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Nine people came together on a cold February morning for this month’s wildlife walk at Otter View Park and The Hurd Grassland. Besides the squeaking of our boots on freshly fallen snow, things were quite as we walked down the trail to the end of the boardwalk at Otter View Park, but when we got down there, as the sun started to come out, the birds came out too. First was a Tufted Titmouse loudly tooting away. Then light squeaking alerted us to the presence of American Tree Sparrows which had the consideration to pose for us in bushes. A pair of House Finches were spotted in a tree engaged in some pair-bonding activities. As we walked out Dark-eyed Juncos flew across our path into the marsh, and a couple of Carolina Wrens started singing and calling loudly.
A quick carpool later over at the Hurd Grassland, we were greeted by a good number of American Goldfinches. Down in the fields we paused to look at Pigeons perched on the silo across the road, and discussed how most of the local ones have darker plumage which helps them absorb heat from the sun on cold winter days. A bit further around the trail, three Eastern Bluebirds were seen and heard making their distinctive call. Blue Jays noisily made their presence known moving through the trees above a hedgerow. More Juncos and Tree Sparrows were found in bushes here as well, and we spooked a flock of seven Mourning Doves from a thicket at the end of our walk.
All our bird sightings have been submitted to eBird and the full checklists can be viewed at the following links:
Other wildlife sightings are submitted to the Vermont Atlas of Life.
Our Next walk will take place Saturday, Mar. 11, at 8:00 AM. Meet at the parking area of Otter View Park at the intersection of Weybridge St. and Pulp Mill Bridge Rd. We hope to see you there.
Four hearty souls came out on what is turning out to be a rare chilly morning this winter for our monthly wildlife walk at Otter View Park and the Hurd Grassland. Birds must have also been feeling the chill as they were very hard to come by, but we did manage a few sightings. A flock of American Robins were seen flying high over the park likely on a search for food. Down on the boardwalk we enjoyed the way a light dusting of snow, and the wind had worked together to make the names on the boards really stand out. Also in that area we were a bit sad to see one of the most prominent Ash trees, which has been one of the best perches for birds to pose for pictures on, had been felled by the very active beavers. There was no activity on the open river while we were down there, but as we were walking back up onto the main trail, a flock of sixty Canada Geese flew in to take advantage.
Over at the Hurd Grassland, there were more birds to be seen, but most of them were around the houses on Meadow Ln. where the feeders are. Thirty or so American Goldfinches were seen in that area, along with Chickadees and a White-breasted Nuthatch. Walking around the big field didn’t profit us much except a lone Eastern Bluebird seen on the other side of Weybridge Rd. spotted when we were looking for Pigeons that weren’t there. A Common Raven flew over as we were entering the shrubby area, and we were just talking about how it is unusual to see just one alone, when a second one came along trailing behind. The most activity we had was when we came back up through the hedgerow and found Dark-eyed Juncos, House Sparrows, and Blue Jays, again near the feeders. And then we spooked a flock of eight Mourning Doves out of the bushes a little further on.
All our bird sightings have been submitted to eBird and the full checklists can be viewed at the following links:
Other wildlife sightings are submitted to the Vermont Atlas of Life.
Our Next walk will take place Saturday, Feb. 11, at 8:00 AM. Meet at the parking area of Otter View Park at the intersection of Weybridge St. and Pulp Mill Bridge Rd. We hope to see you there.
32 people came out on an unseasonably warm for the return of our First Day Hike at Button Bay State Park. Put on in partnership with Vermont State Parks, we aim to start the year right with both a good walk and a good start to our birding year lists.
The birds were in fairly low numbers, as is the current trend for them this winter, but we did manage to get some good sighting. Along the trails we found a flock of songbirds including a White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Juncos, and Blue Jays, which were spotted and ID’d by a seven-year-old participant in the walk. One of our group was lucky enough to see a Brown Creeper, but it crept away before anyone else got to see it. Out on the water around Ship point there was a moderate sized flock of American Black Ducks and Mallards, as well as some very distant Hooded Mergansers. We went out to the point across from Button Island and got better looks at those Mergansers, and got a great look at a Horned Grebe which surfaced seemingly from nowhere right in front of us. On our way back we found some more songbirds along the road, including some American Tree Sparrows. And to crown things off, while looking at a large flock of European Starlings, we were excited to see a Peregrine Falcon fly through them in an unsuccessful attempt to catch a meal.
