Northwest Park

After work on Sunday, we went back to Windsor's Northwest Park, to try for the Red-headed Woodpecker again. It's a young male, seen regularly in a pretty restricted patch of woods. The afternoon was sunny and bright, but very cold, and as we walked into the park it was clear that there had been a big winter festival the day before. There were still signs up for various activities at the Cabin Fever Festival, dog-sledding this way, ice carving that way.

Howling wolf carved in crystal-clear ice


Detail of the head. It's okay to leave your Ice-Wolf outside if it's only 15 degrees F.


Jorge looking for woodpeckers in the treetops


Red-headed Woodpecker, Melanerpes erythrocephalus, young male

According to Cornell University's All About Birds, this woodpecker is one of only four known to cache food. It is the only one known to then cover the food, such as insects and seeds, with bits of bark. Grasshoppers are regularly cached alive!, but wedged so tightly that they cannot escape.

Today's birders: Jorge and Sue
Today's birds:
Red-headed Woodpecker, Melanerpes erythrocephalus
Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens
Pileated Woodpecker, Dryocopus pileatus
American Robin, Turdus migratorius
Black-capped Chickadee, Poecile atricapillus
Brown Creeper, Certhia americana
White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis
House Sparrow, Passer domesticus

River Birding

Max's view:
Bald Eagles and Harlequin Duck
Last Saturday Jorge, Sebastian, and I were watching a documentary about bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) from PBS Nature. We were very interested in Bald Eagles and then we decided that it would be good to see one for real. We heard about a couple of birds in the meadows of the Conneticut river in Rocky Hill.

Ice on the Connecticut River at Rocky Hill Meadows

After driving for 1/2 an hour we got extremely lucky and found not one but two birds sitting in their nest. They were pretty far away from us and even through our telescope we coudn't see them very well. Then we drove to the Farmington river in Farmington in search of a Harlequin duck. We found the Harlequin duck close to shore and we saw two more bald eagles perched together in a tree across the river.

Harlequin Duck, Histrionicus histrionicus, male
A Brief history on bald eagles
In 1782 the bald eagle was picked to be our national bird over the turkey. They hunt from their trees and will then grab a fish and then return to their perch to eat. They are very fierce looking birds with completly white heads and tails when they reach maturity. The juveniles are often mistaken for golden eagles since they are brown in color.

Bald Eagles, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, in Sycamore tree beside Farmington River in Farmington
Max 2/1/10

Photo of ice (above) by Maximiliano de Leon Aubrey, bird photos by Jorge de Leon.

Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias, Great Meadows at Rocky Hill

Saturday's outing for Bald Eagles took us through the Meadows at Rocky Hill, where a pair is nesting. While there, we also saw three Red-tailed Hawks, a Great Blue Heron and a huge flock of blackbirds - one of those airborne rivers of birds!

River of Blackbirds, Rocky Hill

I saw it! I saw the heron!

Next we drove to Farmington to photograph the Harlequin Duck below the dam at the Grist Mill on the Farmington River.

Harlequin Duck, Histrionicus histrionicus, male, actively feeding in the turbulent water below the dam.

Sharing this patch of turbulent water were several barnyard geese, Mallards, American Black Duck, a Red-breasted Merganser and many Canada Geese. Here also was another pair of Bald Eagles, directly across the river from us.

White barnyard Geese, Anser cygnoides hybrid

Gray Barnyard Goose, Anser anser or Anser cygnoides hybrid

Today's birders: Max, Sebastian, Monica and Jorge

Today's birds:

Canada Goose, Branta canadensis

Harlequin Duck, Histrionicus histrionicus

Red-breasted Merganser, Mergus serrator

Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos

Black Duck, Anas rubripes

Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis

Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias

European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris

Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus

No new birds for the 2010 State list.

