[BIRD NOTES] ~ March 27, 2010

Ring-necked Ducks by Google

 

Bird Notes

 

 

 

A lone Snow Goose was foraging in the cornfield behind the Marina Restaurant in Brattleboro along with 130 Canada Geese and at least 12 Killdeer this afternoon. A Kingfisher was busy catching dinner in the pond on the south side of the field. There was also one Common Goldeneye diving in the West River on the Marina side.

---Dave Johnston, W. Brattleboro, VT

 

 

Allen Bros. Marsh, Westminster, VT

The marsh is finally free of ice. Friday there were several Canada Geese, a Kingfisher, an Eastern Phoebe, a pair of Wood Ducks, a Bluebird, a mixed flock of Blackbirds; i.e. Rusty, Red-winged and Grackles.

 

 

 

Evening Grosbeaks in Northfield, MA (3/22)

Two pair (male/female) of Evening Grosbeaks arrived at our platform feeders yesterday and again today. I had one pair all last summer without being able to confirm breeding even though likely. No sign of them all winter so hopefully I'll be able to track down a nest this year. Several American Woodcock actively displaying all around our fields. Also took a run by Barton Cove in Gill. Here's a count of birds seen at that location.

 

Ring-necked Duck (26)

Bufflehead (2)

Common Merganser (6)

Tree Swallow (75)

---Mark Taylor, Northfield, MA

 

 

West River from Marina Road

There was an adult N. Shrike in the treetops around the parking area for the West River Trail, behind the Marina Restaurant in Brattleboro this morning. Also there was a pair of Carolina Wrens between the buildings and the marsh at the same location.

Other selected sightings behind the Marina on 3/21:

150 Canada Geese

  3 Killdeer
  2 Buffleheads (M&F)

 15 Wood Ducks

  4 Black Ducks `

 30 Mallards

  4 Hooded Mergansers
  5 House Finches

  2 Common Mergansers (M&F)

  3 Bluebirds

  1 White-throated Sparrow

  and numerous Song and Tree Sparrows.

In the Retreat Meadows, viewed from Rt 30:

 1 female Ring-necked Duck

 3 Green-winged Teal (yesterday there were 17)

16 Ring-billed Gulls

 1 Herring Gull

 1 Turkey Vulture

11 Common Mergansers

 1 Red-tailed Hawk.

---Dave Johnston, W. Brattleboro, VT

 

 

 

Phoebe in Putney

A belated report. Allison Deen had a singing Phoebe in Putney on 3/20.
---Don Clark, Grafton, VT

 

 

 

DILLANT-HOPKINS AIRPORT, Keene, NH

(10am-2pm) 21 March 2010

Wood Duck - 9

Mallard - 27

Green-winged Teal - 10

Ring-necked Duck - 13

Common Merganser - 4 at Wilson Pond

Hooded Merganser - 1 male

Gull sp - 1 up in the stratosphere

Wild Turkey - 3

Ruffed Grouse - 1 drumming

GREAT BLUE HERON - 1 flyover (FOY Lance)

Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1 adult

Cooper's Hawk - 1 adult

Red-tailed Hawk - 2

American Kestrel - 1 male

Killdeer - 3

BELTED KINGFISHER - 1 heard

EASTERN PHOEBE - 2

Brown Creeper - 2 singing

Song Sparrow - 7

Dark-eyed Junco - 12

Red-winged Blackbird - 20

RUSTY BLACKBIRD - 5 (FOY for both of us)

   and

Painted Turtle - 6

 

SURRY LAKE, Keene, NH

(2:30-3:15pm) 21 March 2010

AMERICAN WIGEON - 2 (a male and female on an arm of ice hanging with the

Black Ducks and Bufflehead, not sure if either of us have had this species

away from the coast or Connecticut River)

American Black Duck - 12 (a great count for this location)

BUFFLEHEAD - 1 male

Common Merganser - 2

Turkey Vulture - 4

Bald Eagle - 1 adult

Cooper's Hawk - 2

Red-tailed Hawk - 3

Pileated Woodpecker - 1

FOX SPARROW - 1 singing (FOY for me)

Red-winged Blackbird - 4

Common Grackle - 20

 

Good Birding!

---Kenneth Klapper (Spofford, NH) and Lance Tanino (Keene, NH)

 

 

Local Sightings

Our lone Tom Turkey showed up today and even though it was raining, its head shone bright red in the subdued light of the day. Chipmunks have been out and about all week. It was good to see them again. There was a Bluebird flitting about in the same field along Meadowbrook Road that supported the N. Shrike for a week. The Retreat Meadows are still pretty much iced in so waterfowl are scarce. But, we did have two (probably a mated pair) Red-tailed Hawks fly north past the water treatment plant. One returned to land in a tree across Rt. 30 from the entrance to the plant. Today (3/26) we watched a juvenile Bald Eagle as it circled up to it’s desired altitude before sailing off across the Connecticut River toward Chesterfield, NH.

 

 

Eagles of the NE Kingdom on VPT

Tuesday, March 30, at 9 p.m., it’s a new season of VPT’s “Outdoor Journal.”  Lawrence Pyne goes spring fly fishing for smallmouth bass in Ferrisburgh on Lewis Creek.  He visits the Poultney River at the southern tip of Lake Champlain with a Nature Conservancy biologist to check on the health of the freshwater mussel population.  In recent years, bald eagles began nesting again in Vermont after many decades.  “Outdoor Journal” visits the Northeast Kingdom, where Paul Hamelin of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department shows eagles raising their eaglet.  The program will re-air Saturday, April 3, at 10 a.m. and will be available on demand at vpt.org.

---Ann Curran, VPT

 

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

 

Southeastern Vermont Audubon Society

www.sevtaudubon.org