It was great to return to doing this event, and we fully plan to do it again next year.
The remnants of Hurricane Nicole must have kept most people away from our November wildlife walk at Otter View Park and The Hurd Grassland, but the three who came out were rewarded with rapidly clearing skies, warming temperatures, and some interesting sightings.
At the park Carolina Wrens were being their noisy selves, loudly calling as is their tendency for this time of year. The recently brush-hogged fields were relatively quiet, but down at the end of the boardwalk we observed some similar recent cutting done by Beavers, clipped Red Osier Dogwood stems cached for winter eating in the river at the edge of the bank. We seemed to run into talkative flocks of Tufted Titmice everywhere we went that morning. One of our best finds of the day came as we came back off the boardwalk and spotted a Winter Wren crossing the trail into the bushes. These small birds have become regular winter visitors to the marsh at the park for the past several years. Much less likely to be seen here in November though, were the pair of Gray Catbirds foraging in the grass along the trail back around to the sidewalk. To cap it off, nearby, we also found a pair of White-throated Sparrows who defied multiple attempts to get pictures of them.
Over at the Hurd Grassland, we were greeted by the sight of a Mosquito, likely one of the overwintering species tricked by the warm weather into leaving its hiding spot. Other unseasonal insect sightings on our walk included still a extant grasshopper, and a couple of Fall Crickets attempting to make it into winter. Six Eastern Bluebirds were seen around the edges of the fields. In a large tree at the north end of the shrubby section, a couple of Red-tailed Hawks were seen hanging their wings attempting to dry themselves out. The hedgerows were filled with Black-capped Chickadees, of which we estimated fifteen, but that was likely an undercount. A boldly patterned Song Sparrow was also seen in the bushes, as was a Dark-eyed Junco, a sure sign of winter. But on a day filled with mixed messages, we also heard two Spring Peeper Frogs calling from trees.
All our bird sightings have been submitted to eBird and the full checklists can be viewed at the following links:
Other wildlife sightings are submitted to the Vermont Atlas of Life.
Our Next walk will take place Saturday, Nov. 10 at 8:00 AM. Meet at the parking area of Otter View Park at the intersection of Weybridge St. and Pulp Mill Bridge Rd. We hope to see you there.
Seven people came out on a spectacular fall morning for this month’s walk at Otter View Park and the Hurd Grassland. Action picked up right away in the parking lot with birds taking advantage of the fruiting shrubs and seeding forbs. Chipping Sparrows, Song Sparrows and House Sparrows were all busily foraging in that area. Blue Jays were also very active, some seeking food, and some higher up migrating south. Down on the boardwalk a lone Red-winged Blackbird male was singing as if it was spring. He was briefly joined by a large flock of females and juveniles, they soon headed out and left him to his solo performance. There was not much activity at all on the river itself, but in the nearby bushes we heard a lingering Gray Catbird, and had a close encounter with a group of Tufted Titmice. Back on the trail out, we spotted a flock of White-throated Sparrows busily eating dogwood berries in the bushes along the trail, and up above them, there was a flock of Purple Finches feeding on ash seeds. An Eastern Phoebe was maybe the last notable sighting at the park.
Over at the Hurd Grassland, we caught sight of some of the water birds we were missing on the river at the park, spotting flocks of Canada Geese all headed in that direction from fields in the West. As usual we counted the Pigeons who hang around the Silos across the road from the property. But this time we notices an all white one, likely a bird released at a wedding or some other celebration, hanging out with them. Around the trails it seemed like every patch of goldenrod had groups of Yellow-rumped Warblers looking for food among the foliage. Eastern Bluebirds were seen also in dogwood bushes, and using one of our birdhouses as a perch. The most exciting sighting we had in this portion of the walk was a passing Cooper’s Hawk which circled enough for us to go through all the field marks to be sure of our ID.
All our bird sightings have been submitted to eBird and the full checklists can be viewed at the following links:
Other wildlife sightings are submitted to the Vermont Atlas of Life.
Our Next walk will take place Saturday, Nov. 12 at 8:00 AM. Meet at the parking area of Otter View Park at the intersection of Weybridge St. and Pulp Mill Bridge Rd. We hope to see you there.
