Black, White, and Tan--09/23/10

This week has proved to be fairly quiet on the birding scene. While hordes of hungry goldfinches, chickadees, titmice, and rose- and white-breasted nuthatches continue to vacuum up any and every seed they can find with stunning speed, the garden has quieted down.

Mealtime is always busy, but there's a late-summer stillness in the air, accompanied by cooler nights, ripening pumpkins, and shyly turning leaves. I did have some fairly interesting sightings this week, which inspired the name for this column: white, black, and tan.

No, I have not discovered an improvement of the Black and Tan cocktail while lazily looking out my window. I was, instead, pleased to see interesting activity.

Driving on Route 30 between Manchester and Bennington, I saw several white figures perched in the swampy waters near the Arlington exit, best known for their 10 or so Blue Heron nests precariously perched atop tree skeletons.

This time, however, I saw four or five snow white Great Egrets. The largest white egret in its range, the Great Egret is easily distinguished from its Great Blue counterpart by stunning pure white plumage, making it easy to spot as it fishes and feeds in the water.

The birds, which were once common, became scarce due to plume-hunting at the end of the 19th century; however, due to conservation efforts, numbers have increased and the birds' range has continued to extend northward.

I also spotted a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker in my backyard, poking around at one of our conifers. I know they're nothing too special, but I have always has a soft spot for these black-and-white birds with streaky yellow underparts and a red cap and throat for the males. They're larger than either the Downy or the Hairy Woodpecker and are easily recognized by their distinctive plumage and their horizontal rows of tiny holes, made when they search for sap. Finally, I have seen more and more Cedar Waxwings as the weeks have passed.

At first I spotted a few of the pretty little tan birds zipping around my garden, searching for berries to fill their insatiable hunger for fruit.

On a walk by the Dorset Pond, I spotted hundreds of them dramatically swooping over the water as they decimated the local mosquito population. In spite of their efforts, I got some nice bites on my legs.

Guess they're not working hard enough.

Has migration season thrown some strange birds into your backyard?

Feel free to send all questions and comments to my (new!) e-mail at watch.the.birds.vt@gmail .com and check us out online at www.watchthebirdsvermont.blogspot.com for additional sightings and birding stories.

Late Summer Surprises--09/03/10

Late summer can either be thrilling or terrifically dull for birding. The only thing you can be sure of is that you never know which of those two it will be. Just when you think that Summer is winding down, Nature always throws you a curve ball.

My first surprise this week came in the form of the honks of hundreds of migrating Canada Geese very early one morning last week. This, in itself, is not terribly interesting, but rather early, I think. Maybe? It seems to me that these geese have gotten a few weeks' head start from when they would usually begin their journey South.

More interestingly, as I was pulling up in my driveway and getting out of the car, I spotted a thoroughly unfamiliar bird blinking at me from a nearby bush. I immediately recognized that it was a warbler of some sort—bright yellow underbelly, with a blueish or slate-coloured top, and some black spotting on the breast. What was it, though? There are several hundred types of warblers, many which you can see right here in Vermont, especially during this, the beginning of the warbler migration South. Unfortunately, the startled bird vanished before I could make any more specific notes on its appearance. an

Turning to my field guide, I pored over the pages until I found a likely suspect: the Canada Warbler, which looks very much like my little mystery friend. Canada Warblers favour dense forest undergrowth, and are some of the earliest warbler migrants. Sure enough, the Canada Warbler's summer range extends into Southern New England, and they are said to be fairly common. I, however, had never seen or heard of a Canada Warbler and wanted to be as certain as possible that I had, indeed, spotted one. So, what did I do? I turned to the Internet, of course.

Clarke Comollo, a reader and local businessman, recommended eBird to me a few years back, as a great source of birding information from the field. The site, which you can find at www.ebird.com, has vast and intricate records of local bird sightings from all over the country. Members post times and exact locations of sightings, in addition to species and bird counts, that are specific to your area. Some quick research informed me that, yes!, Canada Warblers had frequented Bennington County, and the Dorset area. More specifically, all reported sightings were from mid-August, some the very day I has my sighting! Oh, the Internet. How we loathe and love thee.

So, with some traditional field guide snooping and a little help from Cyberspace, I think it's safe to say that I did see a little Canada Warbler.

Has Nature thrown you any curve balls lately? Has migration season thrown some strange birds into your backyard? Feel free to send all questions and comments to my (new!) e-mail at watch.the.birds.vt@gmail.com and please check us out online at www.watchthebirdsvermont.blogspot.com for additional sightings and birding stories. Happy birding!