MadBirders

Mad Birders Chris and Julia Child got this amazing shot of the bird and want to tell you all about it.  Okay, it is not an Ivory Billed.  (April Fool’s!) but it is a Pale Billed Woodpecker that they saw on a recent visit to Costa Rica.  The Mad Birders and the Warren Library will present a talk and slide show by Chris and Julia  about the avian and natural wonders of Costa Rica.  The free talk is at 4PM on Sunday April 26th at the Warren Library in Warren, Vermont.   See you there.

Here is the “bald-headed” or leucistic Black-Capped Chickadee that has been coming and going at the home of Scott Saintsbury in Moretown.  Note the white head!!!  Scott had to shoot through a window on a dreary day so the shutter speed was low. And, the bird would not stand still. Scott reports that he was lucky to get him/her at all — as it usually just stayed for a seed or two and then bolted. 

(Editor’s Note: Don’t worry about photo quality when shooting rare birds Scott.  If anyone had gotten this good a shot of the Ivory Billed Woodpecker down south, there would no longer be any doubt about its continued existence.)

Mad Birder Tina Valentinetti got these great shots of Bohemian Waxwings in Montpelier, Vermont on March 5th.  The Bohemians are winter visitors and usually leave Vermont by the 3rd week in April, so we will have them around for only a few more weeks.  One can distinguish our resident Cedar Waxwings from our visiting Bohemians by looking at the overall size- Bohemians are slightly larger; the overall color- Bohemians appear more gray and Cedars have a rusty or “cedar” color), and plumage- the Bohemians have white and yellow wing markings, easily observed in the first photo.

The photos above were taken by Pat Folsom during this past week (second week of March 2009) of a young Sharp Shinned Hawk (affectionately known as a “Sharpie”)  Note the yellow legs!

Pine Siskins have been easy to see this winter here in Vermont.  Our previous Mad Birders post about the sighting of a Leucistic  Pine Siskin in Moretown caught the attention of Debbie Janney, a birder in Boise, Idaho ,who was able to get a photo of a Leucistic Siskin at her feeder.  Thanks for sending the photo Debbie!  Above is Pat Folsom’s recent shot of a Pine Siskin in a Vermont stream.

Mad Birders in Waitsfield and Moretown, as well as birders throughout Vermont, have eagerly reported sightings of Red Winged Blackbirds over the past two weeks.  While most people associate the American Robin with the Spring return of migratory songbirds, here in Vermont the Red Winged Blackbird is usually the first to arrive, during the last week of February.  American Robins though, should be returning any day, so keep a look out for them as well.

During the snowfall in Waitsfield today (3/2/09) Mad Birder Pat Folsom managed to see and photograph this female White Winged Crossbill.  This is the first time Pat has seen a Crossbill at her feeder eating sunflower seeds.  These birds rarely visit feeders as they usually are found at the top of evergreens , using  their crossed bill to pry seeds out of pine cones.   Occasionally they are seen on the road, eating salt and grit.   This bird accompanied a large flock of Common Redpolls and Pine Siskins and was seen three different times in the yard.  This bird can be seen in Vermont at any time of year.  Their unusual “crossed”  bill helps the birds remove seeds from cones.  Crossbills also have a special “pocket” in their throats that enables them to store conifer seeds.  Researchers have documented this species consuming as many as 3,000 seeds in a single day. 

This winter, the two most common birds that are being seen in and around the Mad River Valley and the State of Vermont are the Pine Siskin and the Common Redpoll.  With high numbers of each species traveling in fast moving mixed flocks, it is at times difficult to tell them apart.  This shot from Mae Mayville of Essex, taken yesterday, gives us a nice look at both species.

A Pine Siskin with very unusual coloring has regularly been spotted this winter by the Foremans near the Wallis Farmhouse on Route 100 South in Moretown.  A bird without normal coloring is sometimes described as albino, but others refer to the condition as leucistic.  Even the experts can’t agree on the proper terminology.   Regardless, this very pale Pine Siskin is quite a sight to see!

When the Mad Birders participated in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count back in December, the Fayston Team was followed by a reporter and a photographer from the Associated Press whose story you can read here.  The story was picked up by newspapers all over the country.  Imagine our surprise when a letter addressed  simply to Jeannie Elias Fayston, Vt. (no street address or zip code) arrived from an interested birder in the tiny town of Cable, Ohio, who had seen the article in her local paper.  Read Kay Short’s very sweet letter.