On Saturday, September 24, OCAS in partnership with The Moosalamoo Association held a walk to Silver Lake in Leicester in celebration of National Public Land Day. Starting at the trailhead in Salisbury, our walk up the 1.6 mi. trail was fairly uneventful, not surprising considering we were walking though mature woods on the shady side of a mountain in early morning. Once we got to the lake itself at the top, it was a bit of a different story.
The lake again hosted nesting Common Loons this year, and as soon as we got a view of the water, we got a look at two adults. The chick that I am told was raised there unfortunately eluded us. While looking at them we also had a little micro-flurry of songbirds which were making good use of the sunlit trees around the lake to browse for food. In this flock we saw Dark-eyed Junco, an Blue-headed Vireo with a very fat caterpillar in its bill, a Chestnut-sided Warbler and the briefest look at Golden-crowned Kinglets who were heard making their “seet-seet-seet” call. Another interesting bird with them was a Downy Woodpecker which confounded ID expectations by not having black spots on its outer tail feathers.
When we walked a bit around the lake to get a closer look at the loons, we had a couple more good sightings in a Yellow-rumped Warbler flitting in a Pine Tree, and then a couple Hermit Thrushes which we got unusually long looks at as they fed on staghorn sumac berries. And we did get that closer look at one of the Loons which resulted in the picture that you see above.
Our walk down was mostly as quite as our walk up was, but we did get one more good bird sighting in when we spotted a couple Black-throated Blue Warblers down low in the vegetation.
All of our bird sightings can be seen at the following link:
https://ebird.org/vt/checklist/S119721831
Five people came out for this month’s wildlife walk at Otter View Park and the Hurd Grassland. Things at the park started out with a rather dire looking sunrise, the sky turned orange by the smoke from western wildfires. In the fields we saw a large number of dew-covered spider webs almost all of them with a Banded Garden Spider sitting in the center of them. Down on the boardwalk we had brief lesson in one of the most challenging fall warbler identification problems when we saw both Blackpoll Warbler and Bay Breasted Warbler in their non-breeding plumage. We also saw several unidentified warblers flying up high which we speculated were at the tail end of the previous nights migration. A flock of immature Cedar Waxwings perched in a spot to give us a look at their incomplete masks and orang tail tips. Maybe the best sighting of the day happened on the trail back out when we spotted a Rose-breasted Grosbeak browsing for food in a tree.
Bird activity was significantly less over at the Hurd Grassland, but we still managed to see some nice things. Gray Catbirds were still well spread around the property and being very vocal. A couple of Eastern Phoebes were seen, one of them using one of our birdhouses as a perch to hunt for bugs from. Much like last month, we spotted a Field Sparrow embedded with a flock of Song Sparrows which of course led us to wonder if it was the same bird. And on our way out we peered into Gale Hurd’s backyard to spot a Ruby-throated Hummingbird which was visiting her feeders.
All our bird sightings have been submitted to eBird and the full checklists can be viewed at the following links:
Other wildlife sightings are submitted to the Vermont Atlas of Life.
Our Next walk will take place Saturday, Oct. 8 at 8:00 AM. Meet at the parking area of Otter View Park at the intersection of Weybridge St. and Pulp Mill Bridge Rd. We hope to see you there.
Birding in August means a mix of late breeding, post-breeding, and early migration behavior, and we found all three during this month’s wildlife walk at Otter View Park and the Hurd Grassland. Most of the activity at the park was seen down along the boardwalk. We saw Red-winged Blackbird carrying food, indicating it was still feeding chicks or fledglings. An immature Northern flicker was seen on its own foraging and feeding itself. We spotted a male Scarlet Tanager in non-breeding plumage which at the very least had dispersed from its woodland breeding territory, and was possibly already making its way South. Similarly we also saw a male Purple Finch, though it might be hardy enough to spend the winter locally. Another bird which is unusual to see at the park during breeding season was a Veery which briefly popped in some bushes. On our way out we got good looks at rambling flocks of Cedar Waxwings searching for food in the flower meadow.
Over at the Hurd Grassland we were greeted by an Eastern Cottontail Rabbit which was hanging out near the cover of a hedgerow. Since the fields had recently been mowed, we didn’t expect to see many birds there, but we did have Goldfinches attacking thistle plants for their seeds in the fringes. Eastern Wood Peewees were heard calling from the trees surrounding the property and Common Yellowthroats were still very active and noisy throughout our walk. A Pileated Woodpecker made itself know with its wild call. In the shrubby section we heard an Eastern Towhee calling, and nearby we saw an immature Field Sparrow embedded in a flock of Song Sparrows. One of the most interesting sightings of the day wasn’t a bird, but a dragonfly. A Black Saddlebags flew up in front of us and landed in a nice spot for us to get pictures. It is pretty unusual to see this species away from large bodies of water, so it was neat to find one here.
