And in Hinesburg, similar results! It took me about 1.5 hours to get to the "good" spot in the forest, with the little hill leading to the blowdown area consuming about 40 minutes of stepping and stopping. Birds were feeding everywhere it seemed! I had similar experience with the White-throats and Ruby-crowns! Ali Huntington Hinesburg Town Forest, Economou Rd, Chittenden, US-VT Sep 28, 2013 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM Protocol: Traveling 1.0 mile(s) 35 species Mallard 1 Ruffed Grouse 1 heard one fly off at 8:45, later heard one drumming in the same area. Mourning Dove 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 3 immature birds were seen feeding together, adult in different part of forest. Downy Woodpecker 2 Hairy Woodpecker 2 Merlin 1 Merlin appeared at 10 a.m. for a brief look and the hillside, which had been quite busy with calls and feeding birds became silent until 10:30. Then slowly the sparrows started calling and moving around to feed again. The Merlin made another pass through around10:50 but didn't seem to stay. Eastern Phoebe 3 Blue-headed Vireo 2 Red-eyed Vireo 1 Blue Jay 5 Common Raven 2 Black-capped Chickadee 12 Red-breasted Nuthatch 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 3 Brown Creeper 1 Winter Wren 2 Golden-crowned Kinglet 12 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 7 American Robin 1 Gray Catbird 1 Nashville Warbler 1 Common Yellowthroat 3 Magnolia Warbler 2 Chestnut-sided Warbler 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 5 Chipping Sparrow 1 Fox Sparrow 1 Noticeably large sparrow, feeding with White-throats, perched up nicely on brush pile within ten feet. I didn't even need bins to see its rusty red streaked breast and belly, gray on face and back. Song Sparrow 4 Lincoln's Sparrow 3 White-throated Sparrow 21 I stopped counting! Consistently seen and heard in similar area on my return walk (not counted twice). Dark-eyed Junco 6 Northern Cardinal 1 American Goldfinch 4 Evening Grosbeak 1 View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15274261 This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org) -----Original Message----- From: Spencer Hardy Sent: Saturday, September 28, 2013 10:14 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] busy yard this morning Also quite busy here in Middlebury. I spent an hour and a half west of campus with good numbers of many species. Highlights: Swainson's Thrush, 2 Lincoln's Sparrows, and one each Tennessee and Palm Warbler. Also of note an Eastern Screech-Owl was calling at 6:15 am on thursday near Otter Creek. Greater Middlebury Campus Area, Addison, US-VT Sep 28, 2013 8:00 AM - 9:15 AM Protocol: Traveling 1.0 mile(s) Comments: TAM west of campus 33 species (+2 other taxa) Canada Goose 150 Downy Woodpecker 2 Eastern Phoebe 1 Blue-headed Vireo 3 Red-eyed Vireo 1 Blue Jay 35 ~10 local, 25 migrating south American Crow 5 Common Raven 2 Black-capped Chickadee 7 Tufted Titmouse 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 3 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 5 Swainson's Thrush 1 American Robin 2 Gray Catbird 3 European Starling 8 Cedar Waxwing 1 Tennessee Warbler 1 Nashville Warbler 3 Common Yellowthroat 3 Blackpoll Warbler 3 Palm Warbler (Yellow) 1 Distant, but behavior and yellow wash distinctive Yellow-rumped Warbler 5 Savannah Sparrow 15 Song Sparrow 25 Lincoln's Sparrow 2 Swamp Sparrow 1 White-throated Sparrow 20 Easily more, two major groups with several visible at a time in binocular view Dark-eyed Junco 2 sparrow sp. 5 Scarlet Tanager 2 Northern Cardinal 1 American Goldfinch 4 House Sparrow 2 passerine sp. 3 View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15271856 This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)=