The pandemic continues, but so does Rutland County Audubon! Now halfway into our 20th year of consecutive monthly monitoring, two board members conducted the count in lieu of our usual contingent of birders. Twenty species were tallied by both sight and sound. This compares with 18 species one year ago and our January average of 19.
With temperatures in the 20s and little wind, it was a pleasant day for a walk despite the cloud cover.
Several species are irrupting into the northeast this year. Only one of them, common redpoll, was seen on the walk.
Black-capped ChickadeeSeveral black-capped chickadees were counted, 39 in all. Quite a bit of their activity was centered at the feeders near the boardwalk. Three American tree sparrows, the only ones of the day, were also present here.
Both red-breasted nuthatch and white-breasted nuthatch numbers were high, 6 and 9, respectively. Red-breasted nuthatches have been particularly abundant this year.
Four woodpecker species were seen: hairy woodpecker, downy woodpecker, pileated woodpecker and red-bellied woodpecker. No raptors were observed.