Looking for Wintering Hawks in Addison county Vt

 I have been looking for wintering hawks for a few years now and it is still

as much fun as it was that first winter. This winter was no different even with a lack of snow.  The numbers of hawks and variety seemed  fairly normal. I had Kestrels, Red-tailed hawks and Rough-legged hawks all in the usual places for the most part. Northern Harriers were here all winter, mostly males of the gray ghost variety and a couple of juveniles. A few Coopers and Sharp-shins plus some Peregrine Falcons,  plenty of Bald Eagles and whats not to like about winter hawk watching.  I found the ratio of dark morph  to light morph  Rough-legged hawks interesting , Normally on any given winter day you might see 1 or 2 dark morphs, 1 of the very light morph and 6 or so normal light morph rough legs. But this year I had  3 to 4 dark morphs and 6 to 9 light morph rough-legs. I only found one very light morph all winter.(see bellow)  I found this Rough-legged hawk to be very interesting because of the absents of the dark tail band like on the rough-legged bellow it, both are light morphs. It looks as if this light morph is a very lightly marked type Rough-legged hawk which I think is somewhat unusual marking for these hawks. I just found out that this bird could be a juvinale, to see page 329 (lower left image) in Raptors of Eastern North America by Brian K Wheeler 

This dark morph Rough-legged hawk (above) was found on Lapham Bay road Shoreham Vt.  Lapham Bay road has always had something interesting going on and this season was no different, this Red Fox cross the road just ahead of me and stopped to check us out. My little red dog saw the fox and wanted to go for a run.  Thank god the windows were up!

Good birding.

Pete

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Great Egret in Brandon Vt

My computer chimed meaning that a new email had arrived , I didn't check it till about noon and was surprised by what I found, "A call from a friend via a cell phone alerted me to a great egret here in Brandon. Located by the Dean Farm bridge on Union St. Sue Wetmore ". At the same time the phone rang, it was Bill Jalbert. I ask him if he knew where the Dean Farm was in Brandon? Why, because Sue Wetmore reported a Great egret in Brandon. You wanted to go looking for it? Half hour latter I was in Rutland meeting Bill and his son, Bill checked Google maps for the location and we were off. The cloud front was breaking up the sunshine and blue made it a perfect day for a Birding Adventure. As usual with birding adventures when we got there the bird was nowhere to be found. Asking a couple of fishing guy's if they had seen a large white bird that looks like a blue heron only produced more frustration, "ye it was over there about 20 minutes ago" pointing to the field behind them.Bill headed west of the bridge and I went east to double check the wet areas again. I got it was all I heard and then the sound of Bill running to get his camera, I join him running. Here are some image I took.

Image of Great Egret with pray

Bill and his son had to leave, I stayed and kept birding the area. here is a list for today:

Great Egret 1

Wood Duck 4

Ringbillied Gull 15

Great Blue Heron 1

Mallard 2

Tree Swallow 9

Cardinal 1

Crow 4

Kestrel 2 one flying by with pray

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker 2 courting

Killdeer 3

Canada Geese 6

White Breasted Nuthatch 1

Yellow shafted Flicker 1

Robin 2

and 7 Painted Turtles basking in the sun

About 5;30 I headed west on Rt 73 to see what I could see, the farm at the junction of Rt 73 and 30 is always productive and today was no different. Grackle taking flight

Kestrel 2

Killdeer 3

Sharp-shin 1

Hundreds of Starlings, Cowbirds, Grackles and Redwinged Black Birds maybe a thousand in all

this image is of 268++Cowbirds gritting on the side of the road, spooked by traffic

Morning Dove 7

and this Wood Chuck with a mouth full of fresh salad.

Good Birding

Pete

Story and images © Peter Manship all rights reserved

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

Ft Cassin Bald Eagles, Vergennes Vt

A friend and I visited Ft Cassin in Vergennes Vermont yesterday looking for eagles.

We found 14 eagles spread all around the area. The most interesting part was finding 5 juveniles and one adult on the ice south of the river outlet fighting over a fish. One juvenile managed to hold off the others with lots of wing flapping displays.

But after about ten minutes of defending its fish the larger adult (female probable) moved in and took the prize uncontested. It was also a good day for hawks, here is the only image I got of the light morph Rough-legged Hawk that I found in a field south of Richville rd and rt 22a Shoreham VT. I think that it is a adult male but would love some input from others about this beautiful Rough-legged Hawk. here is what we found yesterday from ft Cassin Vergennes down Rt 22a to Rt 4 Fair Haven Vermont.

