For the Birds

Right now is the best time to catch waterfowl coming through our state at your local lake or pond. Chip talks about the Scoters and a Ruddy Duck he saw at Berlin pond and Anson talks about geese.

Anson and Chip talk about the owls coming through our area in October. The North Branch Nature Center is banding Northern Saw-whet Owl to track migrations and numbers in Vermont. This tiny owl likes to feast on mice, but sometimes falls prey to other birds due to its small size.

We have a rare sighting of a Greater White-fronted Goose in Adamant. Chip talks about what this goose that is usually found out west or in Europe is doing all the way in Vermont hanging out with Canada Geese.

A lot of the warblers have moved on for the winter, but some are still around. Chip talks about the Yellow-rumped Warbler and the Palm Warbler as two kinds of late migrators you can still see this weekend.

With the migration season well underway, Anson and Chip talk about some of the small birds coming through our area. One of those is the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a beautiful olive-colored bird where males have a bright red crown that is sometimes visible. The Golden-crowned Kinglet shows it's bright yellow crown all the time, and stays in Vermont through the winter.

In a first for Washington county, a Long-billed Dowitcher was spotted. This shore bird has a long beak like a Snipe and a very unique call. These are rare around Central Vermont because they prefer mud flats along river beds and sand bars, thus lending themselves more to being spotted in the Champlain Valley. Anson and Chip also talk about the Least Sandpiper and how to identify this tiny shore bird.

Anson and Chip talk about the different hawks that nest in Vermont and soon will be migrating out of the state. Not all hawks migrate south, a couple do stick around, but most fly south.

Photo by Mikell Darling on Unsplash

We're now in September, and with the changing weather means that birds are migrating through our state. Several types of Warblers have been spotted in Vermont recently that don't nest in the state.

The Northern Flicker, one of the only woodpeckers to feed on the ground, has been seen around the state lately. This beautiful bird is very colorful, with yellow flight feathers and a distinct black and brown spotted-like pattern. Also, the Nighthawk migration has brought them through Vermont, feasting on winged ants and preferring the eastern side of the state.

We talk again this week about common birds and how fascinating watching them is. We talk about the Mallard, a common species of duck that are in their annual molting stage right now.