Date: 10/18/26 7:59 am From: Walter wmm <wmedwid...> Subject: [VTBIRD] Pileated and sharp shinned
While headed out for a morning walk and just a few feet from the front door a vocalizing pileated woodpecker flew across my pathway. About 5 feet behind it was a sharp shinned hawk in fast pursuit. For the next 15 minutes I observed the pileated move from tree to tree as chips rained down from its excavations. Every so often the hawk took a dive at the woodpecker with seemingly little concern evident in the woodpecker's behavior despite the repeated dive bys. I came to the conclusion that because it was an immature sharpy, it was still learning the rules of the road. It was a good start to the walk that would include seeing one pintail duck, a blue headed vireo and one Carolina wren among other species. Derby
Date: 10/18/26 7:31 am From: Cherrie Corey <cherrie.corey62...> Subject: [VTBIRD] "Probe Failure for VTBIRD" message question
Replying to Ted Levin’s question, I received the same message. The content of the message says this:
Sat, 17 Oct 2026 08:48:20
<LISTSERV...> <mailto:<LISTSERV...> has just received the enclosed delivery error as a result of an automated subscription probe sent to your <CHERRIE.COREY62...> <mailto:<CHERRIE.COREY62...>address for the VTBIRD list. If you're reading this message, it means that your mail system is successfully delivering mail to your mailbox, while at the same time reporting that an error has occurred. Alternatively, the error could be due to a system problem that has since been fixed.
Typically, LISTSERV will send you one or more additional probe messages daily to determine whether the failure has been resolved. If a failure persists, then your email address will eventually be deleted from the list. Some lists are configured to delete subscribers on the first failure.
Assuming that you have not yet been deleted from the list, you can stop this process by sending the following command to <LISTSERV...> <mailto:<LISTSERV...> as soon as possible:
CONFIRM VTBIRD
This will inform LISTSERV that your account actually does work and that you still want to receive mail from the VTBIRD list.
While the CONFIRM command will solve your immediate problem, it could be a matter of time until you find yourself in the same situation again. Please take a look at the enclosed error report and try to determine whether it's a genuine error. Genuine errors should be reported to your mail administrator or network support staff as soon as possible so that they can be corrected.
I signed into the UVM Listserv and VTBIRD Archives directly, not using the links in the email and had no problem, so am suspicious of this Probe Failure. Can VTBIRD listserv managers please respond? Thanks.
Date: 10/17/26 10:49 am From: Ted Levin <tedlevin1966...> Subject: [VTBIRD] a question someone my be able to answer (I hope)
Why am I not receiving posts? A strange email arrived in my inbox yesterday saying there had been a server compromise. Is everything fixed and online again?
Date: 10/17/26 5:48 am From: Kathy Leonard <Kathyd.leonard...> Subject: [VTBIRD] First Juncos of the season
4-5 Juncos arrived at our place in Randolph Center this morning, along with a few fine brief flakes of snow.
So far only a few chickadees are apparent, a low number for this time of year.
Date: 10/16/26 12:46 pm From: Charlie Teske <cteske140...> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] waves of robins on the border
They're eating the Ilex berries today in Hyde Park.
On Fri, 16 Oct 2026 10:26:53 -0400, Walter wmm <wmedwid...> wrote:
For the last 15-30 minutes a steady stream of robins have been passing
through my yard feasting on viburnum berries and wild grapes in the midst
of heavy rain. My estimate is 65-80 birds. The viburnum (trilobum)
berries have not been of interest to birds for weeks until today. I don't
think they are favored food however migration demands may favor taste. Derby
Date: 10/16/26 10:10 am From: Rita Pitkin <ritapitkin15...> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] waves of robins on the border
A week or so ago approximately 150+ mixed Wood Warblers landed on a large
group of Viburnums in my backyard (so many ripe berries).
So much action, it was difficult to count and distinguish one from another.
(Cataracts didn’t help )
On Fri, Oct 16, 2026 at 11:54 AM Charlie La Rosa <charlie.larosa...>
wrote:
> Yesterday, on Signal Mtn. in Groton State Forest there were small groups of
> hermit thrushes active and small groups of mixed warblers (difficult to
> identify) feeding very actively at low elevations. Chickadees and
> red-breasted nuthatches were active in the spruce/fir/birch forest at
> higher elevations. No surprise there. Groups of robins seen in yards
> in Topsham and Corinth. A pair of Canada geese landed on Noyes Pond. The
> resident loons were not seen.
