MadBirders

The Bobolink is a small songbird that migrates between South America in winter and the Northern and Midwestern sections of the United States in spring and summer. This male of this cheerful species is often described as wearing a tuxedo backwards, due to the contrasting black and white patches of its plumage.
Its song is described as burbling, rambling and exuberant. Unlike many migrating songbirds that breed in North American forests, the Bobolink is a grassland bird that makes its nest in fields, meadows and pastureland. Very little savannah or prairie land still exists in this country these days and any kind of open land, as we all know, is becoming a rarity. As a consequence, habitat for Bobolinks is on the wane and Bobolink populations are in steep decline.

The Champlain Valley and various Vermont river valleys, including the Mad River Valley, contain perfect habitat for Bobolinks. Vermont bird watchers and nature lovers look forward to their annual appearance. As is so often the case a beneficial use of land for humans is at odds with the needs of other species. Bobolinks nest in open hay and farm fields and pastures, but need such areas to remain unmown until mid-summer in order for the breeding cycle to be complete. Working farmers on the other hand, need to plant fields, hay them or use them for grazing starting in early spring.

What can be done to preserve both Vermont’s agricultural heritage as well as our Bobolink population, along with the many other flora and fauna that live in grasslands that also benefit from delayed mowing? Conservationist and retired businessman Michael Sweatman of Elmore, Vermont had an idea. Could publicity, technology and volunteerism be combined in a minimalist fashion that would result in Bobolink awareness and habitat preservation? The Friends of Bobolinks Project is that idea brought to life.

The concept is simple:

• Select a manageable geographic area.
• Use technology to map the open spaces in that area large enough to support Bobolinks.
• Use volunteers to survey each open space a half dozen times over the course of a Spring and Summer to determine whether a field is in agricultural use and if so for what type of agriculture and at what intervals, as well as monitoring those fields for the presence or absence of Bobolinks.
• Educate landowners who are not using their fields for agricultural purposes where Bobolinks are or could be breeding about the potential benefit of deferring any land use activities until after the end of Bobolink breeding season.

In 2013 a Friends of Bobolinks project was launched by Sweatman in the Lamoille Valley which covered 96 square miles of land. A total of 272 fields were surveyed of which 88 were not being mown. Bobolinks were observed in 44 of these fields and through media coverage along with personal contacts, 40 landowners became Friends of Bobolinks, forming a core of a new movement to create awareness and improve Bobolink conservation.

In 2014 the Mad Birders, the valley’s own birding organization is piloting a Friends of Bobolinks project in the Mad River Valley. Join the Mad Birders at 4PM on Saturday April 19, 2014 at the Warren Town Hall to hear Michael Sweatman describe the project and learn how you can be involved. Call Michael Sweatman of the Friends of Bobolinks at 802-253-8142 (cell 371-9025) or Jeanne Elias of the Mad Birders at 496-4730 for more information.

American Woodcock

This American Woodcock was spied along Center Fayston Road at High Noon on 4/3/14 by Mad Birder Craig Goss.  Good Spotting!  Listen for these birds doing their mating call and aerial ballet at dusk and dawn (and all night long on nights of a full moon) for the next two months.

Six more inches of snow last night! It feels like we’re living in a igloo.

This morning, the snow was so high on the ground around the feeders, that all the doves, cardinals, and other birds that wait on the ground for the chickadees to spill seed for them to pick up, were finding nothing. It was comical, but disconcerting, watching them try to figure out how to land on the feeders. So, I went out on the back deck with a scoop of seed and a shovel to clear a spot for some food that they could easily reach.

As I was shoveling, a small bird flew in front of me at eye level, and disappeared around the barn. All I caught was white, black, small — so I thought Chickadee. But something wasn’t right. Was I seeing things, or was that bird too big, flying differently? And wasn’t there a hint of brown? Oh well it was gone.

But, I decided to peek around the corner to see if the bird was still in sight. When I did, it erupted from the protected area in front of one of the garage doors, and quickly disappeared around the Cedars further up the drive. No ID, but again, it just didn’t seem quite right for a Chickadee.

I went back to my work, and no sooner had I shaken the seed onto the deck than a Snow Bunting re-rounded the corner, fluttered near me, was startled by my presence and bolted toward the river. I ran inside to tell Pat, and together, we scouted the windows of the house looking for the bird.

