Vermont Weekly Bird Notes 7/28/06

It's high time we faced up to vireos. They tease us all summer, singing from high in the trees: ``Here I am. Look up. Way up. Up here. See me?. No you don't.''

OK, you might need your imagination to actually hear that. You'll surely need patience to see vireos. They're probably Vermont's most overlooked family of songbirds. We hear but infrequently see them. Which is puzzling, because the red-eyed vireo is one of our most abundant songbirds. So how can a bird, so common, singing so incessantly, even on sizzling summer days, go so unnoticed?

The answer offers an important tip for novice birdwatchers. Vireos sit relatively still. And even a bird that sings from dawn to dusk can be frustratingly elusive if it's not flitting about from branch to branch.

If you want to find birds with your binoculars, look first for movement -- a flit or a flutter -- with your naked eye. Lock your eyes on the spot. Then lift your binoculars. If the bird isn't immediately in view, don't scan the branches through your binos. The bird probably moved, and your field of view is far too narrow. Instead, lower your binoculars and look again with naked eye for movement. Then try the binos again.

Vireos are five to six inches long, generally pale in color and have slightly heavier bills than warblers. The red-eyed vireo is olive-gray above, pale underneath and has a black-bordered, white stripe over, appropriately, a red eye. When all other birds fall silent for the afternoon, he'll keep singing, even long after he has found a mate and many other species have fallen silent for the summer. One researcher reported a red-eye singing 22,197 songs during a 10-hour summer day!

Four other species of vireo inhabit Vermont: Blue-headed vireos (formerly called solitary vireo) have white wing-bars and prefer softwoods. Warbling vireos, plain gray and with a zig-zag song, like mature hardwoods near water. Yellow-throated vireos, with a yellow throat, wing-bars and yellow spectacles, nest in open woods near rivers and streams. And Philadelphia vireo, with a pale yellowish wash across the upper breast, is quite rare.

Birding highlights during the past week were relatively few, reflecting mid-summer’s “doldrums” between the nesting and migration seasons. Three red-necked grebes, rare for July, were reported from South Starksboro. A family of merlins in Montpelier and Fairlee extended the known nesting range of this species southward in Vermont. Two least sandpipers at Herrick's Cove were vanguards of the imminent southbound shorebird migration.

A single bay-breasted warbler in So. Starksboro, was well south of its usual boreal forest haunts. Finally, a white-winged crossbill in Lewis provided an unusual sighting for 2006 of this nomadic songbird.

You can learn about all bird sightings the past week and more on Vermont eBird.

Bryan Pfeiffer – Wings Environmental

Vermont Weekly Bird Notes – 7/21/2006

Icons of the North American prairie, bobolinks and buffalo once went hand in hand like hotdogs and apple pie. When more than 99% of the prairie vanished from the plow, bobolinks, a grassland obligate blackbird with a computer-bubbly song, proved more resilient: it relocated to hayfields and pastures.

Bobolinks use open fields with tall grass for nesting, making hayfields a favorite. Despite their adaptive forte, over the last fifty years bobolink populations have declined as agricultural practices have changed.

Historically, building impossible-to-find nests on the ground was a successful strategy for bobolinks on the prairie. But in modern hayfields nests do not survive harvest. Moreover, earlier and more frequent cutting in recent decades has wreaked havoc on nests, and the resulting loss in productivity is one of the major factors contributing to population declines.

The record rainfall we experienced in May and June could be a boon for bobolinks. For many farmers the first cut was just in the last few weeks, three or more weeks later than normal. Delayed haying may have frustrated farmers, but it gave bobolinks more time to fledge young before tractors rolled across the fields.

If bobolinks ran the world, haying would be delayed until at least mid-July, when most young have fledged. But hay loses protein content and digestibility once the grass heads emerge, and farmers using hay for feed can’t afford to wait. Landowners who don’t need the hay can spare bobolinks by waiting until after August 1st to mow. Bobolinks prefer wide open areas, so management to boost their numbers should focus on fields of at least 10-15 acres. Read more about bobolink management….

Click here to read more about our bobolink studies on their South American wintering grounds.

