This morning I killed TWO BIG ANTS and ONE SMALL ONE in my kitchen. I don’t think I’m being invaded this year, but I’m seeing enough of them that I’m bothered.
July 9, 2009
July 8, 2009
WEDNESDAY JULY 08, 2009
There was a MOUSE in one of my kitchen mousetraps this morning.
July 5, 2009
SUNDAY JULY 05, 2009
THE VERMONT ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY arrived at 10:00 a.m. for their ANNUAL BUTTERFLY COUNT. As usual, the event was totally disorganized. I kicked things off with a welcome and introductions. Then I started trying to move them across the road, into the meadow, and up toward the pond. A few family groups followed, but everyone else was standing around chatting. Jim Osborn was around with his net and a big plastic jar for holding whatever he could catch for observation. The problem was, there weren’t many butterflies. The sun was shining, but it was still a bit cool, and all the rain we’ve been having encouraged tall grasses and weeds but not many wildflowers. I led the families up to Bob’s Pond, where they could wander around and look for frog tadpoles and salamanders. Eventually some of the good insect people found their way up there too, and I decided to head down to where there used to be a lot of MILKWEED to see if I could find anything big and visible for folks to look at. NO MILKWEED, NO BUTTERFLIES, so I gave up and went home. My BUTTERFLY LIST was short, to say the least: VICEROY, EUROPEAN SKIPPER, FRITILLARY sp., NORTHERN PEARL CRESCENT, a CABBAGE WHITE (I think), a WOOD SATYR sp., and an EASTERN COMMA. I hope the group got a better list, but I’m not sure they did.
LATER: Jim Osborn and I hiked over to the nest Bob and I had noticed on our 4th of July walk. It’s higher up in the tree than any of the four goshawk nests. The WHITE PINE it’s in is tall but not as big around as the ones the goshawks chose. The nest looked smaller than a goshawk nest and has lots of sticks sticking out. Jim decided it was probably a CROW’S NEST.
LATER STILL: When I went up to Williston to get groceries, I saw some MILKWEED in full bloom. I guess our old milkweeds have just gotten crowded out now that Bob’s not managing the meadow for them anymore. He used to mow until he saw the MILKWEEDS STARTING UP. Then he quit mowing for the rest of the season so the MILKWEEDS could go through their annual cycle and disperse their seeds. It was labor intensive to mow the whole meadow, but the effort was rewarded by the MILKWEEDS and the BUTTERFLIES they attracted.
July 4, 2009
SATURDAY JULY 04, 2009
10:00 a.m. Bob and I decided to take a long walk from one side of the property to the other. It was overcast when we started out, but we thought we could manage some rain. First we hiked over to the Warbler Hotspot by way of Spear Memorial Highway, the Retreat, and the Yellow Trail. We heard a HERMIT THRUSH, OVENBIRD, AND YELLOWRUMP en route. At the side boundary we headed back the other way, up and over Lady’s Slipper Knoll to the Red Trail. The PINK LADY’S SLIPPERS have gone by. I guess I’ll have to skip them as long as the GOSHAWKS are nesting here. We revisited the THREE GOSHAWK NESTS in this area just to be sure we could find them again. Then we took the Red Trail back across the middle of the property. Heard a SCARLET TANAGER not far from the GOSHAWKS’ FIRST NEST. A ways beyond the intersection of the Red Trail and Lawrence Lane, we noticed another nest high up in a white pine. It didn’t look like the goshawk nests, so we didn’t know what to call it. Maybe a COOPER’S HAWK or a CROW? By the time we got to the Blue-and-White Trail, it was raining in earnest and we were getting soaked, so we headed home without getting all the way to the other side boundary. Maybe next year…. It was nice to take a long slow walk with Bob, but we both noticed how much work the trails need. I’m thinking I should spend more time clearing and marking at least my favorite trails. Back home at noon.
July 3, 2009
FRIDAY JULY 03, 2009
EARLY MORNING BIRDING WITH DAVE BROWN STARTING FROM HIGHLAND LODGE AT 6:00 A.M. It’s raining, so we decided to drive around to some of our favorite spots instead of walking the trails at Highland Lodge. We saw a TREE SWALLOW FAMILY perched on wires as we were navigating the back roads to the Black River Bridge. At Black River, we saw and/or heard a GREAT BLUE HERON, MERGANSERS sp., KINGBIRD, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS, SONG SPARROW, SNIPE, MOURNING DOVE, and RAVEN. This marshy, grassy place is very special. Maybe I should just drive up here sometimes to hang around and see what I can see. Next we went to the Mill Pond parking area on Little Hosmer. This is another special place. We didn’t see any birds out on the water, but we heard a COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, RED-EYED VIREO, and GRACKLE from the car. For our final stop we went to Sterling and drove a short distance down the Fire Pond Road, which was one our traditional before-breakfast routes during Wildbranch. Here we added a CHICKADEE, WINTER WREN, BLUE-EYED VIREO, and RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH. It rained the whole time we were out, but we had fun anyhow. By 8:00 we were ready to head back to Highland Lodge for breakfast.