Eventually, we gave up went back to the kitchen. I stepped to the sink and looked out the window. And there, enjoying the fresh seed on the deck, was the first Snow Bunting we’ve ever had in our yard.

The bird stayed for a good while and ate much seed. Then it left. What a late winter’s morning treat! Great views. Good pictures. And elevated spirits on a “Gee who forgot to set Mother Nature’s alarm for the Vernal Equinox” spring morning.

I’m a novice birder. In fact, I can’t really call myself a birder. I know my Black-Capped Chickadees, American Goldfinches and other common backyard birds. But I struggle with sparrows, warblers and ducks. And I don’t (yet) keep a life list. When I discovered the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count, I was excited to participate, but also a little nervous. I’d read The Big Year – and saw the movie – and I feared I’d be way out of my league with people who’ve been birding for decades.

The annual Christmas Bird Count is the oldest citizen science survey in the world that attracts tens of thousands of birders to help track bird populations. I live in Stowe, Vermont, and I found a Christmas Bird Count circle in the Mad River Valley, with a group known as The Mad Birders. They are a fun-loving group of avid birders who get together regularly to hike woods, fields and back yards in search of birds.

At 8 a.m. on Dec. 16^th, I arrived in Waitsfield, VT to meet up with Pat Folsom, an energetic retired teacher who wrangles the Mad Birders. Pat was easy to spot, binoculars covering her face, eyeing a female cardinal across the river. She’d heard that a Carolina Wren had been seen visiting a nearby feeder, and she’d been scouting the area since dawn.

Pat Folsom, of Waitsfield, VT, searches for birds during the Christmas Bird Count

We soon met up with fellow teammates Ken Beebe and Ellen Barillaro. Ellen, a local school administrator, was our driver. Ken a longtime Mad Birder, rode shotgun. Despite being slowed a bit by Parkinson’s, he was ready for the day: binoculars around his neck and walking stick by his side. Our count began at the home of one of Pat’s friends, who graciously let us use her living room to get a ‘bird’s eye view’ of several feeders hanging on her second-floor balcony.  The thermometer read 8 degrees F, so we appreciated the view from inside. Several Blue Jays and Chickadees bombed the feeders. As Pat foretold, the Carolina Wren appeared within a few minutes. Check! What a great find!

Next we crossed the road to observe more feeders and noticed some Chickadees fluttering wildly in the nearby brush. Sure enough, a Northern Shrike was perched atop a poplar surveying the area. Check! Off to a great start, we drove to a nearby condo complex adorned with feeders. We racked up several dozen Black-Capped Chickadees, Blue Jays, American Crows and even two American Robins still hanging around. Among the highlights: a couple of Common Ravens snacking on a carcass; three Golden Crowned Kinglets feeding in some tall pines and two Common Mergansers that flew overhead toward open water on the Mad River.

A few elusive birds we never found:

• Pat and I split up in a cornfield in hopes of flushing a flock of Snow Buntings, but all we roused was a lone American Crow.
• Pat got a voice mail about a Snowy Owl spotted in a nearby field. We scoured the area for this bird that has made a big showing in North America this winter, to no avail.
• A farmer pointed us to a stand of pines where Wild Turkeys often roost. But our search uncovered nothing but a flock of European Starlings and House Sparrows taking cover in the barn.

We drove a total of 30 miles while birding the sector that Pat has been monitoring for eight consecutive Christmas Bird Counts. Our visits included old farms, new vacation homes, village apartments and other backyard birding ‘hot spots.’  All the ‘hot spots’ turned out to be private homes of people who love to feed ‘their’ birds, and were happy to let a car full of strangers traipse through their yards in search of an unusual species – or just to count the Chickadees and Blue Jays.

Some Belted Galloway cows were among the onlookers of our Christmas Bird Count team

At day’s end, about 40 of us gathered at the home of veteran Mad Birder Scott Sainsbury for a potluck dinner, followed by the main event: the reading of our bird lists. The teams took turns sharing their day’s finds, each attempting to top the next with the sighting of a rare bird or an amusing story. As the evening ended, friends were already making plans to head out the next morning in search of a Northern Hawk Owl seen in Waterbury Center Vermont and making headlines in local birding blogs.

