Walks are free for Mad Birders with a suggested donation for others.
Annual membership rates are available. Check the Mad Birder website
(madbirders.org). Contact Pat Folsom (496-3663,
This spring and summer's walks are as follows:
Saturday,
May 1 - Perry Hill, Waterbury, Graham Bates: Meet at the parking lot
just beyond Ice Center (take a right off Route 2 after crossing the
bridge on the south end of Waterbury Village) at 7:30 a.m. Wear sturdy
footwear, bring water. Moderate uphill hike.
Thursday, May 5 --
Mad River Path, Meadow Road, Nancy Turner: Meet at Meadow Road parking
lot at 7 a.m., rain or shine.
Saturday, May 8 - Crosshaven Ranch,
Scott and Pat Sainsbury: Meet at Sainsbury's (2 miles north of Moretown
on Route 100B, turn on Spillway Road) at 7:30 a.m.
Thursday, May
13 - Mad River Path, Tremblay Road, Jeannie Elias: Tremblay Road
parking lot (near intersection of Tremblay and North Roads) at 7 a.m.
Saturday,
May 16 -- Knoll Farm, Ann Day and Nancy Turner: Meet at Knoll Farm on
Bragg Hill Road at 8 a.m.
Thursday, May 20 - Mad River Path at
Big Picture Loop, Jeannie Elias: Meet at Big Picture parking lot at 7:30
a.m. This is also an event in the Mad River Path's Walk and Roll Event.
Sunday,
May 23 - Center Fayston, Jeannie Elias: Meet at Shaw's at 7:30 a.m. to
carpool to Center Fayston site.
Thursday, May 27 - Freeman Hill,
Jeannie Elias: Meet at cemetery on Freeman Hill Road, Moretown, at 7
a.m.
Saturday, May 29 - Ward Hill, Fred and Chris Pratt: Meet at
Pratt's on Route 100, Duxbury, at 7:30 a.m. to carpool to Ward Hill.
This is a three-hour walk.
The Mad River Valley features a
variety of habitats, each attracting various species of birds. Habitats
include: deciduous woods (hardwoods), coniferous woods (softwoods),
mixed woods, wetlands, grasslands and agricultural lands, residential,
alpine (mountaintops). Most birds are active early in the morning and
late afternoon. Often there is a burst of activity as the sun hits
treetops.
Year-round residents include: Sharp-shinned hawk,
Cooper's hawk, red-tailed hawk, ruffed grouse, wild turkey, rock dove,
mourning dove, barred owl, Northern saw-whet owl, downy woodpecker,
hairy woodpecker, pileated woodpecker, blue jay, American crow, common
raven, black-capped chickadee, tufted titmouse, red-breasted nuthatch,
white-breasted nuthatch, brown creeper, golden-crowned kinglet, European
starling, cedar waxwing, dark-eyed junco, northern cardinal, purple
finch, house finch, American goldfinch, evening grosbeak.
Spring
migration begins in late February, early March, but really heats up in
April and May. Some birds nest here, some are passing through to nest
further north. Below is a list of Vermont arrival dates, compiled from
the Vermont Field Card by Jeannie Elias. Many birders find it a useful
tool. (m) indicates that birds are only seen in migration.
@SUBHEAD
= April
Week 1: Osprey, yellow-bellied sapsucker, winter wren,
Savannah sparrow.
Week 2: American bittern, ruby-crowned kinglet
(m), hermit thrush, yellow-rumped warbler, pine warbler, palm warbler
(m), swamp sparrow, white-throated sparrow
Week 3: Barn swallow,
blue-headed vireo, Louisiana waterthrush.
Week 4: Long-tailed
duck (m), solitary sandpiper, spotted sandpiper, chimney swift, Eastern
kingbird, cliff swallow, house wren, marsh wren, brown thrasher,
black-throated green warbler, black-and-white warbler, chipping sparrow.
May
Week
1: Ruby-throated hummingbird, least flycatcher, great-crested
flycatcher, veery, wood thrush, gray catbird, warbling vireo, Nashville
warbler, northern parula, yellow warbler, chestnut-sided warbler,
magnolia warbler, black-throated blue warbler, blackburnian warbler,
American redstart, ovenbird, northern waterthrush, scarlet tanager,
rose-breasted grosbeak, white-crowned sparrow (m), bobolink, Baltimore
oriole.
Week 2: Swainson's thrush, red-eyed vireo, Tennessee
warbler (m), Philadelphia vireo (m), Cape May warbler (m), bay-breasted
warbler (m), mourning warbler, Wilson's warbler (m), Canada warbler,
indigo bunting, Lincoln's sparrow (m).
Week 3: Black-billed
cuckoo, common nighthawk, Eastern wood-peewee, yellow-bellied
flycatcher, alder flycatcher, willow flycatcher, Bicknell's thrush,
cedar waxwing, blackpoll warbler.
Week 4: Common yellowthroat.
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