> Charlie LaRosa
> So. Washington
>
>
>
>
> I would like to see every single soldier on every single side, just take
> off your helmet, unbuckle your kit, lay down your rifle, and set down at
> the side of some shady lane, & say nope, I ain't gonna kill nobody. Plenty
> of rich folks wants to fight. Give them the guns. - *Woody Guthrie, 1939*
>
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 16, 2026 at 10:27 AM Walter wmm <wmedwid...> wrote:
>
> > For the last 15-30 minutes a steady stream of robins have been passing
> > through my yard feasting on viburnum berries and wild grapes in the midst
> > of heavy rain. My estimate is 65-80 birds. The viburnum (trilobum)
> > berries have not been of interest to birds for weeks until today. I don't
> > think they are favored food however migration demands may favor taste.
> > Derby
> >
>
Date: 10/16/26 8:54 am From: Charlie La Rosa <charlie.larosa...> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] waves of robins on the border
Yesterday, on Signal Mtn. in Groton State Forest there were small groups of
hermit thrushes active and small groups of mixed warblers (difficult to
identify) feeding very actively at low elevations. Chickadees and
red-breasted nuthatches were active in the spruce/fir/birch forest at
higher elevations. No surprise there. Groups of robins seen in yards
in Topsham and Corinth. A pair of Canada geese landed on Noyes Pond. The
resident loons were not seen.
Charlie LaRosa
So. Washington
I would like to see every single soldier on every single side, just take
off your helmet, unbuckle your kit, lay down your rifle, and set down at
the side of some shady lane, & say nope, I ain't gonna kill nobody. Plenty
of rich folks wants to fight. Give them the guns. - *Woody Guthrie, 1939*
On Fri, Oct 16, 2026 at 10:27 AM Walter wmm <wmedwid...> wrote:
> For the last 15-30 minutes a steady stream of robins have been passing
> through my yard feasting on viburnum berries and wild grapes in the midst
> of heavy rain. My estimate is 65-80 birds. The viburnum (trilobum)
> berries have not been of interest to birds for weeks until today. I don't
> think they are favored food however migration demands may favor taste.
> Derby
>
Date: 10/16/26 7:27 am From: Walter wmm <wmedwid...> Subject: [VTBIRD] waves of robins on the border
For the last 15-30 minutes a steady stream of robins have been passing through my yard feasting on viburnum berries and wild grapes in the midst of heavy rain. My estimate is 65-80 birds. The viburnum (trilobum) berries have not been of interest to birds for weeks until today. I don't think they are favored food however migration demands may favor taste. Derby
Date: 10/14/26 6:53 am From: Ted Levin <tedlevin1966...> Subject: [VTBIRD] 14 October 2026: Hurricane Hill (1,100 feet), WRJ
6:39 a.m. (twenty-three minutes before sunrise). Fifty-three degrees, with
a south-southeast wind at one mile per hour, rising to three ... barely a
whisper. Dark. Misty. Walking through a low-hanging cloud. Visibility: a
hundred yards, perhaps less. A dawn reminiscent of Dartmoor (fortunately,
the hounds are elsewhere).
River fog is denser, more like whipped cream, and spills uphill. This fog
is thinner, close to drizzle, couldn't support a dream, and drifts down
from above. Shortly after sunrise, fog begins to lift. Pockets of sunlight
and clear blue sky open and close—a heavenly kaleidoscope.
September’s lusty tree cricket serenade has softened to a murmur, the
soundtrack of mid-October, threaded through with the unbroken chipping of
sparrows. The fall foliage, still gorgeous, has slipped beyond peak.
Beneath roadside maples lie puddles of red and yellow. Aspens hold fast to
most of their leaves, a mingling of butter yellow and green. Oaks fade from
green to reddish brown, with hints of yellow.
Lilac leaves blacken, a bacterial blight. Brittle and less-than-cheerful.
Out of sync with the season: four oxeye daisies in flower amid a field of
withered goldenrods, adhering to the calendar.
