Four hardy participants braved minus 9 degrees on January 29 for our monthly monitoring walk around West Rutland Marsh.

  Seventeen species were seen or heard, including a Cooper’s Hawk hanging around the feeder at the Marble St boardwalk. The ever-cheerful Black-capped Chickadee was the most abundant species, with 22 individuals observed. You can see the complete list here:

https://ebird.org/tripreport/470116

Light snow fell throughout the day, but the temperature was not terribly cold and winds were light. A potluck and countdown of the species followed.

Waterfowl numbers were fairly low due to the mostly frozen water. They included Canada Goose, American Black Duck, Mallard and Common Merganser. A Hooded Merganser was seen during Count Week (the three days prior and three days following the count day).

Two Hermit Thrushes, our state bird, were seen. This species has occurred in only three of our 52 counts. Two Great Horned Owls were spotted. Three Barred Owls were observed with two perched on power lines. Power lines are a likely place to look for owls in winter as snow cover moves them closer to, and dangerously near, road edges to hunt for prey.

Cedar Waxwing numbers were low with only 12 reported as were three American Robins, which were reported in large numbers (1,532!) during our 2024 count.

Sparrow species included six Song Sparrows and one out-of-season Chipping Sparrow.

While the number of species was fairly low with 48 (54 in the 2024 count and 50 in the 2023 count), there were a number of highlights. New species highs for the annual count included Red-bellied Woodpecker with 29 seen and Dark-eyed Junco with 436 observed.

While the Otter Creek team (all on foot!) did not find a Wilson’s Snipe as it has in past years, it did come up with a Fox Sparrow, three Rusty Blackbirds and a Merlin.

Species seen: 48 plus one Count Week species

Canada Goose 6

American Black Duck 25

Mallard 172

Common Merganser 6

Hooded Merganser – Count Week

Wild Turkey 91

Cooper’s Hawk 4

Bald Eagle 1

Red-tailed Hawk 16

Mourning Dove 208

Rock Pigeon 190

Great Horned Owl 2

Barred Owl 3

Red-bellied Woodpecker 29

Downy Woodpecker 60

Hairy Woodpecker 34

Pileated Woodpecker 7

Merlin 2

Blue Jay 261

American Crow 510

Common Raven 24

Black-capped Chickadee 513

Tufted Titmouse 89

Golden-crowned Kinglet 3

Cedar Waxwing 18

Red-breasted Nuthatch 10

White-breasted Nuthatch 70

Brown Creeper 4

Carolina Wren 13

European Starling 1322

Eastern Bluebird 20

Hermit Thrush 2

American Robin 3

House Sparrow 188

Evening Grosbeak 6

House Finch 35

Purple Finch 19

American Goldfinch 153

Snow Bunting 75

Chipping Sparrow 1

Fox Sparrow 1

American Tree Sparrow 53

Dark-eyed Junco 436

White-throated Sparrow 12

Song Sparrow 10

Red-winged Blackbird 3

Rusty Blackbird 3

Common Grackle 4

Northern Cardinal 113

Enchanting, too, was learning that they are visitors from the tundra, to which they return to breed after their visit to our sunny clime! In fact, they are birds that breed farther north than any other. Here, you will find them more often in Addison County, but if you’re lucky, you may catch a glimpse of a flock along the road at Bomoseen or Kent Pond, places that have geography resembling their home habitat. You can also find them on our seacoast, if you’re a winter adventurer.

They’re ground feeders and won’t come to your feeders, but you might attract some with cracked corn on the ground, if you have an expanse of land and rocky soil. Normally they feed on seeds of wheat and grain and occasionally, insects.

Unfortunately, as is true of many other birds, Snow Buntings are in decline. They can live for about nine years and are predated by such other birds as Snowy Owls.

My New Year’s wish is that you have the opportunity to view one or more. You won’t be disappointed in your winter wonderland experience!

Kathleen Guinness (RCAS, Special Projects Director)

The tally for the day was 21 species, about on target for this time of year. In 2001, our first year of marsh monitoring, we counted 20 species in November.

The morning started with a flyover of Mallards. At the end of the Marble Street boardwalk we saw 8 male Common Mergansers floating in the open water. Shortly after they disappeared into the cattails, four female mergansers flew in and landed.

A large flock of American Robins flew over Whipple Hollow Road with the total number of robins seen for the walk at 35.

The Whipple Hollow Trail was fairly quiet, but we did hear three Red-breasted Nuthatches, one White-breasted Nuthatch, and a Brown Creeper.

Sparrow species observed were 12 Dark-eyed Juncos and 2 White-throated Sparrows. Although they have been reported recently in Vermont, American Tree Sparrows have apparently not returned to the feeders on Marble Street. We should see them next month.

Among the species on that 2001 trip that we did not see today were Purple Finch, Pine Siskin, and Song Sparrow.

A list of the day’s sightings can be found here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/432138

Our next walk is scheduled for Saturday, December 13, at 8 a.m.

Highlights included 13 Broad-winged Hawks. Broad-wings have begun their southward migration, which pretty much wraps up within a two-week period. Other raptors included a Northern Harrier, two Red-tailed Hawks and two Merlins.

Marsh birds were fairly quiet. A Marsh Wren sang once and four Swamp Sparrows were spotted along with seven Red-winged Blackbirds.

Our only warbler species of the day was a Common Yellowthroat with three seen along the route.

Cedar Waxwings were seen in good numbers along with Gray Catbirds.

For a complete list for the walk, check out our trip report here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/410810

A look back at September 20, 2001:

In our first year of monitoring, 10 participants tallied 36 species on our September walk. Although the species number was similar to today’s walk, some of the highlights of that day included Wilson’s Snipe, Cooper’s Hawk, Brown Thrasher, and Palm Warbler. A link to the eBird checklist for that day can be found here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S4418369

The Marsh Wrens were silent, but we spotted two at the end of the Marble Street boardwalk along with a couple Swamp Sparrows that sang weakly.

Believe it or not, migration is underway. A Solitary Sandpiper and a Louisiana Waterthrush and three Song Sparrows were sharing a large mud puddle, a rare find with our extremely dry weather. The waterthrush was originally thought to be a Northern Waterthrush, but photos revealed differently.

A couple of flocks comprised largely of Red-eyed Vireos included several warbler species - Black-and-white Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Chestnut-sided Warbler, and Canada Warbler.

One of the highlights of the walk was a lone Common Nighthawk over Marble Street.

A Baltimore Oriole sang two or three times along Marble Street and a Warbling Vireo sang once although rather weakly.

Three Eastern Woo