The 2025 Brattleboro CBC will be held on Saturday, December 20th. All are welcome to join us for the count and/or the compilation potluck. For more information and to sign up, please click the below link.
Join us on January 25 at Lucky 13 Farm in Winchester, NH for a guided bird walk.
For more details and to register: Workshops
One way to support migratory songbirds is to buy Smithsonian Bird Friendly Certified Coffee. Bird Friendly farms are paid a premium in exchange for providing quality habitat by maintaining foliage cover and not using pesticides. Species that have been shown to use Central American, South American, and Caribbean coffee farms as habitat include scarlet tanager, wood thrush, rose-breasted grosbeak, eastern wood pewee, ovenbird, golden-winged warbler, magnolia warbler and many others.
The Brattleboro Food Coop is now stocking Dean’s Beans MIGRATION CELEBRATION, which carries USDA Organic, Fair Trade Federation, and Smithsonian Bird Friendly certification. It tastes really good, especially this time of year :)
Above: Top left: A male common eider viewed from Granit Pier. Top Right: Birders scope the waters from Niles Pond. Bottom Left: Great Cormorants along Bass Rocks. Bottom Right: A male bufflehead
Below: Top left: birders appreciate a Harlequin Duck up close from Granite Pier. Top right: Black Scoters swimming below Halibut Point State Park. Bottom left: a lone Brant at Granite Pier. Bottom right: birding along Bass Rocks.
Above: Top left: A White-winged Scoter Top right: A great cormorant viewed close up. Bottom left: the sun begins to set behind Halibut Point. Bottom right: A male Harlequin Duck.
Below: Left: A pair of Long-tailed ducks at Parker River NWR. Right: A male red-breasted Merganser.
We recently completed a much-anticipated field trip to the Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area in Addison County, Vermont. We had an unseasonably warm day with abundant sunshine. The great weather and a great turnout of eager birders made for a wonderful day of birding. Highlights included more than 2,000 snow geese seen taking off from the Goose Viewing Area on Route 17. The flock took a dramatic flight over the Adirondacks, drawing plenty of "oohs" and "ahs" from the crowd.
We spent a couple of hours chasing some unexpected rarities that were reported from the Crown Point Bridge - a Northern Gannett and a Razorbill. Neither bird is a common find inland. Some of the group had some success with the razorbill, viewed at a great distance from some expert birder's spotting scopes. At least one member of the party saw the Gannett in flight while we were driving over the bridge.
Other exciting finds included white-winged scoters, horned grebes, snow buntings and great views of several Northern Harriers. We finished the day of birding at Gage Road, where we were treated to a stunning sunset and beautiful views of a couple of Short-eared Owls.
Members of the group search for the Razorbill from the NY side of Lake Champlain
Birders look for waterfowl from Oven Point, in Vermont.
Sunset from Gage Road, while waiting for the owls to wake up
Moonrise over Gage Road
Snow Geese in flight
Snow Geese take off from the Goose Viewing Area
Skeins of Snow Geese over the Adirondacks
Birders watching for Short-eared Owls at Gage Road.
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