this finch apart from other finches.

#20 - Purple Finch, female - Note the strong brown and white pattern on the head, and large finch beak.

More Canadian Birds Show Up in Christmas Bird Count

There was more snow on the ground than I can remember in my eleven years of doing the Brattleboro Area Christmas Bird Count (CBC). And it was colder than previous years. And when the wind blew, it was colder yet. By mid-afternoon, the clouds began moving in; the air became dank and damp and felt even colder. My heavy insulated boots kept my feet warm, but everything became chilled.

Tiny birds moving through tree tops are located by ear, not eye, and that means exposing tender, delicate flesh to the frigid air. We could sort of warm up in the car as we crept slowly from place to place, except that the windows had to be down so we could listen as we crept along, and the fan motor on the heater had to be low or off because it made too much noise. The rivers and ponds were frozen. The fields were barren and cold. There were icy patches on many roads, and no place to pull off the road when we had to stop, walk, listen, count, freeze and shiver.

I had a blast!

The annual CBC is one of my favorite days of birding throughout the year. In the late Spring, I can stand in my backyard and see or hear thirty to forty species in the early morning hours. Last Saturday, the team I was with scoured our assigned area and eventually tallied twenty-nine species. We wandered slowly along dirt roads until somebody watching or listening through the car windows cried, “Stop.” Then we tumbled out of the vehicle before it had stopped to chase an elusive sound or sight.

But in the winter landscape, when all of life seems to have gone into hiding, finding signs of life still on the move - up and about and around - is energizing and affirming. And we never know what we will find.

We almost always find wintering bluebirds in our survey area, and this year we found one lone bluebird perched on a wire not far from Brattleboro. We continued searching the orchards along our route. Sooner or later we almost always find bluebirds working through one or more of these orchards, but not this year.

In the mid-afternoon we were in a dense stand of hemlocks; Juncos moved through the forest understory. Watching them, and counting, we were led to a Golden-crowned Kinglet in a small, leafless beech, and that lone kinglet led us to more kinglets. Conventional wisdom has it that several species will forage together through the winter woods, and we soon found the only Brown Creeper of the day, inching its way up a huge hemlock, then following the juncos and kinglets south along the road. Movement deep in the woods caught our attention. A larger bird ... another ... and another. One landed on the road forty feet from us, picked salt and grit from the road, and flew. Eastern Bluebirds - thirteen in the flock.

About thirty people participated in this year’s CBC. Seven teams surveyed assigned areas and counted the winter birds. One team searched frustratingly all day and tallied only a few species and few numbers. But they had a great time following mammal tracks. Numbers often seemed hard to come by. But by the end of the day, forty-eight species had been tallied with an unofficial total around 3000. Additional “count week” species brought the total for this year’s CBC to fifty-five.

Fifty-plus species has become the norm for the Brattleboro CBC. The species vary from year to year. Each year there are a few species reported which have no business being here; they should have gone south long ago. This year there was a Great Blue Heron seen in flight, and a Northern Flicker. Species recorded for the first time were Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (two) and an American Woodcock. These migrants should have migrated before now, and quite frankly, not having done so may be a fatal mistake.

With almost no open water, it was no surprise that Canada Geese (some years there are hundreds) were completely absent as were most other waterfowl. A few ducks were found in the open water above and below the Vernon Dam and where Whetstone Brook enters the Connecticut River.

Totals for most of the usual wintering birds were close to the average for the last nine years. Here are a few “Average/’07 Count” - American Crow: 230/74; Blue Jay 195/161; Black-capped Chickadee: 447/576; Downy Woodpecker: 42/38; Hairy Woodpecker: 15/27; Tufted Titmouse: 54/54; Northern Cardinal: 34/41; Mourning Dove: 196/206; White-breasted Nuthatch: 58/55.

Count numbers for the invasive birds that no one likes but which feed the wintering hawks also matched recent numbers - European Starling: 362/336; Rock Pigeon: 285/ 271; House Sparrow: 211/166

The significant difference this year was the presence of wintering finches. Reports of birds irrupting south from Canada (where many seeds crops failed this year) have been coming from all over the Northeast. But we had to find them on count day, and we did. We counted fifty-one Common Redpolls, probably an undercount - since these birds are very nomadic as they forage. One year counters found a single flock of redpolls with over 200 birds, but not this year. There was a flock of twenty Snow Buntings, a scattering of forty-plus Tree Sparrows, and fourteen Evening Grosbeaks.

The buzz came with two other winter finch species which have only been recorded once in the last dozen years. In 2001, eleven Pine Grosbeaks were reported. This year, eighty-one were counted. These large, tame, red and gray male - or olive and gray female - finches are being found in fruit trees and berry bushes in many locations in southeastern Vermont. They stripped my loaded crab apple weeks ago.

The other finch species, also last reported in 2001 during count week, was found in a pine forest atop Stratton Hill in Newfane - five White-winged Crossbills. This is be the first time our CBC has recorded an actual count number for this species which feeds on pine and spruce cones.

So it was cold, and wintery, and sometimes difficult to find the birds. But the end result is a snapshot of the bird life present in the Brattleboro area in the middle of December. Added to the results of thousands of other counts done around North America, we also contribute to a snapshot of the continental bird life. These accumulated snapshots from many years help researchers analyze the health and well-being of the birds, and more importantly, of the state of the environment and climate on which the birds - and all other life, including us - depend.

And it was fun. The Christmas Bird Count is always a good day spent with some crazy bird nerds and resulting in - by definition - a day of good birding.