All our bird sightings have been submitted to eBird and the full checklists can be viewed at the following links:
Other wildlife sightings are submitted to the Vermont Atlas of Life.
Our Next walk will take place Saturday, Sept. 10 at 7:00 AM. Meet at the parking area of Otter View Park at the intersection of Weybridge St. and Pulp Mill Bridge Rd. We hope to see you there.
Eleven people came out on a gorgeous July morning for this month’s walk at Otter View Park and the Hurd Grassland. Starting off at the park, most of the action was down on the boardwalk, one of our best sightings being near the start of it, a male American Redstart which gave everyone a good look at it. A bit further down it took a bit of work to ID a silent Eastern Wood Pewee which we only saw from behind. Gray Catbirds were noisy throughout the shrubs all around the Marsh, and Swamp Sparrows were heard singing from the cattails. Down the river we saw some Wood Ducks feeding in the weeds. Also spotted was a Spotted Sandpiper seen flying down the river. Cedar Waxwings were busy up and down the creek hawking for insects from the adjacent trees. And on our way out, we saw a recently fledged Red-winged Blackbird being fed by a parent.
Over at the Hurd Grassland, this was the decisive walk to judge our success with birds using our grassland habitat. I am glad I visited a few days before to confirm we had a Bobolink nest by spotting a pair repeatedly carrying food to the same area. That is because on the day of the walk we were met with twelve Bobolinks, three of the obvious adult males, the rest a mix of females and fledglings. There is no way of knowing if our pair and their young were part of this group. The additional birds were clearly families from other fields which had come to use ours as a good feeding spot. Also of note on our walk at the Hurd property were Field Sparrows, one of them seen carrying food. Two Wood Thrushes, where we are usually only able to count one. And a Rose-breasted Grosbeak which popped up when we were coming back up through a trail through the hedgerow.
All our bird sightings have been submitted to eBird and the full checklists can be viewed at the following links:
Other wildlife sightings are submitted to the Vermont Atlas of Life.
Our Next walk will take place Saturday, Aug. 13 at 7:00 AM. Meet at the parking area of Otter View Park at the intersection of Weybridge St. and Pulp Mill Bridge Rd. We hope to see you there.
It was a classic, lovely June morning for this month’s wildlife walk at Otter View Park and the Hurd Grassland. Eight people came to help us view and monitor birds and other wildlife at both of these properties. We had a bit of an exciting start when a White-tailed Deer, spooked by dog walkers, was seen bounding in various directions around the field trying to find a safe place to escape. Along the trail we got a good look at a Common Yellowthroat signing in a tree. Down in the marsh we had singing Swamp Sparrows, and both Red-eyed and Warbling Vireos. At the end of the boardwalk we met a group who were able to tell us where that Deer had ended up. Apparently it had crossed the marsh and then into the river where they saw it swimming across. Down at the river we had a quick view of a passing Hooded Merganser and little later a flyby of a male Mallard still in breeding plumage. We also had both Tree Swallows and Northern Rough-winged Swallows flying over the river.
Over at the Hurd Grassland, as we made our way into the field, we spooked yet another Deer which ran from the grass edge into a copse of trees. Since the beginning of May we have had a lone singing male Bobolink at the property, and we were hoping that now that grass is being cut around the county, maybe a refugee female might join him. As we worked our way around the trail we did have one singing male, but not long after, we spotted a second one, which was exciting. And then very shortly after that we saw that second male chasing a female. Tree Swallows and Eastern Bluebirds were making good use of birdhouses around the property. In the shrubland we had to be content with just sightings of a Field Sparrow, but it’s possible the other focus species we saw at last month’s walk were too busy with breeding activities to be easily detected.
All our bird sightings have been submitted to eBird and the full checklists can be viewed at the following links:
Other wildlife sightings are submitted to the Vermont Atlas of Life.
Our Next walk will take place Saturday, July 9 at 7:00 AM. Meet at the parking area of Otter View Park at the intersection of Weybridge St. and Pulp Mill Bridge Rd. We hope to see you there.
Otter Creek Audubon Society 