Four crows wing southwest in silence, more gray than black in the fog. They
seem to know exactly where they’re going. Their transparent third
eyelid—the *nictitating membrane*—must be working overtime, sweeping across
their eyes like windshield wipers on a rainy night.
White-throated sparrows are everywhere. Flocks upon flocks upon flocks.
They chip in the shadows, hop along the road, dart between bushes, and toss
leaves aside in a tireless search for seeds. Most call. Some sing
pared-down versions of their spring song. In a weedy corner of the hill,
where grapevines thread through pole-sized aspens and honeysuckle, a
white-throated sparrow preens. High-speed hygiene. A thousand feathers,
perhaps more. One contour feather at a time—mostly from beneath the
wings—passes between its beak, a whirlwind of cleanliness. Barbs and
barbules are instantly, methodically realigned. Earth’s original Velcro.
*Among the others: *American robin—many, many, and calling; hermit thrush
and winter wren, both sadly restrained; ruby-crowned and golden-crowned
kinglets hovering together at the tips of hemlock twigs; white-breasted
nuthatch; black-capped chickadee; tufted titmouse; and northern cardinal, a
bright petal on a dark bough. The sparrows: song, chipping, swamp,
Lincoln’s, and dark-eyed junco. Yellow-rumped warblers comb the late-season
leaves—still mostly green and yellow—for late-season caterpillars.
*Inside the vanishing mist, high *on the main trunk of a shedding maple, a
male pileated excavates carpenter ants—not so much a pound as a peck, then
a tap. Chips of maple rain down. Against the trunk: black and white, crest
erect, red as an apple.
Date: 10/11/26 6:31 pm From: Ken Copenhaver <copenhvr...> Subject: [VTBIRD] Missisquoi NWR Bird Monitoring Walk
Please join us for our monthly bird monitoring walks on the refuge. Ken Copenhaver and Julie Filiberti lead the walks on various refuge trails on the 3rd Saturday of each month (except December and May when it's on the 2nd Saturday). The purpose of the walks is to gather long-term data on the presence of birds, their abundance, and changes in populations. Observations are entered into the Vermont eBird database where the Cornell Lab of Ornithology stores the data. These walks are appropriate for birders of all skill levels and provide a wonderful opportunity to learn about birds throughout the seasons. After 198 months of walks, we have recorded 170 species of birds.
This month's walk will be on *Saturday, October 17, from 8:00 to 10:00 AM a**t the Discovery Trail*. Meet at the Visitor Center parking lot on Tabor Rd.
*Trail Description**:* The trail consists of grassy and gravel paths and long sections of boardwalk. It is mostly level except for a gradual incline near the parking lot. It's about 1 mile long. Recent improvements to the trail have made it more accessible.
*Trail Conditions:* While there shouldn't be any standing water on the trail, the grass could be wet with dew, so waterproof shoes are recommended.
If you have any questions, contact me at <copenhvr...>
Date: 10/7/26 11:58 am From: Veer Frost <0000038039fb4cf6-dmarc-request...> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] Friends of Upper Meadow Birding Walk
Sorry to all, obv meant for Coleen, will fix that! Veer
On 10/7/2026 at 1:36 PM, "Veer Frost" wrote:Hi Coleen,
I'm very sorry, am following advice from physical therapist re not
being quite ready for a long walk (recovering from a fall)... If it
isn't too much trouble could you please describe directions from
Herrick's Cove Rd to the upper Meadows (at your convenience!)...am
determined to try when possible : ). Many thanks, and have a great
outing! Veer
On 9/19/2026 at 3:04 PM, "Coleen Lawlor" wrote:Friends of the Upper
Meadows Birding Walk
*Rockingham, Vermont*
*Sunday, October 11 at 9:00 AM*
*Rain Date: Sunday, October 18 at 9:00 AM*
Come join the *Friends of the Upper Meadows* for a fall birding walk
at the *Upper
Meadows in Rockingham, Vermont*, one of the region’s important areas
for
birds and wildlife.
We will meet in the *parking lot at Herrick’s Cove* and carpool from
there
to the Upper Meadows.
The Upper Meadows encompass approximately *280 acres along the
Connecticut
River*, including floodplain forest, beaver ponds, freshwater marsh,
vernal
pools, and about *80 acres of open grassland*. Together with nearby
Herrick’s Cove, the area has been designated an *Important Bird Area
by the
National Audubon Society*.
