Guest post from Ali Wagner, Birder and Museum Member
Last fall, a few of Vermont’s counties decided to take part in a friendly challenge of seeing and reporting the most species of birds during the 2011 calendar year. This has morphed into a state-wide challenge with all counties eagerly participating.
The quest, as described by the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, is “part fun, part discovery, part conservation, but mostly fun.”
The weather on October 24th was rain, rain, and then some more rain. And chilly! But 9 intrepid birders traveled the Champlain Valley Basin, checking the skies, fields, and puddles for birds (migrating and otherwise). It was lots of fun and there was a lot of laughter. Thank you, Shirley, for providing us this list! Birds are listed in the order seen.
American Crow
European Starling
House Sparrow
Canada Goose
American Kestrel
Mourning Dove
Rock Pigeons
Northern Harrier
Song Sparrow
Blue Jay
American Robin
Snow Goose
White-crowned Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
White-breasted nuthatch
Black-capped Chickadee
Dark-eyed Junco
Ring-billed Gull
Black-crowned night heron
Wood Duck
American Goldfinch
Red-winged Blackbird
Mallard
American Black Duck
Green-winged Teal
Northern Pintail
White-throated Sparrow
Blue-winged Teal
Red-tailed Hawk
Surf Scoter
Horned Grevbe
Common Loon
Cooper’s Hawk
Great Black-backed Gull (not a Black Duck as I’d earlier mis-read the note –Kir)
Downy Woodpecker
Wild Turkey
Great Blue Heron
Northern Flicker
If you are on FaceBook, and you have photos, feel free to post them on the event Wall (Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=148202475222276 ). We’re also happy to link any online photos to this post if you send us the link.
Panama boasts nearly 1,000 different bird species and the largest intact tropical rainforest in Central America, but as a birding destination it still lacks the fame of its neighbor Costa Rica.
Please join us for a photographic tour of the incredible diversity of birdlife Panama has to offer—from the hummingbirds and toucans of the national forests along the Panama Canal to the tanagers and trogons of the coffee-growing region in the northwest to the macaws and manakins of the roadless south-eastern wilderness that is the Darien.
Presented by Professors Kimberly Sultze and Jon Hyde.
This lecture is oart of the Lucille Greenough Enrichment Series.
Doors open at 6:30p.m. for wine and cheese; slide lecture begins at 7:00p.m.
[As posted to VTBIRD mailing list by Erin Talmage]
We started with a soggy morning walk and ended at the Museum’s viewing
window drinking bird-friendly coffee and eating local baked goods.
Our species list for the entire morning:
Great crested Flycatcher
Cedar Waxwing
American Goldfinch
Phoebe
Oriole
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
American Robin
Wood Duck
Black and White Warbler
Grackle
Blue Jay
Yellow bellied Sapsucker
Evening Grosbeak
Brown-headed Cowbird
Mourning Dove
Hairy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Wild Turkey
Dark-eyed Junco
Indigo Bunting
Join us on June 13th, June 20th, and/or June 27th for another bird walk.
(We always end our walks with coffee and goodies!)
Shirley Johnson and Alison Wagner have been leading the Early Morning Birds Walks this spring. (Haven’t been on one yet? Come on Sundays at 7:00 a.m.; we will be doing these through June). They post the birds the group observes on a white board here at the museum, and report some of the highlights to us over coffee.
Last week, Alison lead a group despite the snowy weather. Yes, they were successful, observing some dozen or so species.
Blackburnian Warbler (carved by Bob Spear). One of the species identified on today's Early Morning Bird Walk.
Today, Shirley reported hearing two barred owls having a “party”, cackling and laughing back and forth to each other. She also said they’d heard a Louisiana Waterthrush, and compared the sounds of that species as recorded by the iFlyer and the Birding by Ear CDs.
from Sally Laughlin, via e-mail
The Woodstock Count was held on the coldest day of the count period no doubt, Tuesday 12/29….wind-chill to 30 below. Both numbers of individuals and of species suffered (as did us birders!). We had only 32 species and 2227 individuals. But we had some firsts for our 35 year old count!
from Thomas Berriman, via e-mail Barnet CBC, New Year’s Day: A record high 23 participants helped count the birds of the Northeast Kingdom on New Year’s day. Absolutely gorgeous weather, 25 degrees [F] with light snow falling and no winds throughout the day, aided the counters to find 41 species with an additional 2 species during count week. 338 miles of roads in the NEK were traveled with another 13 ¾ miles on foot.
from Roy Pilcher, via e-mail
RUTLAND COUNTY AUDUBON COUNT # 110/36
Boxing Day proved to be an unfortunate choice of date for our 36th annual Christmas Bird Count. Observer participation was negatively impacted. The traditional 8 field teams was reduced to 7, and their own. The anticipated sleet and rain did not materialize but winds of from 10-15 mph with gusts of 30-35 mph appeared to depress avian activity.
6333 individual birds were recorded, considerably less than the ten year running average of 9103. The species count of 43 (with 5 on Count Week) was well below the ten year running average of 49.5. Mallard and Common Merganser numbers set new highs.
Huntington, Hinesburg and Starksboro, Vermont (preliminary)
Red-breasted Nuthatch, turning to look at photographer
from Erin Talmage (Museum Executive Director) and Alison Wagner, via e-mail. Our group was in parts of Huntington, Hinesburg and Starksboro, and we conducted our count on Saturday, January 2, 2010.