Bald Eagles 14 6 adult 8 juv

Red-tailed Hawk 13

Rough-legged Hawk 4

Kestrel 3

Northern Harrier 1

Pileated Woodpecker 1

Eastern Bluebird 5

Good Birding to all!

Peter Manship

Story and Images © 2010 Peter Manship LLC

Birding the New Hampshire Seacoast 11-1-09

The alarm went off at 3am! I really didn't want to get up, but I knew I had to get moving. I made it to Rye Harbor, NH by 6:30 and started trying to locate the Common Murre which had been reported on the NHbird list the day before. With an hour to spare I was hopeful of sighting the murre, but it was gone. I had to get going if I was going to meet up with Steve Mirick and the others by 8am. I was doing fine until I got to the Seabrook Harbor Bridge which was down to one lane for repairs and the light was red. I sat there waiting for the light to change; then a boat passed through the bridge and it was 7:55 when I finally got across. Too late, I thought, so I decided to wait at the Seabrook harbor parking lot. There was a Black-bellied Plover hunting for food. Here's and image of the plover:As 8:30 rolled around I noticed that there weren't any birders here. They must be starting somewhere else. No biggie, I'll bird the coast and eventually our paths will cross.

Here is an image of a White-rumped Sandpiper from Ragged Neck on the NH seacoast.On the north side of Rye Harbor State Park there were quite a few shorebirds working the wrack line (washed up seaweed, etc.). I settled in photographing the shorebirds when I flushed a sparrow that looked different. Couldn't relocate so I was returning to photograph the shorebirds when it popped up just in front of me. After photographing it I asked Denny Abbott if he knew what it was. Looking at the image "Ipswich" type Savannah Sparrow was his response. A life bird for me! Here are some image of the Ipswick sparrow: and some shorebirds - Dunlin preening:

A molting juvenile Sanderling: juvenile Black-Bellied Plover:There was a flock of about 70 Snow Buntings feeding in the parking area. I left Denny and headed north. I was hopping to find Steve and the Brookline Bird Club. Driving south again having not found them, I noticed a car approaching with a person waving out the window; it was Denny. "What's up?"

"I found the Common Murre right after you left, about 10:30 in the harbor," he said. I raced back to the harbor excited at the prospect of finding this rare bird. As I walked up to the edge of the seawall, there was a woman scanning the harbor. "Did you find the murre?" I asked.

"Nope, been looking for 10 minutes with no luck."

" I was just told that the murre is here." We doubled our effort. Not much luck, I decided to move down the road and we agreed to get the other if we found it. Well, she pulled in to where I was all excited. " I got it! " was all she said.

Back at Rye Harbor S.P. looking through my scope at this wonderful rare bird, when I hear, "You're too good to bird with me anymore!"

I turned and it was Steve Mirick and company. "Got the murre" was all I said. Steve promptly got the group and everyone was able to get great looks at the Common Murre, a life bird for most, me included. Here is an image I got from a mile away. Well almost.Here is a link to images of the Murre taken by Len Medlock. These are amazing images at point blank range from a boat that Len and Jason ( both of whom are great photographers) asked for to get a ride out to the bird. Enjoy!

How about this? Len Medlock doing the newest birding craze, "Tailgate birding." Here we see Len scanning off shore for rarities. As the day was coming to an end, I asked Steve if we could head over to see "The River of Blackbirds." Image below left to right - me with Steve Mirick and Len Medlock

Here is what Steve Mirick reported to NH Birds list about the river of blackbirds;

"200,000. For those who stuck around to the bitter end, we finished the day at the Great Bog blackbird roost and witnessed "The River" of blackbirds from the parking lot of the Target Store along Rt. 33 at the Greenland/Portsmouth town line. Today it started later than yesterday....at about 4:15 PM (EST) and continued non-stop until very late when it finished somewhat abruptly almost exactly at 5:00 PM. About 25 minutes after sunset! I really don't know how many birds there are in "The River", but today's flight was significantly longer than last night's and lasted about 40-45 minutes. Based on input from others, I decided to up last nights estimate of 100,000 to 200,000 birds tonight. There may have been more than that and Len seemed to think closer to 400,000 birds.....who knows? "

More info and images from the "River of Blackbirds" in a separate post. Plus Thelma turned 200,000 contest results in next post.

My list for the day,Total species seen 55, Life birds in caps:

Semipalmated Plover, Sanderling , White-rumped Sandpiper, Dunlin, Black-bellied Plover, Bonaparte's Gull,"IPSWICH" SAVANNAH SPARROW, COMMON MURRE, Common Eider, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Common Merganser, Long-tailed Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, Red-throated Loon, Common Loon,Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, NORTHERN GANNET, GREAT CORMORANT, Double-crested Cormorant, Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Wood Duck, , American Black Duck, Mallard, Great Blue Heron, Red-tailed Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, COMMON TERN, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Horned Lark, Snow Bunting, Pipit, Black-capped Chickadee, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, American Tree Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, House Sparrow, Common Grackles and other blackbirds - 250,000 to 500,000

Will post more about this later this week.

