September 5

Night Flyers

Flying over downtown Brattleboro Friday night(9/1), several dozen Common
Nighthawks. ---Chris Petrak, S. Newfane


4 Star Sod Farm

This morning(9/4) at the Northfield, MA sod farm:

Killdeer 36
Semi palm. plover 12
Least sand 3
Semi palm. sandpiper 1
UPLAND SANDPIPER 1
Pectoral Sandpiper 1
Common nighthawk about 40
Merlin 1 (mobbed by 2 kestrels)

Hector Galbraith PhD
Galbraith Environmental Sciences LLC
Dummerston, VT



Birds in Hawaii

We recently were on the Island of Hawaii to help relatives celebrate their
50th anniversary. Although we weren't there for bird watching, we noticed
some of the common birds. We saw familiar species such as house sparrows,
rock doves, and mockingbirds. Unfamiliar to us were Spotted Doves, Zebra
Doves, and Myna birds; the latter were introduced to control insect pests.
Saffron Finch groups fed in the grass by the motel swimming pool in Kona.
The Red-crested Cardinal was common in Honolulu on Oahu and the
Yellow-billed Cardinal was common along the Kona coast on Hawaii. Away from
the coast we saw Pheasant and Cattle Egret on range land. Perhaps the most
interesting bird to us was the White-tailed Tropicbird with its long tail
feathers. They were flying along the coast where we snorkeled and were also
seen soaring at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
---Mary and Paul Miller, Vernon

Retreat Meadow Sightings

On(9/2)Hundreds of Redwing Blackbirds, mostly immature, crowded into the
small cattail marsh off Marina Road along the West River. While up the road
a bit farther we watched a Common Yellowthroat gleaning the branches of a
Basswood Tree. At the Veterans Memorial Bridge we watched a Double-crested
Cormorant making like a submarine with "up periscope". On the other side of
the Retreat Meadows on Route 30 we cruised the shoulder of the road
searching the open fields for any signs of bird life. A few hundred
Starlings arose as we approached and spiraled up in a funnel cloud. That
helped reveal several Killdeer that were mixed in with that group but didn't
fly. The more we looked the more of them we found. We counted over 20. We
almost overlooked the best birds who were walking the grassy area near them;
4 Pectoral Sandpipers.


Pectoral Sandpipers @ Retreat Meadows
C Hector Galbraith



Still More at the Sod Farm

When we arrived this morning(9/4) the farm workers had just arrived and were
firing up the harvesting equipment. Most of the bird activity was provided
by the ever present 40+ KILLDEER and the dozen or more SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS.
But there was one different among them; a GOLDEN PLOVER. While scanning the
exposed strips of soil, all birds that were present suddenly exploded into
the air. We looked up to see a COOPERS HAWK strafing the field. That ended
our search for shorebirds. But, raptors continued with the sighting of 3
KESTRELS playing tag over the cornstalks (maybe the same ones we saw last
week being chased by a Merlin) and an adult BALD EAGLE flying in a southerly
direction over the 4 Star barns.

Al Merritt