July 2, 2009
THURSDAY JULY 02, 2009
Bob and I decided to mark all four GOSHAWK TREES before we forget when they nested where. NEST #1 (2006) is in a BIG WHITE PINE (so big I can’t reach around it myself) near the top of the old fencerow marked by dead BUTTERNUTS. It’s right beside the Red Trail that passes through this area. We marked it with ONE WHITE RIBBON. (NOTE: The nest is right above Station 8A of Laura Farrell’s UVM Wildlife Detection Study.) I heard a SCARLET TANAGER and OVENBIRD when we were walking away in the direction of the second nest. Also a HERMIT THRUSH in the distance. NEST #2 (2007) is in another biggish (but not as big as Year #1) WHITE PINE growing among the RED PINES near the Yellow-and-White Trail/Red Trail intersection. It’s also near one of Matt Kolan’s point count points. We marked this nest tree with TWO WHITE RIBBONS. I’m hearing a BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER, BROWN CREEPER, and OVENBIRD in the area. NEST #3 (2008) is once again in a BIG WHITE PINE (I can’t reach around it) right on the Yellow-and-White Trail not far from the Retreat. It’s a big nest easily seen from the trail. We marked it with THREE WHITE RIBBONS. NEST #4 (2009) is in another WHITE PINE that’s smaller than any of the others they chose. It’s also out in the middle of the woods a distance from the trails, but it’s visible between a pair of twin RED PINES along the Yellow-and-White Trail between nests #2 and #3. This nest seems flimsier than the other nests. While we were walking around looking for the GOSHAWK NESTS, I noticed that PARTRIDGEBERRY is BLOOMING–TWINFLOWERS that will become TWINBERRIES later in the season.
LATER: When I was driving up to Highland Lodge, I noticed that the female SUMACS have light green flower heads at the tips of their branches. I wonder if these are the flowers in bud or the flowers themselves?
June 27, 2009
SATURDAY JUNE 27, 2009
On the early morning bird walk we hiked up tail behind the dorm in the direction of the Everett Mansion. We heard or saw a REDSTART, ROBIN, VEERY, DOWNY WOODPECKER, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, CATBIRD, OVENBIRD, BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER, TUFTED TITMOUSE, WOOD THRUSH, PEWEE, and CHICKADEE. I decided to hike back down on my own and got a beautiful view of a SCARLET TANAGER perched on a leafless branch at the top of a tall tree. I also heard a BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER, MOURNING DOVE, RED-EYED VIREO, and SONG SPARROW. The weather forecast predicted more rain, so I decided to leave after breakfast. On my way home I stopped for a picnic lunch at a fishing access a little ways off Route 30. I couldn’t find the fishing access I vaguely remembered from old camping trips to Half Moon State park, so I turned off in the other direction and climbed uphill a ways to a small pond with a name that begins with a B.
June 26, 2009
FRIDAY JUNE 26, 2009
I’m at Southern Vermont College in Bennington for Bird and Botanical’s Annual Meeting. Went on the early morning bird walk and dropped behind the group to poke along with Barbara Walling. We heard or saw RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS, a WOOD THRUSH, GOLDFINCH, CEDAR WAXWING, YELLOW WARBLER, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, SONG SPARROW, SCARLET TANAGER RED-EYED VIREO, CATBIRD, KILLDEER CHICKADEE, CROW, PURPLE FINCH, MOURNING DOVE, and HOUSE SPARROW. We also heard a BULLFROG croaking from the pond in front of the dorm.
After breakfast, I went on the field trip to the New England Tropical Conservancy. NETC is an odd organization that does most of its research in Indonesia but has ambitious plans for their property in Bennington. In the meantime, they have a big open green space with wetlands here and there and a corridor for the future Bennington bypass cutting right through it, a gravel road already in place. I hung out with Phillip Ballou because he always identifies the birds and butterflies as we poke along. On our way there he heard an INDIGO BUNTING and a ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. When we first got out of the car we heard a WOOD THRUSH. On the walk, we heard or saw a GOLDFINCH, SONG SPARROW, PHOEBE, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, ROBIN, SWAMP SPARROW, MOURNING DOVE, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH, GRAY CATBIRD, INDIGO BUNTING, WARBLING VIREO, YELLOW WARBLER, BARN SWALLOW, GRACKLE, VEERY, RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, CARDINAL, KINGBIRD, WILLOW FLYCATCHER, TREE SWALLOW, BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER, BLUE JAYS, ALDER FLYCATCHER, and DOWNY WOODPECKER. Also Phillip caught an EASTERN COMMA in his butterfly net. We got rained on a bit, and I realized that my jacket was more of a windbreaker than a raincoat. I got soaked through. We went on to Shaftsbury State Park for our picnic lunch and our afternoon field trip. I stayed for the picnic, but I was cold and wet so I opted to leave when one driver decided to go back to campus. When it cleared I wandered around the campus, which has lots of trails. On my way up to the Everett Mansion I heard a REDSTART, PEWEE, AND BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER. Along the CARRIAGE ROAD, I heard a ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK and saw several RED EFTS. When I got back to the Mansion, I decided to hike up to the top of the fountain on the far side of the courtyard and heard an OVENBIRD there.
June 25, 2009
THURSDAY JUNE 25, 2009
When I was in St. George this morning, I noticed that the CATTAILS look like they’re ready to release their pollen.
June 24, 2009
WEDNESDAY JUNE 24, 2009
I noticed lots of CHICORY IN BLOOM along I-189 in South Burlington today. First I’ve seen this year.