The grasslands provide vital nesting habitat for species including
*Eastern
Meadowlarks, Bobolinks, American Kestrels, and Northern Harriers*. The
meadows are bordered by the Connecticut River to the east, where a
large
colony of Bank Swallows nests; cottonwoods to the south with an active
Bald
Eagle nest; a cattail marsh to the west; and vernal pools to the
north.
By October, the breeding season will be behind us, but fall migration
will
be underway. We’ll take our time, see what birds we can find, and
enjoy a
morning together in the meadows.
*We’d love to have you join us.*
If you’re planning to attend, please email *<lawlor.coleen...>
* so we know to expect you.
*Meeting place:* Herrick’s Cove parking lot
*Date:* October 11, 9:00 AM
*Rain date:* October 18, 9:00 AM
Date: 10/7/26 10:36 am From: Veer Frost <0000038039fb4cf6-dmarc-request...> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] Friends of Upper Meadow Birding Walk
Hi Coleen,
I'm very sorry, am following advice from physical therapist re not
being quite ready for a long walk (recovering from a fall)... If it
isn't too much trouble could you please describe directions from
Herrick's Cove Rd to the upper Meadows (at your convenience!)...am
determined to try when possible : ). Many thanks, and have a great
outing! Veer
On 9/19/2026 at 3:04 PM, "Coleen Lawlor" wrote:Friends of the Upper
Meadows Birding Walk
*Rockingham, Vermont*
*Sunday, October 11 at 9:00 AM*
*Rain Date: Sunday, October 18 at 9:00 AM*
Come join the *Friends of the Upper Meadows* for a fall birding walk
at the *Upper
Meadows in Rockingham, Vermont*, one of the region’s important areas
for
birds and wildlife.
We will meet in the *parking lot at Herrick’s Cove* and carpool from
there
to the Upper Meadows.
The Upper Meadows encompass approximately *280 acres along the
Connecticut
River*, including floodplain forest, beaver ponds, freshwater marsh,
vernal
pools, and about *80 acres of open grassland*. Together with nearby
Herrick’s Cove, the area has been designated an *Important Bird Area
by the
National Audubon Society*.
The grasslands provide vital nesting habitat for species including
*Eastern
Meadowlarks, Bobolinks, American Kestrels, and Northern Harriers*. The
meadows are bordered by the Connecticut River to the east, where a
large
colony of Bank Swallows nests; cottonwoods to the south with an active
Bald
Eagle nest; a cattail marsh to the west; and vernal pools to the
north.
By October, the breeding season will be behind us, but fall migration
will
be underway. We’ll take our time, see what birds we can find, and
enjoy a
morning together in the meadows.
*We’d love to have you join us.*
If you’re planning to attend, please email *<lawlor.coleen...>
* so we know to expect you.
*Meeting place:* Herrick’s Cove parking lot
*Date:* October 11, 9:00 AM
*Rain date:* October 18, 9:00 AM
Date: 10/6/26 2:44 am From: Maeve Kim <maevekim7...> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] birding upper NYS
Thanks, Kay in Hinesburg! If you, or anyone else on the listserv, would like some ideas about places to stay (and one place to avoid), let me know off-list.
Maeve in Jericho
> On Oct 5, 2026, at 6:27 PM, <kj813...> <0000002d57029402-dmarc-request...> wrote:
>
> Thank you. It is a place I love to visit.
> Evocative report. Kay in Hinesburg
>
>
> Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS
>
>
> On Friday, October 2, 2026, 10:52 AM, Maeve Kim <maevekim7...> wrote:
>
> Good morning, fellow birders - I just got back from a driving trip to New York State, with the primary aim of birding Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. Here’s the trip report, with several other locations that might interest you:
> https://ebird.org/tripreport/578186 > Maeve Kim, Jericho
Thank you. It is a place I love to visit.