Rhode Island and West Haven

Thursday January 27, 2010
Rhode Island, Newport and Middletown

Eastons Pond, Easton Beach, Purgatory Road to Purgatory Chasm, Norman Bird Sanctuary
Common Loon, Gavia immer - Easton Beach (EB)
Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo - Eastons Pond (EP)
Canada Goose, Branta canadensis - EP
Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos - EB & EP
American Black Duck, Anas rubripes - EB & EP
Greater Scaup, Aythya marila - EB
Common Eider, Somaterial mollissima - EB
Surf Scoter, Melanitta perspicillata - EB
Bufflehead, Bucephala albeola - EB
Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus - EP
Common Merganser, Mergus merganser -
Ruddy Duck, Oxyura jamaicensis - EP
Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis - EP & EB
Herring Gull, Larus argentatus -
Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura - Norman Bird Sanctuary (NBS)
Rock Pigeon, Columba livia -
Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens - NBS
American Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos - NBS & EB
Black-capped Chickadee, Poecile atricapillus - NBS
American Robin, Turdus migratorius - NBS
European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris -
Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis - NBS
Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia - EP
House Sparrow, Passer domesticus - NBS feeders

Friday January 29, 2010
Connecticut, New Haven to West Haven

Flying over Quinnipiac River at I-91:
Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, immature

West Haven Boat Launch, 7:30am
Brant, Branta bernicla
Mute Swan, Cygnus olor (counted 200)
Lesser Scaup, Aythya affinis
Greater Scaup, Aythya marila
American Wigeon, Anas americana
Gadwall, Anas strepera
Rock Pigeon, Columba livia
Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis

West Haven, South Beach:
Herring Gull, Larus argentatus
Great Black-backed Gull, Larus marinus
Horned Grebe, Podiceps auritus
Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura

shoreline map with Oyster River at lower end (see words 'Ocean Avenue') and South Beach at upper edge (see words 'West Shore')

West Haven, beach at Oyster River:
Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis
American Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos
Fish Crow, Corvus ossifragus

Milford, Silver Sands State Park
Northern Harrier, Circus cyaneus
Red-throated Loon, Gavia stellata

Eight new birds for Jorge's 2010 Connecticut list, bringing the year total to 68 birds.

A Beautiful Day in Provincetown, but another dip.

As I mentioned in the previous post, there's another dip to report... for the last two weeks everyone has been trying to get the Ivory Gull. First seen in Hampton, New Hampshire on Monday January 11th, at 2 p.m, it gradually made its way southward to Massachusetts, and was reported Thursday the 14th from Provincetown, at Race Point.

Race Point Light, Provincetown, Massachusetts

The bird stayed until Sunday, and observers noticed this routine: early in the morning the gull would fly to the south end of the Race Point parking area and walk north all day, to Race Point. Along the way it was seen to feed on amphipods and carrion. Many people posted great photos of this beautiful bird, and reported that the gull seemed undisturbed by the flocks of humans following it.

Calidris alba, Sanderling, Race Point, Cape Cod National Seashore, MA

We didn't read about the Ivory Gull until late in the day Saturday (having spent the day at Bluff Point in Groton), and Jorge had to work Sunday, though he was tempted to go for the bird instead. Monday a storm blew in, and the bird was not seen again. Thursday January 21st Jorge took a required furlough day and decided to head to Cape Cod, on the chance he could find the Ivory Gull still at Race Point.

empty beach at Race Point, early morning, very low tide

Leaving home at 5am, he was geared up and on the beach at 7:55, under a beautiful blue sky. The ocean was fairly calm as he walked the beach all the way to the lighthouse at Race Point, scanning the gull flocks for the Ivory, enjoying views of Red-breasted Mergansers and at least two species of whale! The continental shelf is narrow along Cape Cod, allowing Humpbacks, Fin Whales and other large species to swim in deep water, yet be observed easily from the shore.

There was an active flock of Sanderling, Snow Buntings in the dunes, a few alcids seen in the distance, a few Northern Gannets,

To keep this story from rambling too much, by 12:30pm Jorge was back at the car, having walked up and down the beach, encountering just one other birder, and no Ivory Gull. The story continues... Saturday afternoon January 23rd, an Ivory Gull was reported from Westport, Massachusetts, just a stone's throw from the Rhode Island border. By now any Connecticut birder who did NOT get up to see the bird in Provincetown was on full alert. If this gull keeps on a westward trajectory it will be a new state record.There were birders on both sides of the state line all day Sunday watching for the Ivory Gull, with one possible sighting. Today, Monday January 25th, a big storm blew in, with south winds, torrential rain and temperatures in the fifties.

