Bohemian Waxwings in Waitsfield - Photo by John Reilly

Bohemians at Mountain Valley Farm  Waitsfield – Photo by Gib Geiger

Beginning about a week ago Mad Birders began reporting Bohemian Waxwing sightings in the valley.  Flocks of between 30 and 70 have been reported in Fayston and Waitsfield and also at various locations throughout the State of Vermont.  These fruit and berry loving birds are winter migrants, usually seen in Vermont from late November until late April.  Wonderfully gregarious and sociable, Bohemians are known to appear in large flocks.  The distinctive and exotic appearance along with the sweet high pitched song of the Bohemian Waxwing is a real treat for the winter birder.

Gib and Sue, with Gib sporting a Mad Birder hat. Thanks to you both!

Birders from near and far continue to observe the Varied Thrush. Fernando Corrada got this shot on Sunday 1/22/12.

Varied Thrush at Mountain Valley Farm in Waitsfield

The Mad Birders are proud to have this Varied Thrush visiting the Mad River Valley this week in Waitsfield, Vermont. Mountain Valley Farm owners Gib and Sue Geiger are bird lovers and knew they had something unusual when they saw the vibrant orange on this bird on Saturday. They emailed photos to Pat and Nancy of the Mad Birders and to renowned bird expert Bryan Pfeiffer who confirmed that this was a Varied Thrush. The bird has been seen for the past three days at the Farm, located at 1719 Common Road in Waitsfield. The bird is on the shy side, and flies off when approached too closely. Sue, took this photo on January 16th. The Geigers have thoughtfully placed a cardboard box at the end of his driveway. On the box are written directions to let you know where to go to view the Thrush. Please take the time to read them. The Mad Birders and birders from all across Vermont and elsewhere are grateful to our wonderful neighbors Gib and Sue for sharing their avian guest with all of us. Thanks Gib and Sue!

IF THERE’S SNOW ON THE GROUND AND WE’RE HANGING UP FEEDERS……it must be time for the Mad Birders Christmas Bird Count!  For the sixth year in a row the Mad River Valley’s birding club, the Mad Birders, will be participating in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count, creating citizen scientist records that (we hope) will be used for birding generations to come.  We will kick off this year’s event with a planning pot luck on Tuesday November 29^th at 6PM to finalize team rosters, reacquaint ourselves with counting protocols and to hone our birding and culinary skills for the Big Day!

We will gather for our planning pot luck at the home of Team Pipit (Fred and Chris Pratt) located at 49 Vermont Route 100, South Duxbury;  1/4 mile south of Harwood School and 1/4 mile north of the intersection of routes 100 and 100B.

Our official Christmas Bird Count (CBC) will occur on Friday December 16^th at various locations around the Mad River Valley.  We begin counting birds at 8am and try and stay at it until 4PM.  We celebrate our efforts and compete for best bird bragging rights at a CBC pot luck that will begin at 6PM.  This year’s CBC pot luck will be held at Two Dog Mountain, the home of Jeannie Elias and Craig Goss, located at 2738 Center Fayston Road in Fayston; 2.738 miles up Center Fayston Road from Route 100.

The Mad Birders welcomes interested people to participate in any of our activities including the Christmas Bird Count.  If you would like to be a part of our day, whether you are an experienced birder or brand new to the fun, send us an email or call us and we will be happy to give you details on how you join us.  Email us at info@madbirders.org or call 496-4730.

Waxwing recovering in a canoe after being helped out of Blueberry Lake

Two Mad Birders canoeing on Blueberry Lake in Warren, Vermont this past weekend were in the right place at the right time for the little juvenile Cedar Waxwing pictured above.  The birders spied the Waxwing swimming awkwardly across the lake.  They approached and offered it a paddle onto which the bird gratefully climbed.  The bird recovered for about 20 minutes on the bottom of the canoe and then was willing to hop onto the bow.  5 minutes later, the breeze picked up and the bird flew from the bow to a nearby  tree bough on shore.  Moments later an adult Cedar Waxwing flew in and landed next to it.  It appears that the little bird escaped unscathed from its (probably) inadvertent early morning swim.