Evocative report. Kay in Hinesburg
Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS
On Friday, October 2, 2026, 10:52 AM, Maeve Kim <maevekim7...> wrote:
Good morning, fellow birders - I just got back from a driving trip to New York State, with the primary aim of birding Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. Here’s the trip report, with several other locations that might interest you:
https://ebird.org/tripreport/578186 Maeve Kim, Jericho
Date: 10/3/26 7:00 am From: Maeve Kim <maevekim7...> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] VTBIRD Digest - 30 Sep 2026 to 2 Oct 2026 (#2026-176)
The "Lake America” absurdity is on Google maps and, I think, Apple maps because those billionaire-owned companies fell in line with the orange monstronsity in the White House, a man who has “made” over a few extra billions since taking office the second time while so many Americans struggle to pay for food, housing and medical care. I was pleased to see that It’s still Lake Ontario on signs up there, and probably will be again (unless DT becomes emperor for life). Sorry for injecting politics into birding, but now politics is in everything.
Maeve
> On Oct 3, 2026, at 8:08 AM, martha pfeiffer <mjbpfeiffer...> wrote:
>
> Maeve,
>
> Enjoyed learning about your trip. Very nice checklist. Thanks for
> sharing.
> First time I've noticed Lake Ontario is officially on the map as Lake
> America.
>
> Martha Pfeiffer, Dorset
>
> On Sat, Oct 3, 2026 at 12:00 AM VTBIRD automatic digest system <
> <LISTSERV...> wrote:
>
>> There is 1 message totaling 16 lines in this issue.
>>
>> Topics of the day:
>>
>> 1. birding upper NYS
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Date: Fri, 2 Oct 2026 10:52:47 -0400
>> From: Maeve Kim <maevekim7...>
>> Subject: birding upper NYS
>>
>> Good morning, fellow birders - I just got back from a driving trip to New
>> York State, with the primary aim of birding Montezuma National Wildlife
>> Refuge. Here’s the trip report, with several other locations that might
>> interest you:
>> https://ebird.org/tripreport/578186 >> Maeve Kim, Jericho
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> End of VTBIRD Digest - 30 Sep 2026 to 2 Oct 2026 (#2026-176)
>> ************************************************************
>>
>
>
> --
> please use my new email address:
> <mjbpfeiffer...>
>
> Martha
Date: 10/3/26 5:08 am From: martha pfeiffer <mjbpfeiffer...> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] VTBIRD Digest - 30 Sep 2026 to 2 Oct 2026 (#2026-176)
Maeve,
Enjoyed learning about your trip. Very nice checklist. Thanks for
sharing.
First time I've noticed Lake Ontario is officially on the map as Lake
America.
Martha Pfeiffer, Dorset
On Sat, Oct 3, 2026 at 12:00 AM VTBIRD automatic digest system <
<LISTSERV...> wrote:
> There is 1 message totaling 16 lines in this issue.
>
> Topics of the day:
>
> 1. birding upper NYS
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date: Fri, 2 Oct 2026 10:52:47 -0400
> From: Maeve Kim <maevekim7...>
> Subject: birding upper NYS
>
> Good morning, fellow birders - I just got back from a driving trip to New
> York State, with the primary aim of birding Montezuma National Wildlife
> Refuge. Here’s the trip report, with several other locations that might
> interest you:
> https://ebird.org/tripreport/578186 > Maeve Kim, Jericho
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of VTBIRD Digest - 30 Sep 2026 to 2 Oct 2026 (#2026-176)
> ************************************************************
>
--
please use my new email address:
<mjbpfeiffer...>
Date: 10/2/26 7:53 am From: Maeve Kim <maevekim7...> Subject: [VTBIRD] birding upper NYS
Good morning, fellow birders - I just got back from a driving trip to New York State, with the primary aim of birding Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. Here’s the trip report, with several other locations that might interest you:
https://ebird.org/tripreport/578186 Maeve Kim, Jericho
Date: 9/30/26 7:40 am From: Ted Levin <tedlevin1966...> Subject: [VTBIRD] 30 September 2026: Hurricane Hill (1,100 feet), WRJ
6:16 a.m., thirty-one minutes before sunrise. Fifty-two degrees, the
north-northwest wind serene at one mile per hour, occasionally sighing to
three. Only the aspen leaves notice, twitching as though someone has given
the tree a gentle shake. Low cloud ceiling. A gaunt mist settles in—much
thinner than river fog, which, when colder, rises thick, white, and
determined to hide the world. Tree crickets murmur beneath it all, their
chorus keeping time with the cool morning air.
