January 20, 2010

After receiving a few inches of snow over the past few days, NBNC staff discovered fresh tracks in the vacinity of the buildings. Those tracks, belonging to a Red Fox, made a small loop down the driveway and past the bird feeders through the front yard. Fox scat was also found near the tracks very close to the building.

January 15, 2010

Today's big surprise during the weekly Site Survey for birds was a small flock (3) Snow Buntings flying and calling over the fields! Although a common winter visitor to Vermont, Snow Bunting are seldom seen at the Nature Center, and this marks one of the only records we have for the species. A very fine looking deer bed was also discovered on the property with fresh tracks and droppings in the area.

January 7, 2010

Happy new year to all! With the holiday season, a few pending updates went unmade, but expect several posts about last month's Christmas Bird Counts to be posted retroactively. Today's noteworthy sighting occured during the eBird site survey. A lone Canada Goose was seen foraging in the river! Although Canada Geese are overwintering in Vermont in increased numbers, they are still uncommon here in Central Vermont.

December 4, 2009

Today marked the first day of our eBird site survey for the North Branch Nature Center property. The eBird site survey will be performed weekly and data will be entered into eBird for use by scientists (learn more about the eBird site survey). We did turn up a bird that we rarely see on the property: a lone Carolina Wren was seen skulking around in a wet, brushy area near the river. Other noteworthy birds include American Tree Sparrow.

November 30, 2009

Although it wasn't the first time this season that American Tree Sparrows made an appearance, there were at least a half dozen hanging around the parking lot and bird feeders this morning. The photo of the individual to the right (taken at NBNC last year) shows some of the tell tale field marks for this winter visitor, including the rufous crown, gray face, bicolored bill, and white wing bar. If seen from the front, a dark spot would be visible in the center of the breast. Photo by Larry Clarfeld.

November 10, 2009

With the change of seasons, we come to expect a new set of birds and can sometimes anxiously await their arrival. Well the wait for the Northern Shrike ended today as Chip spotted one perched prominently atop a Cedar tree in the parking lot. It flew off across the fields before the rest of the NBNC staff got to see it, so we're back to waiting again for the next appearance!

November 2, 2009

With the sun shining this afternoon, NBNC staff salvaged one of the last opportunities to have lunch outside (without the aide of winter clothes). We were delighted to hear the winnie of an American Robin, which was hanging around the bird feeder. We were also privileged to hear one of our resident Blue Jays imitating the call of a Broad-winged Hawk. They do this fairly regularly here, and are quite convincing (we always look up when we hear it).

The true surprise of the day was a Red Admiral, sunning itself on a post in the field. It held its wings perpendicular to the sun in an effort to absorb the most possible heat. And so we pose the same question we did on October 19: Will this be the last butterfly of the season? Only time will tell.