Other bird sightings last week included a number of reports of vociferous merlin pairs. These small falcons have been found nesting in increasing numbers in Vermont recently. Most pairs have been found in urban to suburban areas with tall evergreen trees.

Shorebirds continue to trickle through on their southward migration. Two solitary sandpipers were seen in Lunenburg on July 10th.

On July 15th the annual Vermont loonwatch was conducted. Volunteers counted loons on over 120 lakes across Vermont simultaneously for one hour in the morning. Results are still being tallied, but in 2005, volunteers counted 191 adult loons, up from only 29 in 1983 and this year is expected to be even higher.

At this time of year many baby birds can be found on the ground. This is a normal part of a young bird’s life. You may be tempted to pick up a baby bird that appears to be on its own. Usually, the parents are not far away. They may be out gathering food for their young, and if you remove it, you’ve created an orphan. For more information visit the VINS bird rehabilitation page at http://www.vinsweb.org/raptor-center/baby-birds.html.

Roz Renfrew and Kent McFarland, VINS Ornithologists

Global Climate Change: Gore's Cinematic Debut

This past weekend I found myself with some downtime in a city where Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" was showing. I have been anticipating the release of the movie, and was sorely disappointed that it took so long to hit any sizable town near Vermont; for several weeks the closest showings were in central Massachusetts and Albany, NY. It doesn't make sense to go see a movie on global climate change when you have to drive several hours to get there...so I waited.

I was not disappointed. Gore presented up-to-date data, used animations to aid in the understanding of the warming process and potential climate-related changes, and reinforced the urgency of the issue by showing historical and current photos from places all across the globe to demonstrate recent changes. Regardless of if you consider the movie to be too alarmist, or if you doubt Gore's sincerity in his chosen cause, the movie does a great job of explaining this complex issue to non-scientists and inspires people to take action.

For simple actions you can take at home, click here. There are also a number of organizations designed to help you and/or your business become "carbon neutral". A number of websites have calculators for determining your annual carbon dioxide emissions and options for offsetting those emissions. You can sponsor the planting of trees, support sustainable companies, or fund sustainable energy projects. Climate Care, The CarbonNeutral Company, eMissions Solutions, and The Climate Trust are just a few of the companies that offer carbon neutral options. Lastly, I encourage you to see the movie, and be sure to bring along a friend!

-Julie

Vermont Weekly Bird Notes 7/14/2006

Research often yields surprising and exciting discoveries. Ornithologists at VINS recently uncovered a hidden ecological cycle in Vermont’s mountaintop forests. Cones of balsam fir trees are generally produced following a two-year cycle. Last year’s cone crop was almost nonexistent, but this summer the fir trees are loaded with cones. The cycle ties together cones, red squirrels and birds.

Cones form on the trees during summer and by July, if it’s a bumper year like this one, you can see the green cones covering the tree tops. Next year will bring crossbills, pine siskins, and red squirrels. But it also means that most of the other bird’s nests will fail.

The red squirrel population rises dramatically in cone years and that spells disaster for summer nesting songbirds like Bicknell’s thrush and blackpoll warblers. Red squirrel peak mating period is from January to February. Gestation is about forty days and the young spend another thirty days in the nest before venturing out. Just about the time the cone crop is gone and the birds are laying eggs, squirrel families are scampering in the trees. And they have a palate for eggs and nestlings. Every other year is a bad year for most nesting songbirds on the mountaintops.

Crossbills, siskins, nuthatches, and red squirrels dine on the seeds hidden away inside the cones. Crossbills and siskins are so dependent on these crops that we never see a single individual following a bad cone crop in the fall. I have often wondered how crossbills know to immigrate into the region when there are many cones and to stay away when there are none. Maybe the cone crops are regular enough that crossbills can reliably play the odds. Continent-wide data show that white-winged crossbills tend to move the most from mid March – mid July and mid October - mid December. They leave by the end of the following July when all of the cones are gone.

It doesn’t end there. We have a sneaky suspicion that saw-whet owls may be tied into this cycle too. They may produce more young in cone years when there are lots of voles to eat.

Bicknell’s thrushes were reported this week on Mt. Mansfield, Killington Peak, and Stratton Mountain, with some seen feeding young.

An orchard oriole was observed in Grand Isle on July 5th.