How to tell the temperature from the chants of tree crickets: *Dolbear’s
Law, or the **Mathematics of Morning**. *If I didn’t have my iPhone and
felt inclined to calculate—and thereby debase the dawn—I’d have four
formulas to choose from: three for Fahrenheit and one for Celsius.
*Fahrenheit corollaries: *handy in the United States and nineteen tiny
countries—Liberia and Micronesia among them, the others scattered like
crumbs across the Caribbean.
1) Count the chirps in 13 seconds and add 40.
2) Count the chirps in 15 seconds, divide by 4, and add 50.
3) Count the chirps in one minute, subtract 40, divide by 4, and add 50.
And now, the *Celsius corollary*:
4) Count the chirps in 25 seconds, divide by 3, and add 4.
One suspects Dr. Dolbear, like the rest of us during the pandemic, had a
lot of time on his hands—and crickets on his mind.
Color advances as green retreats, and the season unfolds into an
otherworldly theme park. Here and there, an acorn splashes down. White ash
leaves float and drift; rivulets of yellow ribbon the roadside. Orange
puddles gather around the trunks of solitary sugar maples. Lilacs linger in
green. Woodbine burns red, crimson vines weaving through wet, bright leaves
and crowds of goldenrod.
Asters brighten the dim woods in soft blues and deep purples, here and
there fading to nearly white. Last of the goldenrods, sprigs of yellow.
And, beneath the maples, pale wands of silverrod, two F-stops overexposed
like a bleached transparency.
A catbird whines from the aspen. White-throated sparrows stutter—dark birds
in dim light, just out of sight. Beyond the meadow, a barred owl sends out
a single, drawn-out *hoooo *from its throne in the hemlocks. Then comes a
full-bore outburst, deepening the spell of prolonged twilight.
Three crows head southwest toward the Ottaquechee, black on gray and noisy.
Two others perch in the leafless crown of a maple, conversing. I offer a
comment. The crows bolt. Apparently, my *cawing* needs work. Another flies
low over the road, skimming the orange-and-yellow treetops in restrained
passage.
Blue jays, omnipresent and persistent. Silent most of summer, they have
found their voices again—a fusillade, sharp and piercing, autumn’s unruly
brass section.
An adult red-tailed hawk—the first I’ve seen this season—offers another
sign of autumn on Hurricane Hill. Perhaps it will stay until the snows
come. (Or perhaps it’s merely the first of many passing through.)
Twenty-four species in all, including northern flicker (laughing at a
private joke; undulation above the meadow), hairy woodpecker (feeding),
black-capped chickadee, tufted titmouse, dark-eyed junco (chirping well
before sunrise), American goldfinch, northern cardinal, eastern towhee
(seasonal pass-through), eastern phoebe (tail in motion), song sparrow,
American robin (dining on highbush craneberries; the first I’ve seen and
heard in more than a week), field sparrow (also passing through), chipping
sparrow, mourning dove, yellow-rumped warbler (ushering me back to the
rolling dunes of Fire Island), golden-crowned kinglet (whispering in the
aspens), cedar waxwing (whispering in the highbush cranberries), and brown
creeper (whispering in the pines).
And the morning’s bonus bird: Lincoln’s sparrow, sulking in the lilac
shadows—brooding, secretive, almost theatrically shy. A little sparrow all
by itself: a glimpse on the ground, another on a blackened lilac limb. Then
gone, as fleeting as the morning sun.
Date: 9/28/26 7:48 am From: Megan Massa <00001231d6e80cb0-dmarc-request...> Subject: [VTBIRD] Scott Weidensaul Talk and Book Signing 10/2 and 10/3
Two opportunities to hear Scott Weidensaul discuss his new book, The Return
of the Oystercatcher, in the Upper Valley. Free and open to the public. No
registration necessary.
Friday October 2 at the Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee, VT. Reception with
hors d’oeuvres 4pm, talk 5pm, book signing 6pm.
Saturday October 3 at The North Chapel in Woodstock, VT. Talk 4pm, book
signing 5pm.
At a time when the news for birds—and for the planet—has rarely seemed more
grim, there is reason for hope. All around the world, people are reviving
bird populations and providing a roadmap for wider recovery. In his newest
book, The Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save the Planet,
best-selling author and researcher Scott Weidensaul shows why we should
never underestimate the resiliency of birds, and why creating a world that
works for birds will work for everything—including us.