Team Chickadee: from left to right: Pat Folsom, Ellen Barillaro, and Christine McGowan. Ken Beebe (not pictured)

My inaugural CBC was a success. Not only did I discover that searching for and counting birds is a great way to spend a day, but I also found a whole new community of people I suspect will become lifelong friends.

Did you know? Some of the best birding festivals take place on or around National Wildlife Refuges.

Christine McGowan is the Director of Strategic Communications for the National Wildlife Refuge Association, and a beginner bird watcher based in Vermont.

Snowy Owl in Washington County Vermont on New Year’s Day.

Northern Hawk Owl on the wing in Waterbury Center Vermont.

A few Mad Birders and friends decided to kick off the New Year with a BANG! Knowing that there were some really interesting birds nearby, we decided it might be fun to try to find them on the first day of 2014. So, at the crack of dawn that first frigid morning Patti Haynes, Pat Folsom and Scott Sainsbury were joined by Chip Darmstadt, Josh Lincoln, Zac Cota-Weaver and his girlfriend Samantha for a FIRST BIRDS adventure.

Our first target was the Northern Hawk Owl that has been hanging out near the intersection of Rt 100 and the south end of Gregg Hill Rd in Waterbury Center, VT since mid-December. Birders have been flocking in from all over the Northeast to catch a glimpse of this rare and irregular visitor from Canada. Arriving at our destination at 9 am, we met up with Josh Lincoln, who was waiting for us, and had the distant Hawk Owl within eyesight. We could see the bird well through scopes, but were provided with much better looks at this handsome creature when it decided to fly toward us and landed in a tree right on Rt 100 where we were standing.

After good, long looks and numerous photos we knew it was time for the next bird on our list. The next stop was in Berlin, VT to look for the Snowy Owl that has been seen near the E. F. Knapp Airport. This winter there have been numerous reports of Snowy Owls in Vermont, especially in the Champlain Valley, but THIS Snowy was nearby. Seven pairs of eyes scoured the winter white, tundra-like landscape from the top of East View Lane. Chip Darmstadt, director of the North Branch Nature Center, scanned with his scope and fairly quickly located the Snowy! This owl was doing a wonderful job of blending in with its surroundings and was not easy to see. It was hunkered down at the end of a runway looking like a big plowed up chunk of icy snow. We were able to drive closer to get better views and photos of this gorgeous Arctic owl.  Many thanks to Josh Lincoln for the use of these wonderful photos!

We did manage to look at other birds along the way that morning too, including Great Black-backed Gulls, a Northern Shrike and a Rough-Legged Hawk.  Altogether, we found 23 species on the first day of 2014. Everyone agreed that this was a great way to begin a New Year. In fact, everyone had so much fun that we might consider making FIRST BIRDS an annual Mad Birder event, but this first adventure will be difficult to beat!

Mad Birders will be out birding all day on Monday, December 16.  We are participating in the 114th annual Christmas Bird Count, the oldest citizen science project.  Nine teams of three or four will cover a portion of a circle fifteen miles in diameter.  The all day event concludes with a potluck and reporting of results.  A good time is guaranteed by all.

A Nashville Warbler visited a feeder in Waitsfield Village for several days in November.   He appeared several times a day and ate shelled black oil sunflower seeds.  According to records, he should have left our area at least by the end of October.    Other great birds at this feeder include Carolina Wren, Pine Siskin,  American Tree Sparrow,  lots of Goldfinches, Chickadees, Cardinals.

There have been several Bald Eagle sightings in the Mad River Valley recently, most north of Moretown Village on the Mad River.  Today an immature was sitting in a dead tree in a yard on East Warren Road.  The owners reported that it sat there for about 2 hours.

The Mad Birders are hosting the second annual “Big Morning” and “Birders’ BBQ” at Sainsbury’s CrossHaven Farm in Moretown on Saturday, May 25!

 Last year’s gathering of the Vermont Birding Community for this event was a true Happening!  Over 50 bird-crazy, good-natured folk from all around the state gathered to meet one another, enjoy some great food and hospitality — and log over 70 species!!  Particularly noteworthy was the Acadian Flycatcher that Chip Darmstadt’s keen ears nabbed while walking through the woods.  Most attendees got to see the bird, and it was photographed and recorded for the record book.  Who knows what we’ll see this year!

