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Archive for the 'Bird Sightings' Category

Sandhill Crane Family in Bristol

For the past two or three years, birders have reported a pair of Sandhill Cranes near Bristol Pond (Winona Lake), about 4 miles north of Bristol Village.  This year the couple successfully raised one offspring known as a colt.  These Sandhill Cranes have been feeding in fields around Bristol all fall and are still around […]

October is Sparrow Month

As the temperatures drop, leaves turn, and daylight hours diminish, most of the warblers have headed south, but birding is still good.  The geese, raptors, and sparrows are moving through. The Song, Chipping, Swamp and White-throated Sparrows are still around; White-crowned, Lincoln’s, and Dark-eyed Juncoes are showing up in good numbers, and Fox and American Tree Sparrows […]

Rare Black-tailed Godwit Spotted on Mad Birder Trip

On Sunday, April 29, Mad Birders spent the day birding the Champlain Valley and the flooded fields of Addison County.  While scanning the extensive expanse of water near Cedar Swamp Bridge in Salisbury Station, trip co-leader, Carl Bates, called our attention to some birds he’d spotted across the meadow.  One of them was very different […]

Late Snow Brings Birds to Roadsides

An early April storm dumped up to a foot of the white stuff on our Valley this week.  Today I found many birds feeding in a frenzy at the feeders in the yard and several species along roadsides where the plow had scraped all the snow away. On a Sherman Road walk, I found two […]

White-winged Crossbills

I just returned from a short walk, hoping to find the red-bellied woodpecker again. I failed on that mission, but did see three white-winged crossbills (2 males, 1 female) on the west side of East Warren Rd between my sister’s house (3615) and mine (3681). They were in the poplar and birch treetops, nibbling buds. […]

Red-bellied Woodpecker Spotted off East Warren Road

While taking a walk through the woods, looking for Brown Creepers and Golden-crowned Kinglets, Dawna Foreman and I were surprised to see a Red-bellied Woodpecker fly and land on a nearby tree.  I was so excited that I jumped up and down whooping it up.  Of course the bird flew off, but not too far.  […]

Snow Buntings in the Valley

The Mad River Valley is a vacation spot for Snow Buntings, a bird species that breeds further north than any other land breeding bird.  Flocks of these birds have been spotted in fields and along roadways this winter – just south of the intersection of Routes 100 and 100B, near Tremblay Rd and Route 100, […]

Northern Shrike Visits Pat Folsom’s Yard

This shrike has been seen at Pat’s yard several times this winter. They breed in regions to the north and are seen during the winter here. Shrikes capture and kill small songbirds and will visit feeders seeking prey. Shrikes will occasionally store their uneaten food by skewering the prey onto a long thorn on a […]

Warm Christmas Bird Count

On Friday, December 15, nine teams of Mad Birders spread out through the Mad River Valley, Northfield and Roxbury in search of birds. Many were surprised to find that the birds were not at feeders as they were last year, but dispersed in fields and forests, enjoying all the food available in the mild weather. […]

American Bittern sightings in Mad River Valley

Last summer I saw my first Valley American Bittern while driving down East Warren Road toward Waitsfield Village.  I remember stopping the car, backing up, and watching for several minutes.  I laughed because the bird was standing in the middle of a field with it’s long neck pointing skyward, thinking it was hiding in reeds.  […]