BIRD NOTES ~ November 29, 2008

 

 

Bird Notes

 

 

Snow Geese: A Gaggle Plus

I had an astounding experience recently. My wife Harriet and I were driving to Montreal the other day, and we had just crossed the Border on Interstate 89 at Highgate Springs into Canada. The day was steely gray but a shaft of light poured out from under the clouds in the late afternoon.  I notice a V of geese flying overhead, and they were lit by the sun as if in a spotlight. The geese were all white, except for the outside half of the wing from below which was black. Then there were more and more geese and the sky was almost covered with them in squadrons that reminded me of WWII.  Waves and waves came over our head as we pulled over and watched, entranced.

 

A mile or so down the road, I noted huge stubby cornfields brown in the pre snow November, absolutely covered with white geese. We stopped again to look, and walked to the edge of the road.  We frightened the nearest several thousand birds and they flew up like a wave at a red sox game, from us outward, flapping and honking their high pitched honks- what an amazing spectacle. Fields and fields of the birds were there- and the flat country there has huge expanses of open fields. I can't imagine how many birds were there but I would have to say tens and tens of thousands. Trucks were also honking (!) at us to get further off the road, and so we reluctantly had to move on. I felt like I experienced something so special, and completely by chance- The snow geese migration, up front and personal.

---Burt Tepfer, Putney, VT

 

 

 

Today my feeder was visited by a Carolina Wren, a first one for me, and a flock of Pine Siskins (See attachments), along with the usual suspects, Chickadees, Titmice, Nuthatches, Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays and Mourning Doves. 

---Hilke Breder, Brattleboro, VT

 

 

 

Also in Brattleboro, we have the usual suspects including a pair of Carolina Wrens and Juncos but no (Pine) Siskins. At my sister's in Dummerston we can throw in a Goldfinch and a Red-bellied Woodpecker.

---Charlie La Rosa, Brattleboro, VT

 

 

 

Monday afternoon we had a Northern Goshawk making lazy circles over our field for several minutes, then sliding off to the west.

---Ned Pokras, W. Brattleboro, NY

 

 

 

There was a flock of 125 Pine Siskins feeding in a large birch tree on East Orchard St., Brattleboro, on Thanksgiving morning. After working the seeds in the branches, the birds would flutter down to eat the spilled seeds off of the roof of the house under the tree. There were a couple of House Finches and a few Goldfinches mixed in with the flock.

---Dave Johnston, W. Brattleboro, VT

 

 

 

 Yesterday, we had a male Red-bellied Woodpecker at our feeder.  It was the 2nd time it has been seen here in the last two weeks. According to our Audubon Field Guide, they are not usually this far north.  Any other sightings of this particular species?  We have lived in this area for our entire lives, and have never seen this before.

---Billie Stark, W. Brattleboro, VT

 

 

 

Yesterday (11/27) Lance Tanino of Keene,NH e-mailed us that he had visited Minards Pond in Bellows Falls and saw 963 Canada Geese, 6 American Black Ducks, 13 Mallards 1 Hooded Merganser, 17 Common Mergansers and 1 Dark-eyed Junco.

 

On Abbott Road in W. Brattleboro we counted 40+ Cedar Waxwings foraging at roadside just west of the Gateway Farm. At our feeder at home we had our first Tree Sparrow of the season.

 

 

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

 

 

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