The first Atlas of VT Birds shows Screech Owls breeding primarily in  
the Champlain Lowlands,though there were individual sightings   
throughout the rest of the state except in the Northeast Highlands.    
You can check the latest Atlas  on-line to see if there are  
significant changes.   Sara Laughlin's report in the first Atlas  
refers to RVB (Records of Vermont BIrds) for the decade 1973-83 where  
76% of sightings were from the Champlain Lowlands.  These old records  
are now being entered into a database so that they can go on ebird.   
VCE (Vt Center for Ecostudies) has asked for help with data entry if  
anyone has some time.

Jean Arrowsmith
Lincoln


While camping in Mount Ascutney State Park last night, I thought I might
have heard an Eastern Screech Owl call way off in the distance, but I  
never
heard it clearly enough to be sure. This got me curious about
the distribution and numbers of Eastern Screech Owls in Vermont, so I  
check
Ebird. It appears that they are mainly found in the St Lawrence  
valley, and
then mainly in the winter (when they seem to call more often). I was
wondering if this matches other peoples observations, or if they  
really are
just an uncommon bird in Vermont.

Other sightings have been few and far between, as most birds are getting
very quiet. A pair of Kestrels hunting dragonflies on top fo Mt Ascutney
was a pleasant surprise, however.