BIRD NOTES ~ May 31, 2008

 

Bird Notes

 

This morning we arose to overcast skies with a temperature of 58 degrees. It wasn’t raining as predicted and there was a hint of a breeze; just enough to keep away any flying insect threat. It might be a good day for a bird walk after all.

  We gathered at our meeting place in Hannaford’s parking lot and car pooled to Phyllis’s Marsh on Black Mountain Road. There were lots of bird songs in the air and we soon found the source of one of them, a handsome male Chestnut-sided Warbler.

  The dead pines provided suitable habitat for the six species of woodpeckers that we encountered, including the incessant tapping of two or three Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. Common Yellowthroats announced there presence from their hiding places in the low shrubs along with many Yellow Warblers that flitted about in the densely leaved maples. Two vireo species held our interest for a short period as we sorted their calls into Blue-headed and Red-eyed. The third species of that family, Warbling Vireo, was relatively easy to distinguish as it warbled its long song from several treetops.

  The grassy slopes on the hillside provided good looks at flying and singing Bobolinks. Overhead were the ever present Turkey Vultures soaring on the wind without so much as the flap of a wing. There too we found two buteos circling but too far away for identification. The third was much closer, a Red-tailed Hawk that was carving large ovals in the morning sky. A silent fly-by of a Common Raven distracted us for a moment as we made our way toward the end of the trail.

  The threatened thunderstorm held off and twelve enthusiastic birders counted 44 species.

  We wish to express our gratitude to Phyllis Benay for sharing this piece of Eden with us and then treating us to juice and cake as we lounged on her deck.

 

Canada Goose

Turkey Vulture

Red-tailed Hawk

Mourning Dove

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

Eastern Wood Peewee

Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Kingbird

Blue-headed Vireo

Warbling Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Blue Jay

Crow

Common Raven

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

House Wren

Veery

Wood Thrush

Robin

Catbird

Cedar Waxwing

Yellow Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Song Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow

Cardinal

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Bobolink

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle

Baltimore Oriole

Purple Finch

House Finch

Goldfinch

House Sparrow

 

 

Please keep us abreast of what birds you are seeing, whether at home or on a trip in or out of the Windham County area.

 

Al Merritt

W. Brattleboro, VT

chpmnkx@sover.net