After leaving Race Point, Jorge drove into Provincetown to see what was in the protected harbor there, and found the ducks in close, and easy to photograph on the calm water.

Somateria mollissima, Common Eider, male

Mergus serrator, Red-breasted Merganser, female

Bucephala clangula, Common Goldeneye, male in sunset light

Sunset at Indian Point, Wellfleet, Massachusetts.

Two Rarities and a Double-Dip

Rarities are, well, just what it sounds like, a bird that is rarely seen in a particular location or time of year. Double-dip may not be as transparent a term. I think we discovered it while reading Sean Dooley's book, The Big Twitch: One Man, One Continent, a Race Against Time - a True Story About Birdwatching. Dipping is when you've gone for a rarity and you don't find it! Double-dip is my term - two dips.

We've been keeping up with Connecticut and Massachusetts' bird alerts through birdingonthe.net. The page is not intuitive to navigate through, so here's the drill: click on Regional/Specialty under Mailing lists, then scroll down quite a bit until you find the regions, then choose the one you want. For us, of course, it's the Eastern US group: Massachusetts and Connecticut Birds.

On January 12th, Connecticut Birds reported a drake Harlequin Duck on the Farmington River in the center of the town of Farmington. Not unusual to find these on the coast of Massachusetts in winter, but inland? on a small river? that's something worth getting out of bed early for! The birder who first noticed this duck also keeps a blog, here's her post for that day: http://quodlibet-sarah.blogspot.com/2010/01/down-by-riverside.html

The following day, we arrived at the described location before sunrise, allowing plenty of time to look for the bird before heading off to work. The air was still and quite cold, and the mixed flocks of geese and ducks were just stirring below us on the still-dark river. As daylight increased we could make out Black Ducks, Mallards, Canada Geese, Common and Red-breasted Mergansers.

The roosting flocks gradually broke apart and began drifting in small bunches, honking noisily as they foraged. Ten, twenty minutes passed - we walked downstream aways, then back up, scanning all of the hiding places where a small duck could be. I checked the description again, of the exact spot where the Harlequin Duck had been seen yesterday - look for the fallen tree on the opposite shore, where the tree is bare and yellowish.

Okay, try again. I've got it! We quickly set up the telescope to watch this gorgeous creature feeding, preening, swimming around the fallen tree. There is not enough light for a good photo, so we give up on digiscoping. After several minutes we lose sight of the duck, then two more before-work-birders arrive, and four of us are scanning the shores. Another ten, fifteen minutes pass, and the Harlequin reappears from behind the same fallen tree.

We filmed this flock of Harlequin Ducks a year ago on our winter birding trip to Cape Ann, Massachussets. December 27th, 2008 we were at Rockport's Pigeon Cove, and this flock along with two others were on the ocean-side of the granite breakwater.

Harlequin Duck, Histrionicus histrionicus, by J.deLeon

Sunday afternoon the 17th, we went for the Red-headed Woodpecker that's been hanging around a particular patch of woods in Windsor's Northwest Park. This was an after-work outing under low clouds and light rain, and it proved to be a rather dark afternoon. Again, there were very specific directions as to which section of which trail the bird frequents, so we made our way. Woodpeckers respond well to playback, but we came without iPod, and nobody responded to Pishing. For our chilly, wet afternoon, we had four Mourning Doves, a Black-capped Chickadee and all of the barnyard House Sparrows. We will definitely return to this park some day, there are many trails to explore, woods, fields and a few ponds, streams and other wetlands.

This is how a typical post to the birding list serve reads: from Joanne Luppi, 1-18-10, Durham, Johnson Lane, SANDHILL CRANE in cornfield, about midway between Haddam Quarter Rd. and Maiden Lane. So, in the course of a few days, we're all checking mapquest and making our collective way to Johnson Lane. After work Tuesday the 19th, Jorge enticed a grad student from UConn, Chris Fiondella, to drive to Durham to try for the crane. It was dusk when they arrived, and only got darker and darker - with no crane to be seen.

