As the Summer of 2014 progressed a number
of possible statebirds were reported in northwest VT. First came the report of a pair of Sedge
Wrens likely nesting in Middlebury. Then
came word of a drawdown of one impoundment at Dead Creek with 1 and then 2
Stilt Sandpipers – and who knows what other rare shorebirds that might be
attracted to these flats in the future.
Then there was the big news of a Brown Booby on Lake Champlain. Unfortunately the Booby disappeared (more
accurately became unreliable though still on the Lake) before I could get
there. Finally came repeated reports of
a pair of Ruddy Turnstones in St. Albans.
That was more than enough critical mass to make the 3 ½ hour trek to the
northwest part of VT. This time, unlike
most of my other trips, I decided to get a motel room in the area the night
before my birding day to avoid having to make the 7-hour round-trip drive in
one day.
I had timed my trip to be a day before the
next front in hopes that the shorebirds wouldn’t have moved on yet. And I received excellent details from VT
birders for locations for the Wren, Stilt, and Turnstone. So I was pretty optimistic that I might get
the Stilt and Turnstone. The Wren,
however, was another story. It was last
reported 11 days earlier, and it was getting really late for even these late
nesters to still be sticking around their apparent nesting spot. Sedge Wrens are reported in late summer in
northwest VT most every year, and although I had tried for them twice before, I
waited too long both times. I was
worried that I might be too late for this third try as well.
I was able to leave early enough to get to
the Wren location in the evening of the first day. With perfect directions I quickly found the
correct tall grass field where they had spent the latter half of the
summer. It was very still and quiet, so
I listened intently for their characteristic call and song, but with no
luck. So I walked off the road to get to
the edge of the “their” field and listened some more, but only heard a distant
Red-bellied Woodpecker. I know Sedge
Wrens are very tape-responsive, so I made a couple short imitations of their
call note, and almost instantly heard one note coming from the field. Then I heard another call from a short
distance away. This second bird popped
out in the open at the field’s edge and gave me distant but good looks. Success!
VT is only my fourth New England state for Sedge Wren. My statebird map below also shows that I have
a number of gaps in this species’ normal summering and wintering ranges.
The next morning I met up with long-time
birding friend Hank Kaestner and we headed to the Brilyea Access portion of Dead
Creek WMA to try for the Stilt Sandpipers.
After a short walk we were at the upper reaches of the impoundment where
the drawdown was occurring. There wasn’t
a lot of habitat, but we quickly found numerous Yellowlegs (almost all Lessers),
a handful of peeps, and a couple Semi Plovers - though no Stilts. We walked off the trail to get a different
view of the flats but still no Stilts.
We continued walking east to get different views, and tried really hard
to turn the Yellowlegs into Stilts, but to no avail. We finally made it to a point of land and the
farthest east we could walk to get a final view of the flats. We were now looking almost directly into the
sun, so viewing wasn’t the best. Despite
the glare I spotted a Stilt Sandpiper in the distance, along with a second bird
and then a third one. A pair of
Short-billed Dowitchers were feeding with them, along with some of the
ever-present Lesser Yellowlegs. A nice
group of birds for comparisons of size and shape, as well as feeding
habits. VT was my last New England state
for this species - my 228th in each of the 6 states. I’ve seen Stilt Sandpiper in most of its
regular US range as a migrant, and a couple states as a rarity.
Hank and I next went on to Charlotte Town
Beach for another shorebird search, and also for a quick lake watch. There were 40 Killdeer and 1 Semi Sand on the
shore, but nothing else. We spent a bit
of time looking over the lake but the sole highlights were a small number of
Common Terns and Bonaparte’s Gulls flying down the lake. The skies were starting to look threatening,
so rather than continue on the lake watch, I decided to head north to the St.
Albans Bay Town Park to try for the Turnstones.
After a short drive I arrived in St. Albans
which is about as far northwest as you can get and still be in VT, and in the
US for that matter. There is a sandy
beach at the Town Park which apparently is normally favored by swimmers and dog
walkers. But this year an algae bloom
had fouled the beach and caused the town to close it. As a result, not only were there no people
and dogs to bother the shorebirds, but the decaying algae on the beach had
attracted lots of shorebird food. There
had been good numbers of shorebirds there for several weeks, including the 2
Ruddy Turnstones. I got to the edge of
the beach and began to scan the narrow patch of habitat with my binocs. I found a number of Yellowlegs and a couple
flocks of peeps, but no Turnstones. Then
on another scan I noticed a large dark shorebird just a short distance away – a
winter plumaged Ruddy Turnstone. Another
scan revealed a second bird, along with 2 Baird’s Sandpipers that hadn’t been
reported there in the past. I got these
phonescoped photos of one of the Turnstones.
 |
| Not so easy to pick out the brown bird amongst the brown algae |
 |
| Easier to spot in profile |
Like the Stilt Sand, VT was the last of the
New England states for me for Turnstone – number 229. And VT was my second inland state for this
otherwise common coastal species. Though
I still need it in OR.
With 3 VT statebirds on the trip that gives
me 264 for VT, and 1,980 for New England.
I’m closing in on the magic 2,000!
No comments:
Post a Comment