Dear VTBirders,

With the current daily reports of Pine Grosbeaks, Bohemian Waxwings,
Common Redpolls, and other boreal irruptives, this is shaping up to be
an exciting winter for birdwatching in Vermont.  Inspired by the
sightings of these species in Vermont and northern New York that began
in late October and early November, I recently put together an article
discussing the status of eight boreal irruptive species in the northern
U.S. (and in the case of some species, even further south).  The article
uses maps and graphs from the eBird web site to show where, how often,
and in what numbers these boreal birds are being reported.  The piece
also provides some background information about the Boreal Forest
Region, including some exciting conservation news from Canada, as well
as a link to Ron Pittaway's famed winter finch forecast.

This boreal irruptive article can be found at the Vermont eBird site:
http://ebird.org/content/vt/index.html  This web site also allows users
to create Vermont-specific maps and graphs, so that you can see exactly
where different birds are being seen.  Although, this winter, it seems
like all of the exciting boreal birds are being seen everywhere!

I'd like to thank all of the Vermont eBirders who have entered their
sightings of boreal birds (and others) into the eBird database.  It is
because of dedicated eBirders that birders anywhere can visit the eBird
web site, explore the data, and create the maps and graphs seen in the
boreal irruptive article.  Keep up the good work!

Good eBirding,
Matt

Matthew Medler
Science Coordinator
Boreal Songbird Initiative
www.borealbirds.org