Not to be discouraged, we prepared for an early departure the next morning, and arrived at the cornfield just at 7, with the sun barely touching the treetops. We parked (both cars) alongside the road, and had a look around. Observations of the crane from yesterday's birders all said the bird seemed to favor a rise in the middle of the field, which is where we focused our immediate attention. No crane. Next move?

The morning air again was quiet, and cold enough to freeze yesterday's thawed mud into solid ridges along the dirt track through the cornfield. A well-behaved birder would have watched from the paved road, but we scampered to the back of the field, crossed the little brook at the wooded border and emerged in another field. Still no crane to be seen. We hopped into one car and circled the country block, pausing to scan every field and stream along the way. At one stop, Lynn Jones caught up with us, and we continued together. Johnson Lane, Maiden Lane and Haddam Quarter Road describe a rough triangle, no more than a mile on the long sides.

Eventually after an hour of driving, walking and scanning fields with no sign of the crane, Lynn and I had to get along to work. Jorge had excused himself until 10am so he stayed on, circled the block again and returned to the cornfield. Walking the wooded border at the back of the field he heard the crane call! (we had studied the calls the previous evening), and the sound seemed to come from an adjacent field. He drove around again, but could not gain access to that field -- so back to the Johnson Lane cornfield.

Now there was another birder just pulling a 'scope out of his car, and there in the middle of the dirt track, where we had both walked an hour and a half before, stood the crane. Jorge's thought was, after seeing that bird in my head so many times, and in images from books, nothing compared to having it right in front of me. It was so elegant, the plumage was fresh and fluffy, the colors on the head were striking.

Grus canadensis, Sandhill Crane, Durham, Connecticut, 20 January 2010, J.deLeon photo

The other birder turned out to be Don Morgan, from Coventry, who goes out birding every day, and posts very actively to our Natchaug Ornithological Society listserve, as well as to the Connecticut lists. Don gladly shared his good scope with Jorge as a crowd of birders gathered. Within half an hour of the first sighting of the morning, Don, Jorge, three couples and another guy were all admiring the crane.

Grus canadensis, Sandhill Crane, J. deLeon photo

Where was the bird when I was there? It was still too cold, the ground was still solid, foraging would have to wait until the air was warmer? Lynn was able to get back in the afternoon to see the crane, but I never did. It was last seen flying away from the cornfield at 10am the next day.

Grus canadensis, Sandhill Crane, J.deLeon photo

I mentioned a double dip, the next dip I think I'll just put in another posting, as this post is already rather too long for my standards.

Two new species to add to our Connecticut Year List, bringing the total to 57.

Bluff Point State Park, Groton

View from Bluff Point looking west toward Bluff Point Beach

Saturday promised to be sunny and warm, for a change, so we packed up for an expedition to Bluff Point State Park in Groton. (Wow, the DEP's website sure could use some new photos). Just 53 miles and a little over an hour from home, this beautiful patch of Connecticut coastal forest, sandy beach and rocky shore, is a real treasure for outdoors-lovers. I can't wait to go back during spring migration! The large parking area is unregulated (no fee, lots of potholes), and even on a January day, picnickers had the grills fired up, dog-walkers were in abundance and we four tromped happily along snowy-muddy trails with our binoculars.

Bluff Point State Park map

Adjacent to the parking lot is the Poquonock River, which this day held abundant gulls and diving ducks.
Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis
Herring Gull, Larus argentatus
Great Black-backed Gull, Larus marinus
Red-breasted Merganser, Mergus serrator
Common Merganser, Mergus merganser
Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus
Ring-necked Duck, Aythya collaris
Common Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula
Bufflehead, Bucephala albeola
Mute Swan, Cygnus olor
Common Loon, Gavia immer
Along the far shore, near the Groton-New London airport, a male Northern Harrier flew by, fast and low.

Max relaxing on bench at Bluff Point, Sebastian bouldering

Emerging from the woods at Bluff Point, we admired the view, but added only Common Eider to our bird list. We added zero birds as we walked along the wooded trail to the bluff, not a peep was heard. Perhaps this side of the point was too windy? Continuing along the way to Mumford Point, we alternately walked the rocky shore itself, and the brier-and-beach-rose-lined footpath.

