Yesterday morning in the fields near the confluence of the Waits and
Connecticut Rivers, Nick Tepper, Kyle Jones and I were lucky enough to
witness a simply astonishing flock of redpolls that has appeared to build
in numbers over recent weeks, likely attracted by the abundant seeds
available in the overgrown pumpkin fields at this location.

The distant *chit chit* chattering immediately alerted us to the presence
of this flock, and when some small movement startled the flock, the audible
wooshing of hundreds of wings indicated that counting this flock would
require some serious effort.

Analysis of photos of what appeared to be around half of the flock provided
us with a count of 550 individuals, indicating that this flock, when
conservatively counted, contained upwards of 1,100 birds, a Vermont high
count!

Knowing that a flock of this size must contain some redpoll diversity, Nick
& I proceeded to scan through the flocks in our scopes as they gathered in
the falling snow. First one Hoary Redpoll was spotted, then another
ghostly-pale bird stuck out from the flock. After careful examination, we
determined at least 5 individual Hoary Redpolls were present, another state
high count!

Continuing to scan through the flock, we were able to pick out a pair of
Common Redpolls of the *rostrata* subspecies, noticeable thanks to their
large size and overall darker appearance. To see Nick's photos (and my much
less impressive digiscoped shots) of this flock and the interesting birds
we were able to pick out of it, our Vermont eBird checklist can be viewed
here: https://ebird.org/vt/checklist/S79541087
-- 
Nathaniel Sharp
Staff Biologist
Vermont Center for Ecostudies
PO Box 420 | Norwich, VT 05055
802-649-1431
Pronouns: he/him/his
https://vtecostudies.org/