Young Hermit Thrush sitting on cone flowers

From Katie Woodruff in Saranac: A poor photo taken through a window and from a distance. However it does show what I wanted to share with you. This young Hermit Thrush was under our feeder this morning and then flew to this pink coneflower and tried to eat the seeds. This was definitely a first for me.

Note: click on the photo to zoom in.

On June 28th, 2011, a trio of Mad Birders: Ali Wagner, Pat Folsom and Patti Haynes headed to Orleans County to help Patti achieve her 2011 goal of birding all fourteen Vermont counties in a single calendar year.  Barr Hill in Greensboro was the target destination, but they were keeping track of every bird they saw in Washington, Caledonia, and Orleans Counties.  After finding 53 species in Orleans County alone, they headed back to the Mad River Valley on Route 14 feeling quite satisfied with the day’s sightings and Patti was very pleased to have only one more county on her list.

They were still trying to ‘bird by car’ in Caledonia County, but when they crossed back into Washington County they all figured it was time to relax. Pat was driving and suddenly spotted a big white bird in a tree and exclaimed, “Oh, look!!!…” Patti looked over to the right and saw the bird and thought: ‘Holy macaroni Batman…a Snowy Owl???’ Ali, who had been ‘resting her eyes’ opened them up and wondered if she was still dreaming.  Pat pulled the car off the road coming to a screeching halt and the trio held their collective breaths as they gazed upon the large snow white bird perched in an evergreen. They soon realized that it was a hawk, not an owl, by the head and face.  They dared not move for fear of flushing the bird, so Pat passed her camera to Ali who took photos from the back seat. The bird remained unfazed, so Patti suggested Pat get out of the car to take another shot and that is the one you see above.

This bird had dark eyes, some dark primaries, and yellow legs. The beak was two toned: dark at the business end and light toward the head.  The only thing that moved on the bird was its head.  The raptor never changed position in the tree.  The Mad Birders didn’t try to send it into flight but did talk about the tail, which they really could not see. The bird was not a true albino, because if that were the case, the bird would have had red eyes and a pink bill. Their conclusion was that this was a leucistic Red Tailed Hawk.  Leucism is a condition characterized by reduced   pigmentation in animals and humans.

They based their conclusion on their observations as well as the fact that a bird matching this description had been reported around Central Vermont for several years and they also surmised it was probably the same bird.  In fact, Mad Birder Scott Sainsbury had seen and photographed a white hawk that showed a red tail in flight on April  17, 2010 over the Mad River in Moretown.  Scott had named it el Blanco and one of Scott’s photos is shown below.  Larry Clarfeld of North Branch Nature Center had also reported a similar sighting in Elmore.  What a day for this trio of eagle-eyed Mad Birders!

Mad River Greenway, Washington, US-VT
Jul 7, 2011 8:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Comments:     A beautiful July morning for a Mad Birder walk led by Pat
Folsom and Jeannie Elias along the west side of the river.
30 species

Broad-winged Hawk  1     Heard it first, and it flew right over our heads.
American Kestrel  1     A very fast flyover.
Rock Pigeon  1
Mourning Dove  1
Belted Kingfisher  1
Downy Woodpecker  4
Hairy Woodpecker  3
Northern Flicker  1
Least Flycatcher  4
Eastern Kingbird  5
Warbling Vireo  5
Red-eyed Vireo  2
American Crow  2
Tree Swallow  4
Barn Swallow  1
Black-capped Chickadee  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Veery  5
American Robin  7
Gray Catbird  5
European Starling  20
Cedar Waxwing  30
Yellow Warbler  6
American Redstart  3
Common Yellowthroat  4
Savannah Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  8
Red-winged Blackbird  6
Common Grackle  6
American Goldfinch  3