There was a man named Tom who's last name I can't remember that was looking for the Rusty Blackbirds too. I pointed him in the direction of the birds and he adds that they are a life bird for him, I said me to . 
He said let's see what Bryan Pfeiffer and Ted Murin have to say about Rusty Blackbirds and reached in his car, produces their book Birdwatching in Vermont . Looks like their right on time, see here . I look and can see a graph that indicates that the end of September to the beginning of November is the time to see Rusty Blackbirds in Vermont. Dead Creek matched up very well with the type of habitat that Pfeiffer and Murin described as a typical place to be looking in to find Rusty Blackbirds. I keep forgetting what a great resource Birdwatching in Vermont is, Thanks Tom for the reminder! After about half an hour we decided to move on and go looking for the American Coots, not only did we find 2 of them but there was also 19 Green-winged Teals. Mostly males. 
The geese were scattered all over the area today but we did have some nice fly overs. Northern Harriers were out in numbers hunting the fields everywhere.
Watching them work up and down a field in search of food, plunging into the grass claws extended and coming up empty more often then not was one of those birding experience that you can have at Dead Creek. 
This Sparrow was keeping a close eye on us as we looked for Snow geese. With clouds moving in we headed for home having had a great day birdwatching at Dead Creek WMA Addision Vt and 2 new birds for the Birding Big year list.
A. Coot #255
Rusty Blackbird #256
Thanks for stopping in!
Peter
story and photos copyright 2008 Peter Manship
No comments:
Post a Comment