Great day of Birding in Vermont

Took advantage of the beautiful weather yesterday and went for a long birding ride.
Best bird of the day was a late Rough-leg hawk hover hunting in the fields just south of the Richville road on 22a in Shoreham. Later in the day at Basin Harbor ( bay? don't know the correct name) had 34 TV's circling as if looking for their evening roost.

Turkey Vulture lit by warm afternoon sunlight. We didn't stick around to try and locate the roost, instead raced ahead to try and find a good location for the sunset. (see header) while there watching the TV's 3 Ravens chased a Redtail hawk out of their territory. Once the Redtail was safely out of their territory the Ravens broke off the chase. ( note the full crop on this red-tail, white lump at base of neck full of its last meal)

Anyone know what this plant is? It was growing in light shade , rich woodland soil and about 6"tall with pink and blue flowers coming from same stem.Here is the list of birds and mammals for the day:

Rough-leg Hawk 1 dark morph
Redtailed Hawk 5 one juv RT

Ospry 12 scattered all over the dead Creek area ,watched pr south of
Chimney point bridge nest building and copulating

Northern Harrier 1 male(Gray Ghost )
TV's 43
Kestrel 3
Raven 7
A. Crow 12
Cardinal 5
Great Blue Heron 5 1 pr seen flying north over lake Champlain
Bufflehead 15 from Ft Cassin rd
Bald Eagle 2 -1 adult and this juvenal (below) at Ft Cassin made it through the tree safely Tree Swallows
Mallards
Hooded Mergansers
Wood Ducks
Canada Geese several nesting
Kingfisher
Common Mergansers
Redwing Black birds saw a large flock (about 150) flying over a field on
Lapham Bay road,a beautiful sight when all the birds turned and flashed their red wing patches !
Wild Turkeys many , one group of 27
Whitebreasted Nuthatch 6 all on territory calling, very noisy
Hairy, Downy and Pileated woodpeckers

Robins
Grackles
Brown-headed Cowbirds
Tufted Titmouse 3
Tree Swallows many
Song Sparrows

House Sparrows
Chipping Sparrow 2
Chickadees
Blue Jays and Ring billed Gulls

Mammals:

Also had a Red Fox walk pasted us just as it was getting dark at Basin Harbor.
Found a field with 10 deer in it. Saw 46 plus Painted Turtles at Brilyea excess road to Dead
Creek WMA, Addision Vt. Way to many Gartar snakes for my comfort !!! Lots of Muskrats

and at Ft Cassin had a young muskrat come right up to me crying as if look for its parents . Good Birding
Peter Manship

written and photographed by Pete Manship © 2010 all right reserved

Birding has its Rewards

I was birding the other day and came across a Wood Duck. I watched as the Wood Duck mucked in the cattails at the far edge of the un-frozen swamp for sometime. I was hoping that it would move closer so I could get a good photo. Wood Ducks are one of my favorites and I think the most difficult to get a good image of because of the contrast between of all the light and dark colors. I'm always excited when I find a woody and ever hopeful that this may be the time I get a signature image. But it wasn't going to be today because the woody was just staying back in the reeds, feeding. Oh well, the next time.

As I was walking back to my car, I noticed something moving out of the corner of my eye. A quick look through my binoculars and I could see that it was a Muskrat and it was heading my way. Using my car as a blind I was able to watch and photograph the Muskrat as it foraged around on the open waters of the swamp looking for food, unaffected by my presence. Watching this little guy go about his business without a care in the world was one of those magic moments that is a side benefit of birdwatching .
Ahhhh, The rewards of birdwatching!

Peter

Equipment used: Canon 40 d with a EF 400 f5.6 lens hand held

All Rights reserved, © 2009 Peter Manship