Winter Finches Have Arrived

Winter finches have arrived! They’ve been expected, and the reports from around the state indicate that they are here. Birds that breed in the boreal forests of Canada and winter in those forests, are on the move and are being seen in widely through the Northeast.

During Monday’s snowstorm, I was continually distracted from my Christmas baking by the need to take photographs through the kitchen window. There were more Common Redpolls at my bird feeders than I have ever had - a flock of thirty to forty feasted on my largess throughout the day. On at least one occasion, redpolls occupied the six perches on the thistle feeder, the nine perches on the sunflower feeder plus the rim, and lined the mixed feed seeder. Another eighteen crowded the platform feeder. Two squeezed onto the window feeder, while others waited in line impatiently. With the camera set next to the window, I frequently interrupted my baking to snap off another batch of photos.

Mixed in with the redpolls were goldfinches and siskins. An Evening Grosbeak showed up around noon. And all of the neighbor residents came by - chickadees, titmice, cardinals, doves, pigeons, jays, nuthatches, downy and hairy. Judging by an increased noise level around noon, there may even have been a Sharp-shinned or Cooper’s Hawk in the area for a while.

It is the winter finches that have bird watchers in a mode of heightened anticipation. And they’ve been that way for at least a month, maybe two. One of the grandaddies of Vermont birders posted a message on the VTBird listserve last weekend that said simply - “Redpolls finally!” With reports of Common Redpolls coming in from all over, he had been feeling frustrated that he had missed them.

Redpolls generally appear in notable numbers in the Northeast every other year. There were very modest numbers in the winter of ‘05-‘06. Looking through my records, I had a couple at my feeders briefly in early January, ‘06. I have never had the flocks like I had early this week.

What’s happening? And why have birders been expecting it?

Ron Pittaway of Ontario Field Ornithologists makes a prediction each year about the movement of birds during the winter. He collects information from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources about food sources in the boreal forest and then does what most in the birding community are unwilling to do: make predictions. His late September predictions for this winter put bird watchers in a state of agitation.

Finches are seed eaters in the winter, and throughout most of Ontario and western Quebec, coniferous and deciduous trees had a very poor seed crop. Here is one of Pittman’s predictions: “There will be a big flight of redpolls into southern Ontario and bordering United States. Seed crops on white birch, yellow birch and alder are very poor in most of Ontario. Expect redpolls at bird feeders this winter.”

I began to wake up to what was happening in mid-October when Pine Siskins started appearing at my bird feeders in significant numbers. Some years, they barely appear at all. But cone crop failures caused most Pine Siskins to leave Canada’s boreal forest in the summer. The energy expended in long flights is high. This year, with the shortage of food, the expense of not traveling south is even higher. I suspect that many siskins have continued to roam southward, but I also expect that they will be seen regularly throughout the winter and into the spring.

In mid-November, my spouse returned from a late afternoon walk along Augur Hole Road and casually mentioned that there was a flock of Pine Grosbeaks feeding in some cherry trees. At the same time, a neighbor called to share bird reports. I passed along the grosbeak report. Fifteen minutes later when I drove along Augur Hole Road looking for the grosbeaks, he was there on his bike. Neither of us had seen this boreal species for several years. The tame flock of twenty-plus birds allowed us to approach within a few feet of where they were feeding.

When I finally found Pittaway’s prediction report, I read: “[The Pine Grosbeak] will irrupt south of the breeding range because crops on native mountain-ashes (rowan berries) are generally poor in northeastern Ontario and across the boreal forest ... After irruptions, Pine Grosbeaks return north earlier than other northern finches. Most are gone by late March.”

Other finches which are likely to be moving southward because of the seed failure are Purple Finch, Red Crossbill, White-winged Crossbill, and American Goldfinch.

Flocks of Common Redpolls should be checked carefully for Hoary Redpoll. An adult male Hoary is sometimes described as a "snowball," and is said to be fairly easy to identify, but females and first year Hoarys are very difficult to identify.

There are other passerines which are also affected by the seed crop failure. Red-breasted Nuthatch is likely to seen more often than usual. The year-round Red-breasted Nuthatches are likely to be joined by those from further north.

Bohemian Waxwings are already being reported with unusual frequency. Like the Pine Grosbeaks, they like mountain-ash berries, and there are few of those in the Bohemian’s normal home range. They will sometimes join the large nomadic flocks of Cedar Waxwings, but we should also be alert for flocks of just Bohemians.

It has been several years since a Boreal Chickadee has been reported in southern Vermont, but this could be the year. Gray Jays in Canada are on the move. I know of no reports of Gray Jays as far south as southern Vermont, but if they need food, they may wander far out of their normal range.

Northern Shrikes are being reported frequently. Most birders know the Northern Shrike as a predator of songbirds, but in winter their prime food source is the meadow vole. The meadow vole population in the Hudson Bay lowlands, after an abundant summer, suddenly crashed in October and November.

The abundance of meadow voles during the summer meant that northern owls had a great deal of breeding success. But now those owls, like the shrikes, will be looking for food. Significant movement of owls has been reported throughout the Fall. Northern Saw-whet Owl, Northern Hawk Owl, Boreal Owl, and Great Gray Owl, - all might be expected.

This is a good time to spend time with a copy of Sibley’s Guide to Birds. This guide presents the most illustrations of plumage variations. Study these possible winter visitors. Then expect the unexpected. If you are unfamiliar with the birds, be cautious. If possible, take a photo. Be alert.

The predictions, and the reports so far, point toward a winter of very good birding.