Matt and I had a good weekend of birding. It started Friday night when
we heard a Barred Owl calling just outside the house. Saturday we
drove up to the Northeast Kingdom. We saw 2 Common Loons on Lake
Willoughby, along with 15 or so ice climbers. Then we headed to Moose
Bog east of Island Pond. We flushed a grouse while walking along the
trail, but we couldn't identify it to species. A pair of Gray Jays
were drawn to our noise and were very inquisitive. They let us watch
them foraging for 10-15 minutes. One bird had a BBL band on the left
leg. We also heard a couple Black-capped Chickadees, but no Boreals or
Black-backed Woodpeckers.

On Sunday we drove south to Crown Point SP. On the way we saw 2
Eastern Bluebirds in Ferrisburgh and a Cooper's Hawk perched on a
fence post. Lots of Ravens and crows about. There was a small group of
Snow Buntings alternately foraging on the ground and landing in the
tree tops at Crown Point. At least 2 Bald Eagles were also around.
There were large rafts of Common Mergansers (almost all males, about
400 individuals) and Common Goldeneye (roughly 300) out in the
unfrozen parts of the bay. A group of 50 Am. Black Ducks was on the
ice. A few Mallards and Great Black-backed Gulls were also present.

We drove back along the lake to stop at Tri-town and Button Bay where we saw a few more mergansers, goldeneye, and a couple Horned Grebes. On Arnold Bay Rd in Panton there was a flock of 100 waxwings, including at least 5 Bohemians. They were fairly stationary and provided a great comparison.

We continue to have Pine Siskins daily at our feeders in Charlotte.

Happy birding,
-Julie



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Julie Hart
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Chester, VT 05143

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