Kaye,

I also saw Snow Buntings in trees for the first time this year, on the
Enosburg CBC. And they periodically flew down to the ground under a
feeder--first time I had seen SNBU at feeders. AND, they were in the same
place two weekends in a row, which seems unusual for the nomadic Snow
Bunting! Always something new to discover....

Ken Copenhaver


On Mon, Mar 4, 2013 at 5:59 PM, Kaye Danforth <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> This morning while the weather was good, I headed down the lake toward
> Addison to see what I could see. Near Ft. Cassin Rd., there were two male
> Pileated Woodpeckers working the same tree, one busily knocking woodchips
> all over his buddy's head. When it finally dawned on him this wasn't fun,
> he hitched a foot higher on the trunk and peered down at his wood-working
> friend, cocking his head from side to side. Has anyone ever seen two males
> together like this? I never have and wondered if they might be related,
> but I don't know anything about the Pileated's family structure. Moving
> on, I soon came upon a flock of birds gathering grit by the roadside.
> Among the Juncoes, Tree Sparrows, and Redpolls were a male and female
> Red-bellied Woodpecker. The male flew to a nearby tree and proceeded to
> flatter the female with loud, kwirrr kwirrr calls, but she, of course,
> played it cool from her distant perch and feigned indifference. Also
> nearby were two Downys, side by side, slowly touring a tree limb, and off
> in the distance I could hear a Hairy drumming. Signs of spring abound!
>
> After touring Addison and scouting vast fields for signs of Cranes (no
> luck), just before reaching the Dead Creek pavillion I saw a large flock of
> birds landing in a tree top along the road. Quickly I pulled into the far
> end of the pull-off (not wanting to flush the birds), stopped and rolled
> down my window... to hear something singing I'd never heard before. Now
> distracted from the tree-top flock, quietly I got out, lifted my glasses
> and looked straight at a Horned Lark perched on top of a broken cornstalk
> no more than 20 feet away, singing his little heart out! I'd earlier seen
> 12 Horned Larks along Kellogg Rd, but here, this little songster was the
> only one around. He sang and sang and kinda turned his head as though to
> casually see if his efforts had attracted a lady Lark, but no such luck.
> While he serenaded, I turned back to the birds in the tree which turned
> out to be a massive flock of Snow Buntings. I'd never seen them in trees!
> Whenever a car went by, they'd take flight out over the field, circling
> back across the road and over me, then turn and land back in the tree-top
> again. I'm not very good at counting birds, but managed to get up to about
> 350; I'm sure there were many more. Not much later they all took off
> heading west toward the lake. The lonesome Lark was still singing when I
> went on my way. What a great day!