{BIRD NOTES} ~ February 17, 2012

Bird Notes

 

Spring Sounds

Titmice are calling “peter, peter”, Cardinals are whistling, Downys are drumming, WB Nuthatches are “yanking”.  Isn’t it a bit early for that behavior or do you suppose they know something that we don’t?

 

Thrasher in Northfield, MA

I had a Brown Thrasher at Pauchaug Brook in Northfield, MA earlier today. (2/15)

Nori Howe, West Brattleboro< VT

 

Brattleboro Birds Singing

This morning at 7 am ( 2/17) I heard a White-throated Sparrow singing out back. Also a Carolina Wren has been around the yard singing. I've seen Mallards at the bottom of Broad Brook and 2 other places as well.

---Lani Wright, Brattleboro, VT

 

Cedar Waxwngs Continue in West B.

They continue at the crabapple tree on Greenleaf Street, but not for long.  I watched a small flock of Cedars today and they had almost completely stripped the tree of fruit. The Robins had already given up and were absent.

 

Lake Champlain Waterfowl

Taj Schottland and I spent much of yesterday along the lake. Along with the hundreds of Scaup & Goldeneye, reported by Ian at D.A.R. on Monday, there were 2 Canvasback & 2 Long-tailed Ducks and a  Red-breasted Merganser was in with a raft of Commons at Tri-Town. Along with the waterfowl, raptors were everywhere. A fun day.
---Don Clark, Grafton, VT

 

Spring Migrants are in the Hudson Valley

Today at a small wet woods bordering a small pond (outside Peekskill, NY) I had a nice little group of Robins, Red-wings, and Rusty Blackbirds. In the pond were Mallards, Blacks, Wood Ducks, Gadwall, Ring-necked, and Hooded Merganser.
---Bob Slechta

 

Mystery of a Puffin's Winter Home is Discovered 
Scientists and birdwatchers have long wondered exactly where Puffins go in the winter months.  Now, Project Puffin researchers are beginning to unravel the mystery.  Geolocation technology has enabled the first ever winter tracking of individual Atlantic Puffins from North America and reveals their surprising far-flung travels. In 2009, researchers attached tracking devices to the leg bands of eight puffins at their summer nesting island Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge http://eidertrk.audubon.org/trk/r.emt?h=www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=53534&t=toel&e=of&m, a 65-acre treeless island located 21 miles off the coast of Rockland, Maine. Last June they recovered the devices from two puffins.  The tiny tracking devices revealed that one puffin ranged from the icy waters of the northern Labrador Sea to warmer waters near Bermuda while the other wintered in the Gulf of St. Lawrence before travelling south to the offshore waters of the mid-Atlantic states.

---News from Project Puffin, Feb. 9, 2012

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Al Merritt

West Brattleboro, VT