Coincidentally, I was at Wright Park this morning too and saw the very
same horde of feasting Goldfinches. I didn't have any of the raptor
dramatics that Ian did, but I did mange to dig a Northern Waterthush
and Red-eyed Vireo out of the flock. Further along the trails I found a
Nashville Warbler and a Pied-billed Grebe on the Otter Creek. I also
had a brief glimpse of what might have been a juvenile Cape May Warbler
in a pod of Chickadees and Titmice, but didn't get a good enough look
to confirm it.
Full checklist:
http://ebird.org/ebird/vt/view/checklist?subID=S11538304
--
Ron Payne
Middlebury, VT
On Fri, 7 Sep 2012 20:25:17 -0400, "Ian A. Worley" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
I had an hour to "waste" at lunch time today so I went to Wright Park.
> When I arrived some 60 Goldfinch were busily lunching on weed seeds
> in the meadow at the head of the trail, while a number of recent
> fledglings were begging and jiggling new wings from the branches of
> shrubs and saplings.
>
> Peace turned to chaos as low from the east a Harrier jumped the
> lunchers, zooming about among the shrubs scattering the Golden crowd
> like crumbs in an gale. No catch was made.
>
> An hour later, returning to the car I again found the chattering
> finches, paused to listen, when a Merlin exploded at full speed into
> the flock, darting, dashing, swerving, jinking ... always with three
> or four panicking golden darts right in striking distance scurrying
> for their lives while the rest flew in all directions like sparkler
> sparks on the 4th. Moments later, in some grasses between two
> shrubs, the Merlin was munching on its lunch.
>
> The full species list is at:
> http://ebird.org/ebird/vt/view/checklist/email?subID=S11538774
>
> Ian
>
>
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