A male red crossbill was spotted at Groton State Forest in Marshfield on July 8th.

Shorebirds are beginning to migrate through Vermont from the artic. A lesser yellowlegs was at Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area on July 9th.

You can learn about all bird sightings the past week and more on Vermont eBird.

Learn more about our Mountain Ecosystem Studies.

Kent McFarland, VINS Ornithologist

U.S. streams faring poorly

Only 28% of U.S. stream miles are in good condition, finds the U.S. EPA in its first-ever national assessment. Some 42% were rated as poor and 25% as fair. Those in the eastern mountains fare worst, while western streams remain the healthiest. Between 2000 and 2004, researchers collected samples from ~1400 sites for the survey called the Wadeable Streams Assessment. Riparian disturbance; excess sediments; and nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, were the most widespread stressors observed in each of the three major regions. The stream survey is the second in a series of reports evaluating U.S. waters. Next, the agency plans to survey the nation’s lakes, large rivers, and wetlands.

Vermont Weekly Bird Notes 7/7/06

The tremulous wail of the common loon on a foggy lake is both haunting and mysterious, almost a cry from the past. Scientists believe the common loon evolved from primitive gull-like birds more than 50 million years ago and have remained relatively unchanged for millennia.

But, the Vermont population has changed dramatically the past century. There were only eight breeding pairs in 1983, leading to the loon’s designation as a state endangered species.

Last year, there was a record 53 nesting loons in Vermont. After years of dedicated conservation efforts by many groups and individuals, coordinated by the Vermont Institute of Natural Science and the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department Nongame and Natural Heritage Program, common loons were removed from the state endangered species list.

How can you help loons? You can join more than 200 volunteers surveying lakes and ponds for Vermont Loonwatch during one specific hour each year on the third Saturday of July to get a snapshot of Vermont’s common loon population. Last year 191 adults and 45 chicks were counted on over 120 lakes.

You can gather discarded fishing line and switch to non-lead fishing gear. Last year two loons died from lead poisoning and four were rescued from entangled fishing line. If you see a floating sign warning of a loon nesting area, keep your watercraft away. Last year there were over 40 warning areas during the nesting season. Slow down and stay away from loons. Adult loons can dive underwater to avoid your boat, but loon chicks cannot dive deeply enough nor swim quickly enough to avoid getting hit.

This year there have been 47 loon nests monitored so far. Three nests have failed, two of them from flooding. Fifteen chicks have hatched.

A loon pair with two chicks was reported this week on Lake Ninevah in Mount Holly. A pair of sandhill cranes made there trumpeting call as they flew north from a large marsh on Winona Lake near Bristol.

Reports from great blue heron rookeries throughout the state reveal that most young are nearing fledging. A rookery in Weathersfield had 16 young in six nests, one near Manchester on route 7 had at least one nest with 4 young, and a site on North Hartland Reservoir had at least 6 nests with large young. Bald eagles have been frequently reported around and in the Hartland rookery.

A report from Victory Bog Wildlife Management Area in the Northeast Kingdom on June 29th included an unusual sighting of a black-crowned night heron. Rusty blackbird fledglings were observed with their parents. Gray jay families were still intact, the sibling breakup has not yet occurred.

You can learn about all bird sightings the past week and more on Vermont eBird.

Learn more about the Vermont Loon Recovery Project.

Kent McFarland, VINS Ornithologist

Vermont Loonwatch 2006

Loonwatch Day will be taking place Saturday, 15 July 2006 from 8 to 9 am on over 120 lakes and ponds across Vermont. In 2005, volunteers counted 191 adult loons, up from 29 in 1983. There are still a few unassigned lakes for new volunteers. Unassigned lakes in the Northeast Kingdom include Lewis, Unknown, Bald Hill, Jobs, Parker, and South Bay-Memphremegog. Unassigned lakes in central Vermont include Little Elmore and one section of Green River Res. In southern Vermont, unassigned lakes include Raponda, Sadawaga, South (Marlboro), and Woodward Res. Additional surveyors could be used on Lake Bomoseen. If you are interested in helping, please contact Eric Hanson, biologist for the Vermont Loon Recovery Project at ehanson@vtlink.net or (802) 586-8064.