Thanksgiving Birding... Bring A Fork!

Fork-tailed Flycatcher in Stamford, CT... second state record! About the closest these guys normally get to here is southern-most Texas, but occasionally they wander north, often winding up on the coast of the Atlantic. This one stuck around for over a week, giving holiday travelers like myself a great pit stop! During the time I was there, I talked to birders from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, even as far as Chicago!


Northern Mockingbird in the driveway eating berries from the Japanese Barberry in Elmsford, NY. Used my car as a blind to get close enough to take this photo.

A Lingering Heron

Although not too unusual, it caught me by surprise to find a late Great Blue Heron in the Winooski River near my apartment! It certainly seemed out-of-place amongst the dead vegetation and partially-frozen water. The young heron didn't seem very comfortable either... it was very skittish, extending its neck to search for danger and then jerking it back to hide in the grass.



Also, I could count over 100 Ring-billed Gulls, nearly 50 Herring Gulls, and a whopping 15 Great Black Backed Gulls from one spot along the riverwalk! (can you find all 3 species in the photo below?) It's easy to forget that there is such good birding and wildlife watching so close to home!

Catching Up

Quite a number of fun natural history highlights have come and gone since my last blog post. Each of the following events of the past month could certainly have been it's own long blog post, but a quick review will have to do. Anyhow, here's a synopsis:

October 2 & 3 - FungiBlitz!
Over 150 people, 16 workshops & forays, and over 117 species of fungi and lichens made our first FungiBlitz a great success! Planned and executed with great help and leadership from others in NBNC, the North Branch Mushroom Club, and volunteers. I only got to go to one workshop, but it was great! Kay taught me tons about lichens!



October 4 - Woolybears!
A sure sign that fall is here. A couple present at NBNC



October 17 - Western Conifer Seed Bug!
Yet another sign of the coming winter... this guy was near a building in South Burlington... I guess it hadn't found its way in yet!



October 21-23 - NEEEA Conference!
After 18 months of planning with a great group of people, we pulled off a great annual New England Environmental Education Alliance conference in Lake Morey, VT. 250+ people, over 40 workshops & field trips, 3 keynotes (Bill McKibben, Peter Forbes, & Dana Hudson). Plus, some great birds including Black and Surf Scoter, Common Loon, Merlin, and others.



November 6 - Champlain Valley Birding
You can never go wrong birding in the Champlain Valley. Started out with the Audubon Group and had over 20 Coot, Pied-billed Grebe and others. The quality birding continued after with Bonaparte's Gulls, Pine Siskin, and a Mockingbird!



November 13 - Long-tailed Duck at Berlin Pond!
I had never seen one of these away from the coast, even though they're not an unusual fall migrant. Got great looks as it approached within 30 feet!