MadBirders

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.

Gib and Sue Geiger had the good fortune to give some Mad River Valley hospitality to this Northen Saw Whet Owl for two days last month at their farm in Waitsfield.  Saw Whet Owls are the smallest owls in the eastern US, only 8 inches long.  Their main diet is rodents.  The reside in Vermont year round.  2009 has been a great year for owls thus far with many sightings of Snowy Owls in Whiting, Vermont (of all places) and of a Northern Hawk Owl in Eden, Vermont, as recently as Friday 2/6.

Meet Mad Birders at Shaws in Waitsfield at 7:30 AM.  We will carpool to Roxbury to explore a new area for the morning.  Sharon Frierson will be our guide.  Wear sturdy footwear and bring insect repellent or a mosquito net for your face as black flies may be present.

Meet Mad Birders at Shaws in Waitsfield at 7 AM for a trip to Moose Bog in Northeast Kingdom in search of boreal birds (Black-backed Woodpecker, Boreal Chickadee, Gray Jay and Spruce Grouse are possibilities).  Dress in layers, bring warm boots, snowshoes, snacks, water, and lunch.  This is an all day trip.

Join thousands of birders across the country this weekend recording birds seen from home, schools, parks, walks.  Visit http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/ for more information and to record your observations. 

The Great Backyard Bird Count (February 13-16) is a chance for all of us to be citizen scientists for a weekend.  Watch birds in your yard or wherever you are, submit your results.  It’s fun and helps give scientists helpful information about bird distribution.  Go to http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/ for the full story.

Let’s have great Mad River Valley participation in this annual event.

This winter is proving to be a good one for birders looking for irruptives – those birds that visit our Valley some years, looking for food.  Several Mad Birders and birders all over the east are reporting flocks of Pine Siskins at their feeders.  The Hawk Mountain migration report forecast this irruption when they reported ten times (12,000) previous high count of siskins at their location in the fall.

The Foremans have a leucistic siskin (very pale yellow) that has been coming to the feeder with the flock.  This unusual bird seems to hold its own with the rest of birds and is very interesting to watch. 

Other irruptives visiting this winter included Snow Buntings, Common Redpolls, Bohemian Waxwings, White-winged Crossbills, and Pine Grosbeaks.  Snowy and Northern Hawk Owls are hanging out elsewhere in Vermont.  Let’s hope some visit our Valley.  Keep your eyes open, there’s plenty of winter left.

This Red Bellied Woodpecker was spotted by Joan Gilbert on December 12th. This woodpecker is expanding its range north; they have been spotted by Mad Birders only a few times in the valley. We will keep our fingers crossed that it will stick around for next week’s Christmas Bird Count!  

[photopress:RedBelliedWoodpecker_JoanGilbert_122008.jpg,full,pp_image]