Tag Archives: killdeer

Early Morning Looking for Rusty Blackbirds

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Purple Finch Singing Up a Storm

Purple Finch Singing Up a Storm

I will tell you right off I was not successful in finding Rusty Blackbirds. The day was right, the habitat was perfect, but they were just not around. They don’t stay here. They just pass through on their way north this time of year. I was hoping I might catch a few along their way. Not today.

I rose pretty early and was up at the South Hero Marsh Trail by 6:00. It was a cloudy day so it was just light and the birds were already singing. The trail is an old rail bed so it is pretty much a straight line, running alongside a marsh with reedy areas and open water. I could hear geese out on the  water and a loon called a few times. Grackles and Red-Winged Blackbirds and Robins were trying to outdo each other. The place is thick with silver maples and large wet areas, puddles of a sort, dot the forest floor. I was hoping one of the rust-colored blackbirds might be flipping leaves looking for some breakfast next to one of those puddles. Breakfast, apparently, was served elsewhere today.

Perfect Place to Find Rusty Blackbirds

Perfect Place to Find Rusty Blackbirds

I did find a lot of birds. Woodpeckers ruled the place–Flickers and Downies and Hairies. I got a good look at a Golden Crowned Kinglet, my first sighting of the year, and then another of a Ruby Crowned Kinglet. I saw Wood Ducks and Green-Winged Teal and watched a Purple Finch sing up the morning. Ospreys soared overheard, crying out, and Snipes whistled over the wetland. It was a great morning to be out, even if it was chilly enough for the down jacket.

I stopped for coffee on the way home. The cashier asked if I was going fishing. Fishing season opened last weekend in Vermont. I told her I was not. I had already been out for two hours but I just said “No, not today. Good day for it though.” And I headed home, looking forward to a hot omelet.

Kiildeer trying to sneak by

Kiildeer trying to sneak by

Sneak Peak at Spring

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Blue Sky Day

Blue Sky Day

We’ve got Camel’s Hump and the waxing moon and a little snow and blue sky, not to mention 41 degrees. That is your fine spring scene for you. The road was a bit muddy–really muddy on the edges. I got sucked in a bit when I was forced over by a passing truck. No matter–I cleaned off my boots in the grainy snow.

I walked out to get some air and to see what I could see. The afternoon was stunning, I tell you. I unzipped my jacket. I took off my gloves. I watched a red tailed hawk soar out over the fields and catch dinner. I was feeling pretty good. At the river I stopped and examined it for a bit. I saw lots of ice with water pooled on top, animal tracks criss-crossing the wet snow on the surface, and just a small area of open water. Soon there will be beavers and mallards and kingfishers here.

Not much open water right now

Not much open water right now

Almost back to the house and I heard something I haven’t heard since fall–the echoing call of a killdeer. I thought I might have been mistaken. Perhaps it was just a robin behind some trees, the sound twisted by the landscape? So I listened. I heard it again. Then I spotted it way out there–white and brown moving against the white and brown. I tromped over the snow and ice and dried grass until I got close enough to see it well. Then I heard another and spotted that one, too. Then another. Now that is a sign that spring is just about here.

Killdeer here early

Killdeer here early

Tomorrow it is forecast to snow. A lot. We might get a foot or more by the time it stops. The annual battle between winter and spring seems to have begun. We will enjoy the snow–sledding, skiing, digging. I imagine the snow will not stick around long. Then we will enjoy spring. Winter and spring both offer a lot to amaze me. I can’t go wrong this time of year.