MadBirders

Several Mad Birders have reported seeing Indigo Buntings around the area during the last week. The male Indigo Bunting is unmistakable given their incredible bright blue coloring. This picture was taken by Melissa Coviello in Waterbury.

Male Indigo Bunting
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By Linda Kedenburg*

The earliest migrants have arrived and set up territories: Red-winged Blackbirds are calling from the marshes, Robins are patrolling our lawns, Phoebes are darting out from perches to snag insects in mid-air. Those who have seen them excitedly share observations of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers drilling rows of holes in tree trunks and Woodcocks engaged in aerial acrobatic courtship displays. Swallows are swooping over marsh and fields in pursuit of winged insect prey.
Ospreys and Egrets are greeted even by the non-birding public, and Piping Plovers stir their own kind of excitement.

Suddenly, in the midst of all this, a streak of yellow flashes across the forest floor. Heads turn. Binoculars snap to attention. Was it? Yes, it was! A Palm Warbler! It raises and lowers its tail. Its golden yellow belly and chestnut cap are duly noted and admired. This species is one of the first to arrive**, having wintered further north than many other warblers. i.e. Florida and the northern Caribbean islands. Usually seen in small flocks accompanied by another northern wintering bird, the Pine Warbler (also has a golden yellow belly plus two white wing bars). These species herald the beginning of Warbler Season.

While crocuses, tulips and daffodils cheer us all, the hearts of birders beat faster and a rush of adrenaline accompanies the beginning of spring warbler migration. These tiny birds, no more than a few ounces in weight, live on the cusp of survival. Migrating by night, they have left their wintering grounds in the southern Gulf States, Caribbean islands or Central or South America to travel north to the breeding grounds. Some will remain to breed in our area. Most, after a brief stop-over, will face a northward trek to New England or perhaps the coniferous forests of northern Canada. Their journey, always perilous, has become even more daunting by loss of habitat on the wintering, refueling and breeding grounds. Myriad effects of global warming also threaten them. Anyone who has been birding for the last twenty years or so will lament the noticeable decline of the warblers. This has made their presence even more precious.

Often referred to as the gems of the forest, warblers in breeding plumage are both strikingly patterned and beautiful to behold. However, they are not always easy to behold. Tiny packets of energy with needle-like bills, they forage constantly. Flitting through the understory or high in the canopy, they are on a frenetic search for insects. Finding, focusing and following them with binoculars can be exceedingly difficult. Their brilliantly colored plumage can dull against cloudy skies or forest shadows and blend with new spring foliage. Learning their distinctive calls helps to distinguish species. The “weeteo” of a Hooded Warbler is very different from the “whichety whichety” of a Common Yellowthroat. Beginners, don’t be overwhelmed. This is a learning opportunity. Actually watching a vibrating little throat giving forth its own song, identifying the bird, and listening again to the song, will help to fix both in your memory. It takes time and patience, and some help from tapes, CD’s, field guides and other birders, to build a knowledge base of warblers. We all need a little (or a lot of) review each spring.

OK The winds have been from the south, the day is sunny, the trees are in minimum leaf and maximum flower and inch worms are dripping from oak catkins. A perfect warbler day.
Before going out on your first warbler walk, familiarize yourself with the more common warblers in your area. For Long Island, these would include the Black and White Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart and Ovenbird. You will hopefully see and hear many others as well . Keep a list and look them up in the field and later at home.

It will greatly add to your enjoyment if you add Scarlet Tanager, Baltimore Oriole, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Red-eyed Vireo to your pre-trip list. Although not warblers, these fellow travelers migrate at the same time as warblers. They are larger, slower, sing repeatedly and are easier to spot. Thrushes, such as the Wood Thrush, are ethereal songsters and tend to forage on the ground, giving much-needed relief to neck muscles and eyes trained on tree-tops.

Most importantly, fear not. There will be no pop quizzes at the end of the walk. I tend to think of birding as akin to skiing. It is exciting at whichever level your ability may be. Remember most of all to admire, to wonder and, by all means, to enjoy.

* Linda Kedenburg, the author, is an avid birder who lives on the North Fork of Long Island. She also has a home in southern Vermont and has fond memories of skiing in the Mad River Valley in years past. She graciously gave permission to the Mad Birders to use her article, originally written for the North Fork Audubon Society.

** The earliest warblers for the Mad River Valley are usually the Yellow-Rumped Warbler, the Black-and-White Warbler and the Black-Throated Green Warbler.

Join Mad Birders for an early morning walk, led by Jeannie Elias.  We will leave the Chamber of Commerce (Wait House) at 6:45 AM, start birding at Jeannie’s house at 7 AM.  This will be a two hour walk.  Wear waterproof footwear and dress in layers.  Migrants and summer residents should be out in abundance!!

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 – bigger, red head, barring on the chest, bi-colored bill, white rump patch.  After consulting our birding guides, looking through scopes we had with us, getting as close as we could to take photos without spooking the bird, we concluded that it was a Black-tailed Godwit.  This is a large wading bird, with long legs.  It is standing beside a Greater Yellowlegs and is noticeably bigger than this well-known shorebird.