Join the Vermont Center for Ecostudies and Birds and Beans Coffee for a
special evening with ornithologist and New York Times best-selling author
Scott Weidensaul, featuring stories from his latest book, The Return of the
Oystercatcher. Books available for purchase courtesy of the Norwich
Bookstore (Lake Morey) and Yankee Bookshop (The North Chapel).
---
Megan Massa
Vermont Center for Ecostudies
www.vtecostudies.org
Also: Vermont North by Hand studio tour is coming up. I'll be at Sue Martin's farm on Route 5 at the Bradford-Fairlee line, with Sue's stained glass and Carole Kitchel Bellew's ceramics. Map of the other stops: https://vermontnorthbyhand.org/tour-map/
Date: 9/23/26 6:51 am From: Ted Levin <tedlevin1966...> Subject: [VTBIRD] 23 September 2026 (gateway to magnificence, day two: Hurricane Hill (1,100 feet), WRJ
6:15 a.m., twenty-two minutes before sunrise. Thirty-nine degrees (basal
harvest looms in the near future), wind north at four miles per hour,
gusting to six. The hill wrapped in rising river fog. Visibility less than
one hundred yards. Fog, condensing and rinsing, leaves drip. Sounds like
rain. Feels like rain. The sun rises (somewhere above the New Hampshire
ridgeline), an accelerant to the morning's ambiguity. Fog brightens.
Crickets murmur, a soft undercurrent. The wet, droopy meadow's score.
In the lilacs, shadows whisper, a sparrow jubilee. Seven species. Mostly
white-throated. Small silhouettes stipple the dark branches. One swamp
sparrow. One savannah sparrow. White-crowned sparrows (three days running)
passing through from the density of Canada. Chipping sparrows and song
sparrows, summer holdovers (for now). Dark-eyed juncos on the ground,
foraging.
A northern flicker, headed south, screams. It's white rump flashes through
the fog. Gray catbird, emperor of lilac, supervises restless sparrows. But
has nothing to say. Yet keeps its counsel. Stymied by the fog, summer
scatting a distant memory.
*Among the Others:* Golden-crowned kinglet and brown creeper in the pines,
barely audible. American goldfinches, now the brightest birds in the
meadow, everywhere and chattering. Northern cardinal. Black-capped
chickadees and tufted titmice. Both nuthatches, red-breasted and
white-breasted, calling in the pines. The shrill of blue jays, much more
vocal than in summer. American crows and a lone common raven, high above
the hillside, somewhere beyond the fog, avian foghorns.
*Bonus Birds: *Swainson's thrush, emphatic, piercing call notes ... *whit,
whit, whit*. Yesterday afternoon, the flight calls above my house reminded
me of tree frogs, peepers on the wing. Myrtle warblers in the aspens. Palm
warbler on the ground, bobbing tail, the morning's metronome. Least
flycatcher ... *pit, pit, pit.*
*On the Rodent Frontline: *Between the lower granite slabs of the steps is
a narrow gap, an inch or two, no more. In summer, a large garter snake
wedges itself in the seam, two or three coils soaking in the late-afternoon
sun. By dusk, the gap becomes a passageway for white-footed mice bound for
the back deck and the bounty of sunflower seeds. Mice take the evening
shift; chipmunks, the daylight hours. Gray and red squirrels keep the seeds
falling in a steady, extravagant spill. (Juncos profit, too.)
Yesterday, a southern red-backed vole darted into the space between the
stones—gray-brown and hamster-like, with a chestnut saddle and bright,
dark, beady eyes. A mouse of the forest floor, it forages through the leaf
litter for succulent vegetation, berries, insect larvae, and snails. I have
never seen one scavenging sunflower seeds on the deck. In fact, I hadn't
seen a red-backed vole in several years—not since the neighborhood
barred owl plucked one from the roadside gully and carried it to a
transformer box on a nearby pole. One swallowed. One blinked.
C. Hart Merriam, the American naturalist and ethnographer, claimed
that *the flesh
of the red-backed mouse is tender and well-flavored. *Only the barred owl
knows—and keeps its counsel.