Sebastian and Max exploring a glacial erratic

Detail showing eons of wave action on granite

A trickle of snowmelt on granite ledges

By now, stomachs are beginning to rumble, and once we round the corner of Mumford Point and are out of the wind, we choose a picnic rock. Bread and cheese never tasted so good!

Picnic rock at Mumford Point, Sebastian, Max, Jorge, Sue

Bird activity picked up a little after lunch - there was less wind in the woods, and the tide was falling out in Mumford Cove.

Birds onshore:

White-throated Sparrow

Northern Cardinal

Tree Sparrow

Birds offshore:

Horned Grebe, Podiceps auritus

Black-bellied Plover, Pluvialis squatarola

Dunlin, Calidris alpina

Walking the sandy edges along Mumford Cove, we found many scallop shells, large channeled whelks, a few whelk egg cases, razor clams, quahogs, slipper shells, jingle shells, crabs, lobsters and more.

Swirls of garnet-laden beach sand

Heading back along the woodland trail to return to our car, we picked up a few more birds:

Black-capped Chickadee, Poecile atricapillus

American Robin, Turdus migratorius, more than fifty

White-breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis

Red-bellied Woodpecker, Melanerpes carolinus

Tufted Titmouse, Baeolophus bicolor

With the sun still up at 4:15, but low, we drove in search of more waterbirds. Along the Mystic River we added:

American Black Duck, Anas rubripes

Mallard, Anas brachyrhynchos

Canada Goose, Branta canadensis

Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias

Total species count for the day was 32, and we added five new species to our year list, in boldface, bringing the total to 56.

Happy Birding!

Hammonasset State Park, in search of a King Eider

We both had Friday afternoon free, and a King Eider had just been reported from Hammonasset Beach State Park, so we headed to the coast for a look around.  As soon as we entered the park, a female Northern Harrier came into view, cruising the saltmarsh - always a beautiful bird to watch.

We flushed a few Black Ducks from one of the drainage canals near the entrance road, then continued out to Meig's Point.  Leaving the parking area and walking the Moraine Trail out to the point, we immediately heard the cries of small shorebirds. 

Sanderling, Calidris alba, and Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria interpres

A mixed flock of Sanderling, Ruddy Turnstones and Purple Sandpipers was feeding among the seaweed-covered beach cobbles.  Several Ring-billed Gulls stood watch over the little guys - waiting for scraps to be stirred up?  Not much farther along, and quite close to shore, a female Common Goldeneye was sunning on a seaweed-covered rock.

Common Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula, female

In the scrubby trees along the Moraine Trail, several Yellow-rumped Warblers chipped from time to time, but only one showed itself, flashing white tail spots as it flew across the path in front of me.  Quite a ways out in Long Island Sound were several Common Loons, with a high count of three.  In close to the rocky coast were Red-breasted Mergansers, fishing alongside the Harbor Seals.

Jorge at the end of Meigs Point, Hammonasset State Park

Emerging from the sheltered trail onto the exposed point, we had several treats... the King Eider was indeed bobbing way out at the end of the rocks, diving and feeding with a small group of R-b Mergs.  We privately admired those birders before us who had made the careful identification, since a fellow on the trail just a few minutes ago had scoffed and said 'save yourselves the hike, it's just a Common in wierd plumage'.  The best field marks, with our little spotting scope, were the short pale beak and the complete lack of white on the back.  Then, to help us out, a first-winter Common Eider paddled in close to the breakwater near our observation point.

Ebbing tide with rockweed and periwinkles

Way out on the far mud flats a large group of shorebirds was busily feeding, among the 80+ Dunlin were four Black-bellied Plovers!  Then right in front of us the earlier mixed flock landed (Ruddy Turnstones, four Sanderling and two Purple Sandpipers) and with the late afternoon sun highlighting feather details they were a bunch of gorgeous chicks.

