After being rained out last week, Rutland County Audubon managed to complete September’s monitoring of West Rutland Marsh before month-end. Five people tallied 44 species despite the cloudy and somewhat windy weather.
After some of us remarked on the low number of raptors we’ve seen this month, we ended up seeing Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk and American Kestrel.
All the expected woodpecker species were seen: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Northern Flicker as well as Red-bellied, Downy, Hairy and Pileated woodpeckers.
Despite the prior day’s reports of warblers around the state, we only saw three species and only one each of those. They were Nashville Warbler, Common Yellowthroat and Yellow-rumped Warbler.
There was a higher number of sparrow species. They included Chipping, White-crowned, White-throated, Swamp and Song. Two, Dark-eyed Juncos, sometimes nicknamed snowbirds, were seen in a yard. No doubt we will be seeing more of those in the months to come.
There was a high number of sparrows, including this Song Sparrow seen at West Rutland Marsh on Sept. 29, 2022The birding along the Whipple Hollow Trail was slow, but a Ruffed Grouse was observed near the spot where it was seen on past walk.
Our next walk is scheduled for Saturday, October 22, at 8 a.m.
The list of the birds seen today can be found here.