{BIRD NOTES ~ 2013 CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT}

 

 

Bird Notes

 

  I was unable to carry out the duties of compiler on the 21^st so Chris Petrak volunteered and did an exemplary job. Here are the results:

 

Hi Al,  I have added in the feeder count you sent me. I have not received any other counts or “count week” sightings, so I will consider this the final report.  Late Tuesday (about 4pm) a Fox Sparrow appeared at our feeder, just inside the time limit for count week. This brings our total to 57 species. Notable species are highlighted in bold.

---Chris Petrak, S. Newfane, VT

 

Brattleboro CBC, Dec. 21, 2013

 car miles          244.0

walking miles        8.7

# in field              22.0

people hours     101.0

 

Total Species = 57

Total individuals= 4,411

 

Canada Goose    7

American Black Duck    50

Mallard    62

Common Goldeneye    147

BARROWS GOLDENEYE    1

Hooded Merganser    52

Common Merganser    31

Wild Turkey    21

Bald Eagle    4

Sharp-shinned Hawk    2

Cooper’s Hawk    1

Red-tailed Hawk    6

ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK   1

Ring-billed Gull    7

Herring Gull    7

Rock Pigeon    268

Mourning Dove    182

Barred Owl    3

Belted Kingfisher    1

Red-bellied Woodpecker    16

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker    4

Downy Woodpecker    41

Hairy Woodpecker    27

Pileated Woodpecker    5

Blue Jay    305

American Crow    191

Common Raven    4

Horned Lark    25

Black-capped Chickadee    426

Tufted Titmouse    65

Red-breasted Nuthatch    10

White-breasted Nuthatch    65

Brown Creeper    6

Carolina Wren    10

Golden-crowned Kinglet    5

Ruby-crowned Kinglet    2

Eastern Bluebird    58

Hermit Thrush    1

American Robin    116

Northern Mockingbird    5

European Starling    536

Cedar Waxwing    388

American Tree Sparrow    61

Chipping Sparrow    6

FOX SPARROW    cw

Song Sparrow    4

White-throated Sparrow    25

WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW    cw

Dark-eyed Junco    219

Snow Bunting    40

Northern Cardinal    64

COMMON GRACKLE    cw

Purple Finch    25

House Finch    43

American Goldfinch    340

Evening Grosbeak    12

House Sparrow    410

 

 

 

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Please share your birding news with us.

Any Owls?

Hawks?

Finches?

Waterfowl?

What have you seen while on a trip?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Al Merritt

chpmnkx@sover.net

 

SVAS   www.sevtaudubon.org

 

{BIRD NOTES} ~ DEC. 24, 2013

Bird Notes

 

Watch for Snowy Owl

Mind you this was birding at 60 MPH but this morning while driving 91 south crossing the Brattleboro town line I saw what looked like a snowy owl flying parallel to 91.  Large bird of prey.  Lots of white on back and belly.   "Soft" fluffy wing beats.  Not that I'm claiming to be sure that it was one but it might be worth looking over the flats to see if one is there.  

---Tom Prunier

 

Vernon Dam Bonanza

A drake Barrow's Goldeneye was with ~147 C. Goldeneye, 58 Mallards, 52 Hoodies, 27 C. Mergansers, and 26 Black Ducks above Vernon Dam at 3:40 this afternoon with more ducks arriving to roost as I left at 4:10.

---Dave Johnston, W. Brattleboro, VT

 

 

SNOWY OWLS continued to be reported in New Hampshire during the past week There was 1 at Chickering Farm on River Road in Walpole.

---New Hampshire RBA

 

‘Varied Thrush in NYC

Al, I saw it today. It is really gorgeous.  The Central Park thrush was a lot duller. This bird is bright orange. When I got to the area of course the people there said "you just missed it, it was here 10 minutes ago". There were several photographers and they said the bird makes its round & will be back. It did. It was in plain view a few times albeit for a short while. It made my day.  

---Irene Warshauer

 

Horned Larks and Bluebirds in Vernon

Just a note to let you know we have Northern Horned Larks and Bluebirds. The Larks have been feeding around our bunker silos by the barns. The Bluebirds seem to be spending the night in our birdhouses. There are 15 to 20 Larks and 8 or so Bluebirds. The Bluebirds are at my house at 5 Tyler Hill Road, but they probably won't be here except when they choose to settle down for the night. That isn't every day. It is fun to have them around.

---Paul Miller

 

Brattleboro Christmas Bird Count

Here are the preliminary results of our December 21^st Bird Count.

The 15 mile diameter circle is divided up into 7 areas. Circle ‘s center is approximately the corner of Rt. 9 and Sunset Lake Road.Those areas were covered by the eagle eyes of 22 local birding enthusiasts that counted 56 species and a total of 4,366 individuals.  The final tally and a complete listing of the birds seen on that day will appear in a later edition of Bird Notes.

 

Many thanks to all who participated in the field or at home doing feeder counts.  A satisfying job well done!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please share your birding news with us.

Any Owls?

Hawks?

Finches?

Waterfowl?

What have you seen while on a trip?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Al Merritt

chpmnkx@sover.net

 

SVAS   www.sevtaudubon.org

 

 

Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

{BIRD NOTES} ~ December 07, 2013

 

Bird Notes

 

 

Snowy Owl Invasion in Massachusetts

Indications are that SNOWY OWLS are currently staging a significant fall movement into New England, with a few owls already reported in several neighboring states as well as in Massachusetts.  SNOWY OWL reports received in Massachusetts this week included 4 at Cranes Beach in Ipswich, 2 at Hanscom Field in Concord, 2 at North Beach on Cape Cod, and reports of single birds at Salisbury, Plum Island, Marblehead Neck, Duxbury Beach, Plymouth Beach, Gooseberry Neck in Westport, and Martha's Vineyard.

---Eastern Massachusetts RBA

 

 

Colorado Specials

We just got back from CO where I saw my first Steller's Jays - wow! I haven't found a source that tells whether the female has the same plumage or I was seeing a different bird that had blue on its back and light underneath without a tuft. ???? Another new bird for me was the Gray-headed junco. A productive trip (as well as seeing 15 family members from both coasts and CO).

---Lerna, West Brattleboro, VT        

( Note: Male and female look alike. The second bird with the blue back, no crest and light underneath could have been a Western Scrub-Jay. See “The Sibley Guide to Birds”)

 

 

Turners Falls, MA

A SNOW GOOSE and 4 AMERICAN WIGEONS were at Turners Falls.

---Western Mass. RBA

 

Marlboro Feeder Visitors

Red-breasted Nuthatch and a deer that loves bird seed.

---Hollie Bowen, Marlboro, VT

 

West River Bald Eagle

Meg and I drove up Rte. 30 to Newfane and back this morning. On the way up, I saw a mature Bald Eagle in a tree just south of the ski area. On the way back down, it was flying over the West River between the ski area and the covered bridge.

---Ned Pokras, West Brattleboro, VT

 

Remember Pearl Harbor

 

“December 7, 1941, a date that will live in infamy”

---Franklin Delano Roosevelt

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please share your birding news with us.

Any new migrants?

Hawks?

Finches?

Waterfowl?

What have you seen while on a trip?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Al Merritt

chpmnkx@sover.net

 

SVAS   www.sevtaudubon.org