Today's birders: Jorge and Sue

Today's birds:

species in boldface are new for our Connecticut Year List

Northern Harrier, Circus cyaneus

Cooper's Hawk, Accipiter cooperii

Common Loon, Gavia immer

Mute Swan, Cygnus olor

Black Duck, Anas rubripes

Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos

Common Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula

Red-breasted Merganser, Mergus serrator

King Eider, Somateria spectabilis

Common Eider, Somateria mollissima

Herring Gull, Larus argentatus

Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis

Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria interpres

Sanderling, Calidris alba

Purple Sandpiper, Calidris maritima

Dunlin, Calidris alpina

Black-bellied Plover, Pluvialis squatarola

Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura

Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus

Yellow-rumped Warbler, Dendroica coronata

Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia

Our year species total from today, January 15th, comes to 51.

Happy Birding!

Amazing Birds Of The Early Snow

Sebastian's View
I closed my book and went into the office, there Max and Sue were doing something. I asked Max what he was doing. He said he was making the Bird Yard List. It was snowing. I helped with the bird list by finding different birds. At first we saw no Downie woodpeckers, then kept seeing them! We saw a lot of Juncos and  Titmouses. The funny thing is I only saw 1 Chickadee!

Carolina Wren on the left and Junco on the right

Tufted Titmouse

Black-capped Chickadee

Blue Jay

American Goldfinch

Downy Woodpecker

New Year's Day, 2010!

Yale Forest, Nipmuck Trail

We begin the year on a fairly pleasant Friday, temperature in the high 30's, partly sunny skies, new snow just about covers the grass. Our first bird walk of the year will be in the Yale Forest in Westford/Union. As usual we take guesses as to the species total. Max goes for 9, Sebastian guesses 17, Sue goes for 10 and Jorge chooses 20. Along the way, our first stop near an old farm produces nine species right off the bat!

1. American Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos

2. Brown-headed Cowbird, Molothrus ater

3. House Sparrow, Passer domesticus

4. Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis

5. Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata

6. Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus

7. Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura

8. Tree Sparrow, Spizella arborea

9. White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis

Ascending the Nipmuck Trail

Farther along the road, a seemingly random pile of birdseed has attracted a LOT of attention!

10. Black-capped Chickadee, Poecile atricapillus

11. Tufted Titmouse, Baeolophus bicolor

12. White-breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis

13. Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis

14. Dark-eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis

15. Red-bellied Woodpecker, Melanerpes carolinus

Jorge, Max, Sebastian with blue blaze on tree to right

We hike into the Yale Forest along the blue-blazed Nipmuck Trail, starting from a pull-off on Boston Hollow Road. Snow still clings to granite ledges, fern-covered boulders and Hemlock branches, and the air has that bright, clean smell of fresh snow. This is a beautiful forest to walk through any time of year, it's a southern pocket of boreal forest right here in Connecticut. We might hope for a raven, boreal chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch or pileated woodpecker - instead we see:

16. Golden-crowned Kinglet, Regulus satrapa
17. Hairy Woodpecker, Picoides villosus

At the height of land on top of the ridge, we take a rest and enjoy a view out to the east. The hike down goes much more quickly than the ascent and we're back at the road before we know it - though at 4:30 pm it's worth a try to call up a Barred Owl -- but no luck. The drive home yields no additional species, so with a total of seventeen, Sebastian is declared "winner". Below, a short video of a trickling stream crossing the trail.

New Year's Eve

With snow in the forecast, we headed out to fill the birdfeeders this morning.  The birds quickly responded, and we had quite a flock of Dark-eyed Juncos, two Carolina Wrens, Downy Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jays.  No sparrows, and none of the larger woodpeckers appeared.

Sebastian enjoying the snow

A few hours later, after the snow had stopped, we walked through the cornfield and down to Roaring Brook to see what we could see.  No animals had made tracks in the snow yet, and we saw no new birds, but it was good to be out in the woods in that time of quiet after a new snowfall.

Roaring Brook, collecting snow and reflecting bare trees

Max inside a fortress of Hemlock boughs

Barberry, Berberis thunbergii - very little fruit left on these bushes.  These berries and those of the Oriental Bittersweet are an important food source for overwintering birds.