We’ve notified the VTBird experts, sent the photos, and hope that some others can see the bird, confirm or correct us.  In any case, Godwits in Vermont are very rare in the spring. The Hudsonian is listed as seen every year from August through November in the Champlain Valley in Murin and Pfeiffer’s book, Birdwatching in Vermont.  

What a great way to end our day of birding with 58 species seen.

Update:  April 30 – The bird has been confirmed to be a Black-tailed Godwit by several experts from around the state.  This is the first sighting in Vermont and one of 5 or 6 in New England. 

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The two shots below were taken by Hector Galbraith who helped to confirm this Vermont newcomer! Hector is impressed by the color of this bird and he believes that this is a male in breeding plumage.

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Patti Haynes has seen this Albino Goldfinch in Moretown over the last couple of weeks. Her husband caught this photo of it through their kitchen window during our mid-April snow storm! You’ll see it on the bottom left of the feeder.

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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 Killdeer near the intersection of Sherman and East Warren Roads, further on, the first Fox Sparrow of the year foraging in the road.  There were many reports of Fox Sparrows around the state today, so maybe they all arrived together from the south.

Around noon I spied four White-winged Crossbills feeding on birch and poplar buds on East Warren Road.  They were in the same place I saw them earlier in March, what a thrill to watch them until they flew west out of sight.

Late this afternoon, I was driving East Warren Road and flushed several Song Sparrows just north of the East Warren Store.  The biggest surprise, just north of Wadhams Stable, was an Eastern Meadowlark that kept flying up when a car came by, but would circle around and land in the same spot.  Although the Spring Arrival Chart that Jeannie posted on the website says Meadowlarks return the third week in March, this one looked pretty cold to me.  It is only the second Meadowlark I’ve seen in the Valley, the first being on Elwin Neill’s field on Meadow Road several years ago.  

Eastern Meadowlark Seen on East Warren Road

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Although the snow continues to fall, bird sightings confirm that spring will come to the Valley.  During the past month, we have welcomed Red-winged Blackbirds, American Robins, American Woodcock, Snow and Canada Geese, Common Grackles, and Turkey Vultures.  Katie Woodruff heard a Winter Wren, saw Turkey Vultures and a Kingfisher.  Edie Connellee spotted an Osprey flying upriver from her house north of Waitsfield School.  Many are reporting Song, White-throated, and Fox Sparrows.  Our year round birds – Brown Creeper, Dark-eyed Juncoes, Chickadees, and Nuthatches are singing up a storm, Woodpeckers are drumming.  Several Mad Birders have been thrilled to see Northern Cardinals and Tufted Titmice in their yards.  Owls, American Crows and Common Ravens are nesting.

 The next two months will be exciting, all sorts of summer residents and migrants arriving in the Valley.  Mad Birders are getting ready with several spring walks – some old favorite spots and some new places.  Check out our events on this website, grab your binoculars, and come join us for some birding fun.

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. When I first saw them, I thought goldfinch, but checked them out and was thrilled to see that red with white wing bar. As I watched they flew closer, then down on the ground. Fortunately, I learned to carry the camera, so got some good shots that I’ll get on the website soon. Don’t know if they’ve been here before, just passing through, or what, but am going to keep looking. I’ve been thinking that the abundant cones I see from the house should provide lots of food for them this winter.

Update – Four male Crossbills were seen on 4/7/07 in the same spot on East Warren Road, then flew west into the conifers.

Male (on left) and Female Crossbills– If you look VERY carefully at the female, you can see the crossed bill.
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Male Crossbill
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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.  We saw it two or three times in the next few minutes, then spotted two Brown Creepers, Downy Woodpecker, Chickadees, and Red-breasted Nuthatch as we finished our woodland walk.  I have not seen any reports of Red-bellied Woodpeckers in the Mad River Valley.  It is a species that seems to be expanding its range and has been reported in the Champlain Valley and southern parts of Vermont on VTBird, there was also one reported in Randolph last fall.  What a great bird to add to the Valley list – hopefully next time I’ll have my camera and will be properly quiet in the area! UPDATE: As of the end of March, the bird has been spotted several times.

Red-bellied Woodpecker
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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, at the intersection of East Warren and Airport Roads in Warren, and at the Mad River Glen parking lot.

 Snow Buntings move as a flock, will swirl up as vehicles approach, then drop back down to the same general area to feed again.  They are eating weed seeds and insects, enjoying the balmy temperatures of our southern climate and may be seen for several days in the same location.   

Soon the birds will migrate north to breed, the males leaving first and arriving on breeding grounds by late March through mid-April.  The book, Breeding Birds of Quebec, says that the arrival of the Snow Bunting signifies the end of winter for the Inuit. 

Occasionally single Snow Buntings are seen at feeders.  My sister photographed one in this yard several years ago and Lil Iten had one at her feeder during the spring last year.  Look for these special visitors as you drive around the Valley in the next few weeks.

Snow Buntings
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