Vermont Whip-Poor-Will, July 2011

For years I've been collecting posts on the locations of Whip-poor-wills in Vermont so that I could someday try to add it to my VT statelist.  But since all the posted locations are quite distant from my house, it would require an overnight stay in VT, and I just I haven't had the opportunity.  This July I had a business trip to eastern NY that would include an evening trek through VT, so of course I wanted to give it a try.  But is mid-July too late to still hear Whips? 

With the help of information from several local VT birders, I headed to Long Swamp Road in Brandon near sunset to try for Whips.  Skies were cloudy and threatening with occasional light rain falling, but winds were light so I was hopeful that I'd be able to hear even distant birds.  At 8:50 1 bird started to call in the distance off to the north - success!  Now I have Whips in each New England state - my 202nd species that I have in all 6 New England states.  My statebird map for Whip-poor-will is inserted below - shaded states are those where I've heard/seen Whips.  The Brandon location is also provided in the link at the end of this post.

While in VT I also tried for 3 other possible statebirds but without success.  Each one was a real long shot - Sedge Wren seen in the Spring but no posts since late June, Ruddy Duck reported on a lake in early June, and Clay-colored Sparrows nesting at a South Burlington site for a couple years but without any posts this year.  I guess I need to get to VT more often if I'm going to get a better statelist. 

The next day while driving to the client's facility an American Bittern flew over the road - a new statebird for my NY list - #263.  A consolation for missing those VT longshots.