Good Birding

Peter Manship

© 2009 Peter A Manship All right reserved

Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow at Pomainville WMA, Pittsford, VT

Pomainville WMA: 7:15 am and from Route 7. I could see a few birders already out there looking. Looking for the LeConte’s Sparrow and the Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow that were found on Saturday 10-17-09 by Ted Marin, Allan Strong and Craig Provost and who managed to get the word out quickly.

(birders checking the grassland area at Pomainville WMA for the sparrows)It was a brisk walk out to the general area of the reported sightings. Everything was covered with frost. A bite nippy but beautiful; the excitement of maybe finding two life birds was enough to keep me warm. I joined Greg Askew, Michael Lester and three other birders whom I don’t know (sorry, I should have asked your names). They were looking along the fence row and having no luck. I asked Greg if he had direction to the location. He said, "no, but I can get them"—and pulled out his cell phone and pulled up VTBird. Ah “Birding in the digital age” we heard down the road (mowed path) around the northeast corner of the enpoundment area (pond). Greg was waist deep in the tall grass. I was 20 feet to his left. Next I hear Greg say, NELSON”S SHARP-TAIL! I looked but couldn't find it. I moved in closer to Greg and ask, where? As he pointed out the bird's location, I could feel ice cold water leaking into my boots. I looked down to find that we were standing in over a foot of very cold water. Retreating quickly I pick up the bird just as it moved off. We quickly relocated it and Greg phones the others to inform them that we have found the Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow. Jim Mead joined group as the bird moved around the northeast end of the floodplain wetland affording everyone several chances for great looks.

Inspired by the Nelson’s find everyone spread out to see if we could find the LeConte’s Sparrow, but it was not to be today for us. There is so much good habitat for the LeConte's to hide in, that it would have taken all day for us to check it all. I think that the bird could and probably is still there, but now moved to a safer more private/peaceful area which could be just around the backside of the pond away from all the attention. Good luck if you go looking for the LeConte’s Sparrow or Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow at Pomainville WMA Pittsford VT!

Good Birding to all!

Peter

Photos and story © 2009 Peter Manship All right Reserved

The Local Red-tailed Hawks of Mount Philo

The flow of migrating hawks was slowing down after a day of record numbers. The local Red-tailed Hawks were returning to the skies around Mt Philo. An eagle was gliding by minding its own business heading south when one of the local Red-tails decided to escort it out of its territory. Things were getting back to normal. I noticed the juvenile Red-tails playfully chasing each other around after what must have seemed like a never ending parade of hawks flying in their home airspace. One of the reasons for going to Mt Philo was that I wanted to photograph the local Red-tailed Hawks so that I might be able to tell a juvenile from adult and, for that matter, to be able to differentiate male and female in the adults. Check out this female below; she must have just finished gorging herself. Look at the size of the crop ( just passed the dark brown head feathers -large white bulge). Must have been a big lunch!I was clicking off some images when I noticed the two juveniles turning and diving in a very steep dive down below the tree tops then zooming back up playing tag. I tried to follow them as they continued to to play and just kept firing off images as fast as the camera would go. I saw one roll up on its side to deflect the charge of the other and wondered if I could capture that. I continued to follow them hoping one of them would roll on its side again. All of a sudden one rolled up. Then the other went into a steep dive and it was over. They were out of sight. It was over before I knew it! I watched them fly around chasing each other but that was it. They didn't roll on their sides again. All the way home I wondered if I had gotten them on their sides. Well, when I first looked at the images on the computer, I just couldn't believe what I had on the screen in front of me! Both of the juvenile Red-tails were flying upside down! I was amazed!

This image was captured just before they were upside down. You can see the lead bird setting up for this.

These images ( numbers 4226 through 4229 ) have been cropped so you can better see what the Red-tailed Hawks were doing. The images show the sequence as it happened.

I never saw this while I was shooting the camera, in part because of the mirror. It flips up to record the image and temporally blocks what you can see in the view finder. The camera can record 6 1/2 frames a second and I only got four images- that's how fast it happened. The images didn't come out clear and sharp, but are good enough to show them upside down going into a dive. I hope to return this coming week to watch and photograph the local Red-tails flying around Mt Philo .

Please email me off list if you can shed some light on this flight behavior.

Thanks!

Peter Manship

images and story © 2009 Peter Manship all rights reserved