Grosbeaks and waxwings ramping up

 I have mentioned the arrival of Pine Grosbeaks and Bohemian Waxwings to northern Vermont. It's now looking like an actual invasion winter for both of these species.

Pine Grosbeak

The flocks of this winter visitor to our neighborhood have been steadily building. Today, we estimate a flock to be at 50 birds. It started when we saw groups of 3, then 7, then a dozen, then 35, and now 50. This handsome male was deftly extracting maple seeds, and his cohorts were filling the air with high-pitched grosbeak calls. They have become so regular that we cannot take a drive into town without seeing at least one flock. They often show up at the roadside, possibly eating the grains of salt spread by the town trucks. I've seen this bird in years past, but did not realize how vocal they are, because I was seeing only one or a few at a time. In these big flocks, the sweet contact calls are uttered almost continuously.

Waxwings continue to show up at fruit-bearing trees in our area. This morning, it was great to see them less than a mile from our house, exploiting a bounty crop of apples on roadside trees. (The apple crop this summer was the biggest in a number of years.)

Bohemian Waxwing

This flock of Bohemians numbered about 15, possibly more. I got some video of these guys, posted on my flickr page, where you can hear vocalizations of both waxwing and grosbeak.

I've said it before, but zooming in a waxwing (either Bohemian or Cedar) is a jaw-dropping experience when you get to see just how stunning is their design.

Take a look at the wingtip, and that bold yellow line in the center of the black. That is a trait possessed by Bohemian, and not by Cedar Waxwing, which dominates in the summer.

Some winters are classified as "irruption years" when most or all of the winter finches come south. Oddly, the other finches are not following the model exhibited by the Pine Grosbeaks. I have seen one flock of Purple Finches, but not many. Still hoping for a redpoll in our yard.

More winter visitors

 Regrettably, this winter is wimping out on us. We've only had two real snowfalls, and then the weather warmed and brought rain. Our snowpack is threatened with extirpation. We are hoping that some precipitation tonight will turn from liquid to solid phase.

We've had two winter visitors of note, though. Both are new since the last post. Dawn noticed two medium-sized birds up in the trees right next to the house, and quickly identified them.

Pine Grosbeak

I had seen a few birds a few miles up the road before, but it is always exciting to see them right in your yard. Pine Grosbeak is an annual visitor to northern Vermont, but that doesn't make them easy to see, because they seem to wander around a lot. I am learning that they vocalize, musically, more so than other finches.

We were at the breakfast table when an even more exciting visitor dropped in.

Northern Shrike

A day with a Northern Shrike is always a good day indeed. These speed demons of winter fields wander to an even greater extent than the grosbeaks. This one landed on our seed feeder, no doubt attracted by the large group of chickadees using it. This is due to the fact that the Northern Shrike is part-time raptor. If other food is scarce, shrikes will pursue chickadees and other small birds and make a tasty meal out of them. Which explains why our feeders (suet and sunflower seed) became rather oddly quiet for a few minutes.

We took a trip to Lake Champlain, north of Burlington.  Waterfowl have not arrived yet in large numbers to Lake Champlain, because the unseasonably warm temperatures have not driven them here. But it was nice to gaze at a raft of 400 Common Goldeneyes, working the quiet waters near the Colchester Causeway. Last winter, I had an even larger flock of 1100. I don't know yet how this compares to historical numbers for winter, but it is at least encouraging as a sign of population health.