I just spent 3 days this week birding in VT trying to find some of the more
difficult birds for my VT list. I readthe VTBIRD reports beginning from Jan
1 and I want to thank all of the VTBIRD participants for their postings
which were so helpful in helping me to plan my itinerary. There were 18
species mentioned as being present in the state that would have been new
for me for VT. About half of those were either "one-timers" or not
convenient to attempting from the areas I decided to focus on as having the
most potential.
I want to publicly expesss special thanks to the following VTBIRDers who
were kind enough to answer email and phone inquiries and several of whom
were gracious enough to invite me to visit their feedser: Kim Likakis, Fred
Bates, Matt Brantner, David Jenne, Bryan Pfeiffer, Chip Dartmstadt, and
Aaron Worthley.
I did manage to add 6 new species to my VT list in the 3 days (despite some
loss of birding time caused by having to deal with obtaing an new tire rim
to relace one damaged by a pothole on the way upstate and having to spend
most of my birding time driving on an undersized spare tire while the new
rim was being FedEx'ed to Burlington) which met my pre-trip expectations
anyway. My new species were Boreal Chickadee, Cooper's Hawk, Rough-legged
Hawk, Lapland Longspur, Screech Owl, and Northern Shrike. Species which I
spent time "chasing" unsuccessfully were Snow Bunting, White-fronted Goose
and Com Redpoll.
Here are some details on what I did find:
Boreal Chickadee - seen at Kim's feeder in Bennington on 1/23
Rough-legged Hawk - 1/24 - 6 individuals along Rt 17 between Dead Creek WMA
viewing area and the bridge
to NY (1 dark, 5 light phase)
1/24 - 1 dark phase at Button Bay
1/25 - 3 individuals seen along the stretch of road
where 6 had been seen the day before, but
was an additional dark phase that was not omonmg
the 6 on the prior day
Cooper's Hawk - S. Burlington on 1/24
Lapland Longspur - 1/24 - flock of about 15 in Panton along Jersey Street
in the meadow which is immediately south of
the barns at Nor-Dic Farms (not refound the
following afternoon)
Northern Shrike - 1/25 - the previously reported individual was found
along Hawkins Road in Ferrisburg and a second
` one (previously unreported) was found near the
Longspur location along the Fish & Wildlife
Access road - a couple of hundred yards in from
Jersey St.
Screech Owl - 1/24 at night, answered to whistling along Hawkins Rd
(Ferrisburg) where it crosses the water
along Little Otter Creek
Bohemian Waxwing - 1/24 at Button Bay - a flock of 80 Bohemian that
contained 3 Cedar
1/25 - Panton along Panton Rd near where it meets Jersey
Street a flock of 60 Cedar also contained about
15 Bohemian
Horned Larks - numeous flocks in the Addison/Panton/Ferrisburg area on both
days
Wild Turkey - 7 separate flocks in the Addison/ Panton/ Ferrisburg area
including one flock along Basin Harbor Road
near Button Bay that contained 125 individuals
Thanks again for all the helpful information. If any VTBIRDers plan to
visit NJ and would like birding assistance please feel free to contact me
with questions.
Glenn Mahler
Boonton, NJ
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