The “Big Morning and Birders’ BBQ” is a great opportunity for many of us who bird together on the net, but don’t often see one another, to join up for some birding and socializing at Scott and Pat Sainsbury’s farm.  Moretown is about as “middle of the state as you can get, so if you came last year, come again — and if you missed last year, please join us for this wonderful event. CrossHaven farm has 300 acres of mixed age / mixed species forest, plus 100 acres of hay fields and pastures, and 1-1/2 miles of river front on the Mad River.  There are paths in the woods and plenty of open areas to hike and bird.  The place can be very birdy.  124 species have been recorded there.  We’ll have trail maps for everyone.  And, especially after last year, many of us know the lay of the land pretty well can join-up with those who haven’t.

The game-plan will be to see how many birds we can tally in one morning.  And to put faces and names together while we share our (tall) stories about the morning, over lunch.  We’ll also hear from Chip Darmstadt of North Branch Nature Center and Chris Rimmer from the Vermont Center for Ecostudies (or their associates) on their great programs and future vision for their organizations.

Here’s the schedule:

• 5 – 6:30 AM – “Dawn Chorus” walk for those who want to enjoy the sunrise together
•  6:30 – 7:30 AM – Registration, coffee and goodies, orientation (how many trails, easy to difficult, habitat, etc.)
•  7:30 – 11 AM – Main Walk
•  11 AM – Lunch, speakers, bird list, raffle winners
• 1 PM – done and dusted

 Mad Birder events are usually free to members and $5 for non-members.  This one will be free to all.   At the same time, we feel that it would be a great statement if — when we join together in celebration of the birds we all love — we also show support for those who work so hard to protect and teach about them.  We’ll have a donations box at the sign-in desk, and would like to ask everyone to pitch-in $20, or whatever you feel comfortable giving.  If 50 or so of us attend again this year, we could raise $1000 or more!  And…All of the money will be given to VCE for their avian research and North Branch Nature Center for their youth birding programs.  As a bonus, anyone who donates will be entered in a raffle for some nifty prizes!

 The club and the Sainsbury’s are pleased to host this great event again this year — to serve up some great breakfast, lunch and birdie-sightings for everyone — and to raise some money for the birds we all love.  So, please bring a few bucks from the piggy bank, and help us support the worthy work at VCE and NBNC.  Together, we can make a difference! 

This year’s menu will include:

 Breakfast

• Juice, coffee, fruit and baked goodies

 Lunch

• Pulled pork and beef brisket bbq sandwiches
• Cole Slaw
• Potato and other Salads
• Baked Beans
• Iced tea and Lemonade
• Watermelon

 There is a 60 x 100′ indoor riding ring at the farm, so lunch will be rain or shine.  There is a fair amount of seating on the porch, but bring a folding chair or two if you like.It’s going to be a great time.  Come along and enjoy the day!

Since we’re serving food, we’ll need to keep track of how many are coming.  If you would please reply to Nancy Turner at nancyturner@madriver.com  with a count on the number in your party, and when you plan to arrive, it would be greatly appreciated.

Maeve Kim has gone birding in three countries, two provinces and fourteen states. For over ten years, she’s been leading beginners’ bird walks for Green Mountain Club. In addition, she has taught birding workshops in schools and libraries and for the Vermont Outdoor Guide Association. In her presentation, Maeve will share photos of birds and other wild animals, accompanied by lively stories about her birding adventures. She’ll also provide tips for planning a successful birding trip. This program will fascinate and delight birders and non-birders alike – anyone who has an interest in nature! Pictured above are photos Maeve took of  an Arctic Tern in Potter March, Alaska; a Honeycreeper in Trinidad; and a Swainson’s Hawk at Falcon State Park in Texas.  Join the Mad Birders in welcoming Maeve Kim to the Mad River Valley on Saturday May 11th at 4PM in the Warren Town Hall at 413 Main Street in Warren, Vermont.  Admission is free.  All are welcome.  Refreshments will be served!  For additional information call 496-4730.