MadBirders » Field Notes http://madbirders.org Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:03:01 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 New Year’s Day Visitor at the Feeder http://madbirders.org/2008/01/06/new-years-day-visitor-at-the-feeder/ http://madbirders.org/2008/01/06/new-years-day-visitor-at-the-feeder/#comments Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:52:59 +0000 Jeannie Elias http://fivepears.net/madbirdersorg/?p=69 This ermine, quite an agile creature, decided to celebrate the New Year by sampling the delicacies at the feeders on Two Dog Mountain in Fayston.

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]]> http://madbirders.org/2008/01/06/new-years-day-visitor-at-the-feeder/feed/ 0 Mad Birders Participate in Christmas Bird Count http://madbirders.org/2008/01/06/mad-birders-participate-in-christmas-bird-count/ http://madbirders.org/2008/01/06/mad-birders-participate-in-christmas-bird-count/#comments Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:41:01 +0000 Jeannie Elias http://fivepears.net/madbirdersorg/?p=68 On Friday December 14, 2007 over two dozen Mad Birders braved the winter weather to participate in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. The Waitsfield team got a great look at a Pileated Woodpecker and Pat Folsom snapped this shot.

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The Fayston Team dubbed themselves The Peckerheads (because their first birds of the day were Woodpeckers). Pictured below are Allison, Bill and Mae.

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]]> http://madbirders.org/2008/01/06/mad-birders-participate-in-christmas-bird-count/feed/ 0 Birding Fabulous Monhegan Island http://madbirders.org/2006/10/30/birding-fabulous-monhegan-island/ http://madbirders.org/2006/10/30/birding-fabulous-monhegan-island/#comments Tue, 31 Oct 2006 01:44:44 +0000 Pat Folsom http://fivepears.net/madbirdersorg/?p=37 In late September, six lucky Mad Birders spent three wonderful days birding Monhegan Island, off the coast of Maine .  Led by Fred and Chris Pratt (Team Pipit), we enjoyed finding over eighty species of birds, many of them not usually seen in the East.  The weather was fantastic, although Fred kept looking for those northwest winds to bring in lots of migrants.    Nevertheless, we saw fifteen species of warbler, including Cape May, Orange-crowned, Wilson’s.  Other highlights included five species of vireo, including White-eyed, a lifebird for me.  Blue Grosbeak, Clay-colored and Lark Sparrows, American Bittern from the hotel window, and Black-billed Cuckoo spotted when lowering the bins after watching two Bald Eagles. 

Monhegan is such a wonderful place, accessible by ferry only, a small village, the rest of the island great bird habitat with many trails.  We met so many birders from NY, ME, MA, and many artists taking advantage of this picturesque spot. 

Mad Birders on Monhegan!

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]]> http://madbirders.org/2006/10/30/birding-fabulous-monhegan-island/feed/ 0 Sparrows are not just Little Brown Birds! http://madbirders.org/2006/05/02/sparrows-are-not-just-little-brown-birds/ http://madbirders.org/2006/05/02/sparrows-are-not-just-little-brown-birds/#comments Tue, 02 May 2006 10:17:46 +0000 Pat Folsom http://fivepears.net/madbirdersorg/?p=27 Sparrows are fun to watch and identify. In the winter, we often see American Tree Sparrows, in the spring and fall the beautiful large Fox Sparrows visit for a few days or weeks in migration. One of the first birds signaling spring is the cheerful Song Sparrow. His song will be the first we hear early in the morning for several months. The White-throated Sparrow, striking with those yellow lores in full breeding plumage, arrive and start singing, “Old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody. I find them nesting closer to the house since I built a brush pile. The tiny Chipping Sparrow with its brown cap and dark eye stripe have recently arrived, as have the Savannah Sparrows in the fields. I have recently learned to identify the Savannah’s buzzy song and distinguish it from the Song Sparrow’s. A first time visitor to the yard this spring was a Field Sparrow. After looking at the bird books, I decided I had the correct id. What a treat!

A trip to Berlin Pond gave me a good look at the Swamp Sparrow. It’s song is easy to identify, but sometimes it’s a hard bird to spot in the vegetation. Lincoln’s Sparrow is another that I now feel more confident in identifying after seeing several in the past year.

Two years ago I accompanied a guy who was doing a survey of Franklin County Airport for Grasshopper Sparrows. I learned that some airports, such as Franklin County and Berlin, do not mow until August 1 so that grassland bird species can complete their nesting season successfully. Vesper Sparrows are another sparrow species breeding at the airport.

Once in awhile we get unusual sparrow species in Vermont. Ask Fred (Pat) Pratt about a Clay-colored Sparrow he first heard, then spotted and reported several years ago in Duxbury. I saw one at a Christmas Tree Farm in Morrisville a couple years ago after a Bryan Pfeiffer tip.

Hey, sparrows can be fun and a challenge. I no longer dismiss them as LBBs.

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