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Absolutely amazing! Did these guys forget to go S? Do they know something about climate change that we don't? I bet that report gets flagged BIG TIME in ebird! Right, Ian??? 'That's a very big number! Are you sure? Please provide details!' Ruth Stewart E. Dorset, VT ________________________________ From: Vermont Birds <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Ian Worley <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Sunday, January 1, 2017 10:51 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [VTBIRD] Monkton robins ...... Webridge eagle and companion Yesterday, New Year's Eve, Ron Payne and I were concluding a long day of owling and birding the Northern Monkton Sector of the Hinesburg CBC circle. Twilight was near so we decided to do one more trip around the sector to see if any birds were moving to roosts. Along Mountain Road paralleling Hogback Mountain we noticed a few robins flying across the road in the direction of woods occupying lowlands lining the base of the mountain, so we stopped to count the birds as they crossed the road. Ron and I do a lot of bird counting together so we went into automatic count mode ... each of us independently counting in silence. Wave after wave of robins crossed the road likely to assemble in the night's roost at the base of the steep slopes of Hogback. For 20 minutes we counted in silence. Then, a few birds started flying in the opposite direction, so it was time to stop the count. Ron asked for my total number of robins .... "3500 by 10s" said I. "What was your count?" Ron responded "3500 by 10s". As we drove away to meet with the other CBC birders we came upon another few hundred robins still on the move. ------------------------------------ On Friday early afternoon a brief squall of turbulent air rolled over Snake Mountain spilling showers of grauple (snow pellets) across the Lemon Fair flats of Weybridge as I turned onto Lemon Fair Road busy with an errand. Looked up at the grumpy skies and saw a large bird riding in turbulence just above some trees. Quickly discerned it to be an adult Bald Eagle, now beginning to soar in the squall's thermal uplift. That's when I saw a smaller, more sleek bird soaring a hundred feet above the Eagle. With binocs I confirmed the not-so-small aviator to be a beautifully lit, adult Northern Goshawk, wings extended in maximum-lift configuration. Watched the pair of raptors as they circled with wings outstretched, without flapping, ever gaining altitude. In less than 3-4 minutes the Eagle was up to 800-900 feet and climbing still. The Goshawk? ... The Goshawk, obviously the more efficient soarer, was circling in and out of the filmy bases of the clouds and swirls of grauple over 2000 feet in altitude. Ian