{BIRD NOTES} ~ August 12. 2010

Robin babies © Dan Mosheim  &   Great Egret  ©  A. Blake

 

Bird Notes

 

 

 Tuesday, August 17 - 7:00pm  “Butterflies of Vermont”  Sylvia Harris will tell us about butterflies and the many kinds we can see in southern Vermont, including when, where and how to look for and photograph butterflies. She was a key field researcher for the Vermont Butterfly Survey (Vermont Center for Ecostudies project). She is now Agricultural Resource Specialist with VT Association of Conservation Districts.  This program will be at the Brattleboro Library meeting room and is sponsored by Southeastern VT Audubon Society.

 

 

Ready To Fly

Kit called me out to photograph some baby robins on the edge of the nest in the pear tree this morning (8/3-See attachment).  The picture shows the two of them and when I moved in a little closer, off went the top one ... we were surprised how far he flew on his first flight ... 75-100 feet or so and mom or dad was right there ... we waited for a while but the second one wasn't quite ready to go.

---Dan Mosheim

 

 

Migrating Shorebirds in Brattleboro

The extremely low water level exposed large areas of mud flats today (8/10). There was 1 Pectoral Sandpiper and 28 Least Sandpipers working the mud flats in the middle of the West River visible from the BOC boat dock area. Further exploration by kayak revealed 8 Killdeer, 1 Spotted Sandpiper, 1 Great Egret, 1 Green Heron, and 9 Great blue Herons.
---Dave Johnston, West Brattleboro, VT

 

Today (8/10) while crossing the bridge from New Hampshire to “malfunction junction” we spotted 3 Great Egrets fishing along downtown Brattleboro’s shoreline just north of the bridge. It’s the time of year for them and the other shorebirds to start showing up regularly.  Check the shorelines and any of the mudflats for these travelers throughout the month of August.

 

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Please share your birding news with us.

What have you got coming to your feeders?

Are there any birds nesting in your yard?

What have you seen while on a trip?

Drop us an e-mail chpmnkx@sover.net

 

Al Merritt

W. Brattleboro, VT

chpmnkx@sover.net

http://sevtaudubonbirdnotes.blogspot.com/

~~~~~~~~~~

A friend is someone who reaches for your hand

and touches your heart.

 

First Wild Bald Eagle Fledges in Southern Vermont!

Bird Notes

 

 

First Wild Bald Eagle Fledges in Southern Vermont!

 

After a decade of near misses the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department has announced a successful nesting of the pair of Eagles in Rockingham. The Bald Eagle was removed from the federal endangered species a couple of years ago but it still remains on the Vermont list. The eaglet has been observed flying from nest to neighboring trees. There is still a long way to go for the youngster as their success rate is only 50 per cent and the long cold winter is yet to come. But, for now it seems to be healthy and active. A few years ago this eagle pair lost an eaglet to a predator and the following year their nesting tree blew down. Maybe the third try is a charm and we will all be able to boast of the first successful nesting of our nation’s symbol here in southern Vermont. The nest is on private land near the Connecticut River and not readily accessible to the public.