On August 16, 2001, fifteen members and friends of Rutland County Audubon sallied forth with the simple goal of recording, on a monthly basis, all the birds seen and heard on the 3.7 mile walk around West Rutland Marsh. The tally for that day was forty-five species! On July 21, 2011, ten years later, and having never missed a single month, nine well seasoned and, still enthusiastic, birders recorded 48 bird species. The log of species in the intervening years has now risen to 143 and the total number of participants to a staggering 1,395! Unforeseen only ten years ago was the introduction of eBird, now the ever expanding repository of not only these local marsh monitoring records, but of bird sightings across North America and now, in fact, to the world beyond.
What accounts for this quite remarkable number of bird species within the confinement of this relatively small area is the diversity of habitats. These include an extensive cattail marsh, a shrub swamp, some red maple-black ash hardwoods, stands of northern white cedar and white pine, in addition to open meadows and some, but limited, scattering of homes and formal gardens. If you have never done so, consider taking the time to visit the ten stations of the Bridge-to-Bridge Interpretive Trail to learn more about these habitats.
a Virginia Rail escorts its young across Marble St.Very few of the bird species encountered rise to the level of requiring Rare Species Documentation. Nevertheless, some of the totals recorded in a single monitoring walk are quite impressive. These record highs include American Bittern (5), Least Bittern (3), Alder Flycatcher (10), Willow Flycatcher (11), Least Flycatcher (10), Eastern Kingbird (29), Warbling Vireo (11), Marsh Wren (19), Eastern Bluebird (28), Veery (16), Common Yellowthroat (24), and Rusty Blackbird (18).
The occurrence, sustainability and diversity of these bird populations are directly tied to the health and preservation of the habitat upon which they depend. The encouraging news is that both Rutland County Audubon and the Town of West Rutland through their elected representatives are united in the goal of preserving this wetland ecosystem and the lands surrounding it.