After yesteday's monsoon, Don Jones and I spent the morning along Creek Road in Middlebury hoping for sparrows and other field birds. Despite muddy roads, we had a great morning with lots of birds to look at. Sparrows dominated with 8 species and 150+ individuals, but we also found a smattering of other migrants including a Magnolia and a Tennessee Warbler closer to town. 

The best bird was a Sedge Wren about a mile north of where they were found breeding this summer. No way to know if there is a connection, but the nesting field seemed pretty empty this morning. Be sure to check out Don's photos on the checklist--http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S20038500



Good Birding,
Spencer Hardy
Middlebury, VT


Creek Road, Middlebury, Addison, US-VT
Oct 5, 2014 7:40 AM - 10:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Nice morning for sparrows. Large numbers easily found and seen in many of the hedgerows separating the corn fields.
38 species (+2 other taxa)

Canada Goose  110  
Wood Duck  28
Green Heron  1
Sharp-shinned Hawk  1
Cooper's Hawk  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  18
Mourning Dove  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1
Northern Flicker  3
Eastern Phoebe  2
Blue-headed Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  1     Seen briefly in mixed flock with BHVI and others
Blue Jay  5
American Crow  5
Common Raven  2
Black-capped Chickadee  6
Tufted Titmouse  2
White-breasted Nuthatch  3
Sedge Wren  1     **Very rare. Quite the surprise when it popped up a hedgerow amongst a large sparrow flock. More than a mile north of this summer's breeding site. Unbelievable views from less than 5m for more than 10 mins. Appeared to be a full adult with a full tail. No sign of the family in the patch where they bred, although we didn't try too hard. 

Eastern Bluebird  2
American Robin  15
Gray Catbird  2
European Starling  2
Common Yellowthroat  4
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  20
Chipping Sparrow  2
Savannah Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  60     Very abundant, several hedges had 10+ birds visible at the same time.
Lincoln's Sparrow  4     Nice views of multiple individuals in several of the large flocks.
Swamp Sparrow  25     Crazy abundant in places. Highest numbers with SEWR, although seen in nearly every flock, including some in the corn and other dry habitats. 
White-throated Sparrow  40     Very abundant. Large numbers feeding in the corn which were difficult to see and count.
White-crowned Sparrow  3
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)  1     First of the fall for me
sparrow sp.  10
Red-winged Blackbird  75   
Rusty Blackbird  5
blackbird sp.  15     Flyovers, RUBL or RWBL
American Goldfinch  6

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S20035506

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)