Century Count XVII

How many species can you find in Rutland County in one day? If it’s May, the weather is good and you have teams out scouring a good portion of the county, at least 120!

On May 21 RCAS held annual Century Count XXVII. With the Covid pandemic still with us, we again divided into teams. This allowed us to cover a wide variety of habitats from marsh to forest to lakeshores to fields and power lines.

Each team had highlights and also found species other teams missed. The big find of the day was a yellow-breasted chat at the Buckner Preserve in West Haven.

A flock of 55 pine siskins, a species we associate with winter, were at a feeder in Shrewsbury.

It’s shaping up to be a big cuckoo year – both black-billed and yellow-billed cuckoos were seen at quite a few locations.

With warbler migration winding down, most warbler species were seen with the exception of Cape May warbler and bay-breasted warbler, which may be at the tail end of their migration through our area. The ‘winged’ warblers, golden-winged and blue-winged and their hybrids including the ‘Lawrence’s’ hybrid were seen.

Some of the birding hotspots covered included the Buckner Preserve, Cogman/Ghost Hollow Roads in West Haven, West Rutland Marsh (including the new Whipple Hollow Trail), the Pleasant Street power line, Bomoseen State Park and the lake, Lefferts Pond and Kent Pond among others.

Many thanks to all who participated and submitted all their sightings to eBird!

Link to the eBird trip report, click here.

The List:

Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Wild Turkey
Ruffed Grouse
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Black-billed Cuckoo
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Virginia Rail
Common Gallinule
Killdeer
American Woodcock
Wilson's Snipe
Spotted Sandpiper
Ring-billed Gull
Common Loon
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Barred Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Alder Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
House Wren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
House Finch
Purple Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Yellow-breasted Chat
Bobolink
Eastern Meadowlark
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Ovenbird
Louisiana Waterthrush
Northern Waterthrush
Golden-winged Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Canada Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting